MAINTENANCE. Nantes again tops the ranking of preferred hospitals for interns. The dean reveals the secrets of this success.
For the 2nd year in a row, medical interns voted for the Nantes University Hospital (Loire-Atlantique) for the continuation of their studies, according to the magazine’s ranking. What’sup doc. In 2016, the faculty of the region of the Grand Dukes of Brittany was ahead of Lyon, Montpellier-Nîmes, Rennes and Bordeaux. Why this preference? The city is pleasant and on a human scale, of course. For Professor Pascale Jolliet, Dean of the Nantes Faculty of Medicine, it is above all the educational quality offered to future doctors that makes the difference.
How do you explain the appeal of the Nantes University Hospital?
Pascale Jolliet: I believe that this attraction is due to the quality of medicine and care delivered in Nantes, the quality of the research carried out there, and also the quality of the training. The students are very supervised and we are committed to setting up a strong and “millefeuille” tutoring. From their youngest years, 2nd and 3rd year students have been supervised by externs who are themselves supervised by interns. The latter learn to tutor the youngest but also are very well followed and managed in their therapeutic choices by benevolent seniors, and very vigilant that the interns immediately have the right reflexes.
Find the full interview with Prof. Pascale Jolliet:
The faculty also has another hallmark: the strong link between research and the clinic.
Pascale Jolliet: This is an important point. We cannot say enough that there are 3 important concepts in medical school: training, research and care. And this research is fundamental and clinical, it is a Nantes specificity. We were pioneers in the field of translational research, which goes from the very fundamental to the hospitalized patient. Researchers here are constantly walking between the laboratory and the clinical department. Patients certainly benefit, and students love these possible flashbacks and benefit from this clinical research. They can live it on a daily basis with the investigators, it is a great wealth.
In addition to this educational policy, have you adopted measures to improve the quality of life of students?
Pascale Jolliet: Indeed, our students are quite happy. However, it is difficult to improve the quality of life of interns because they work a lot, even if we respect the working time regulations. I admit they struggle to find time for their privacy.
However, from the first years of medical studies, we try to arrange free time slots so that students can structure their training time in their own way, and not be encumbered with compulsory courses. New pedagogical techniques such as flipped classes allow them to give them time to prepare for lessons independently of faculty life. The second point is that our students in 2nd and 3rd having difficulty in a given field know that they can count on tutors who are assigned to them, and who help them get through this difficult course.
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