The Faculty of Medicine, at a crossroads
A new chapter is beginning for the faculty withthe opening of new premises on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus. In addition to its primary mission of training future doctors, the institution is increasingly supporting healthcare professionals in their growing need for continuing education.
Photo © David Richard / Transit
It is one of the jewels of a university with a rare heritage. Every day, tourists from all over the world flock to the historic Faculty of Medicine building. Some come to admire the robe of a certain Rabelais, others to stroll through the corridors of the Anatomy Conservatory or immerse themselves in the drawings of the Atger Museum, which houses a rare collection of drawings by European masters, while others come to enjoy the coolness of the Jardin des Plantes, created at the end of the 16th century to serve as a training ground for future doctors and apothecaries.
At the forefront of a rapidly changing practice
While the historic center remains the cradle of Montpellier medicine, students, staff, and teachers have discovered a new working environment since the start of the academic year. Located a stone's throw from the hospitals, on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus, Montpellier's new flagship medical facility is entirely focused on educational innovation. A simulation platform equipped with robot patients, theater workshops to train students in patient/doctor relations... Everything is designed to uphold the fundamental principle: "never the first time on a patient."
In addition to the 6,000 medical students enrolled at one of the faculty's two sites, in Nîmes and Montpellier, the faculty provides continuing education for nearly 3,000 healthcare professionals, including doctors, midwives, nurses, and others. Michel Mondain believes this is a crucial issue: "Healthcare is constantly evolving, so it is essential to offer appropriate training to these professionals, whether they are doctors or not." For the dean, the faculty must establish itself as a "home for healthcare professionals." Half a floor of the new faculty will be reserved for university hospital teams.
The birth of a Health Campus at Arnaud de Villeneuve
Photo © Jean-Luc Girod
The building designed by architect François Fontès is part of an ecosystem that is gradually transforming into a veritable health campus: in addition to hospitals, the site is home to several leading research centers in biology and health, as well as the university clinical research institute and the medical teaching unit (UPM). This proximity offers rich potential and promises fruitful exchanges.
Exchanges between research, clinical practice, and training, but also exchanges between disciplines: the faculty intends to strengthen collaboration with its neighbors on the Saint Priest campus, who focus on digital sciences, and with STAPS and its Euromov center, dedicated to the study of human movement. It is at the crossroads of these different disciplines that the story of an old lady who, at the age of eight centuries, has never looked so young, will now be written.
The new faculty as seen by a student
Sébastien Cuozzo, Vice Dean for Student Affairs
What will change with the new faculty? First of all, we will be able to enjoy brand new facilities, thanks to renovations. high technology. The big news is obviously the 4th and 5th floors, which are specifically designed for simulation for externs (2nd cycle) and interns (3rd cycle) with reproductions of operating rooms, delivery rooms, and even the latest generation of robots. The second important point is the health campus dimension. This will enable a much smoother transition between classes and internships.
What makes our studies unique is that, starting in the third year, we spend every morning doing an internship at the hospital, then attend classes starting at 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. Previously, this required traveling back and forth on public transportation, but now we can get from the classroom to the hospital in 10 minutes. Being closer to our professors will also allow for much greater responsiveness and improve our exchanges.
Key figures
- 9,109 students (including nearly 3,000 in continuing education)
- 416 Professors
- 150 IATS staff
- 3 locations (Montpellier city center, Arnaud de Villeneuve, Nîmes)
- 1220: First statutes granted by the Church to the "universitas medicorum"
- 1593: Creation of France's first botanical garden in Montpellier
- 1795: Installation at Saint-Benoît Monastery, former bishopric
- 2017: Inauguration of the new Faculty on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus
The initiative: tutoring for equal opportunities in PACES
Multiple-choice questions, course reviews, mock exams, methodological advice...
Provided by students in their final years of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, or midwifery, the health tutoring program brings together nearly 250 tutors trained in the basics of teaching. Their role is to support students enrolled in the First Year Common to Health Studies (PACES), which is validated by a highly selective exam. And the results speak for themselves: "A student who has benefited from tutoring is six times more likely to pass the exam, a figure equivalent to that of students who have taken a preparatory course," says Mathieu Bauer, president of the FED, which brings together the various health tutoring associations. Funded by the university, this program mobilizes teachers each year to train tutors.