New Facilities for the Gard Campus of the Montpellier-Nîmes School of Medicine

[Article] - Published on February 13, 2023 under " Faculties, Schools, and Institutes"

On February 8, the Nîmes University Hospital Campus inaugurated the expansion and renovation of its facility during an official visit that brought together representatives from the various institutions that helped fund the project. With 1,434 square meters of additional floor space and 1,336 square meters of renovated space, the Nîmes-Montpellier School of Medicine has further enhanced its appeal.

On February 8, in the presence of numerous officials, Philippe Augé, president of the University of Montpellier, and Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie Region, unveiled a plaque commemorating the official inauguration of the expansion of the Gard campus of the Nîmes-Montpellier School of Medicine, designed by the architectural firm Nicolas C. Guillot. This marks the synergy that made it possible to complete this project, which began a little over two years ago but had been planned for a long time, as Philippe Augé points out: “This inauguration is the culmination of a commitment spanning several years—one that is all the more significant given that Montpellier-Nîmes is the only medical school in France located across two sites, thereby contributing to the regional network and the expansion of the University of Montpellier’s educational offerings.”  

The Region, the State, the university, the metropolitan area, the city of Nîmes, and the University Hospital (CHU) all contributed funds to raise the 9.6 million euros needed to complete the expansion of Building D and the renovation of Building A.“The Region has invested 3.4 million euros in this project, which reinforces our commitment to making Nîmes a true Health Campus,” said the president of the Region. “Investing in the future of healthcare also means addressing today’s challenges in accessing care and combating medical deserts.”

A New Lease on Life

The Nîmes campus will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. Over the course of five decades, this second location of the Montpellier-Nîmes School of Medicine has become a campus in its own right, growing from 747 students in 2001 to more than 2,100 twenty years later—representing one-third of the total number of students enrolled in the medicine and midwifery programs at theUM. This steadily rising figure can be attributed to the quality of education—which is identical in every respect to that provided at the Montpellier campus—and to student life in the city, which is increasingly popular. “ “The proximity of the university hospitals in Nîmes and Montpellier, as well as the very rich healthcare ecosystem at both sites and throughout the region, allow us to offer students an exceptional range of clinical rotations,” notes Faculty Dean Isabelle Laffont. “It is no coincidence that we are currently the third most popular medical school chosen by residents upon completing their postgraduate medical studies.”

In response to this success, a renovation of the campus was therefore anticipated. It is now complete. The expansion of Building D, located at the heart of the campus, offers teaching staff and students a fresh start thanks to its 1,434 m² of new construction and 1,336 m² of renovated space. Four additional classrooms and a 150-seat lecture hall were built, adding to the 13 existing classrooms and two lecture halls. The renovation of Building A, meanwhile, created three new classrooms by consolidating all administrative services on the first floor, which had been previously remodeled to gain more than 170 m². 

Student life—so dear to medical students—has not been overlooked, with the creation of a 200-square-meter social space in the extension of Building D, complete with a sound system, equipment, and furniture. The facilities of the “Corpo Carabins Crocodiles” student association and the Nîmes Midwifery Students’ Association have also benefited from this renovation, as has the tutoring area. Finally, a 1,000-square-meter outdoor pine grove with garrigue vegetation has been developed, offering access to a multipurpose recreational area (petanque, mölkky, relaxation breaks, etc.).

Implementing Modern Teaching Methods

Isabelle Laffont, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, was delighted to lead a tour of all these facilities throughout the morning’s inauguration ceremony.“The expansion and renovation provide our institution with superbly equipped new facilities, enabling us to implement a modern educational approach in which digital technology, simulation, and the teaching of the scientific method take on an unparalleled dimension. ” And it was certainly the new simulation-based teaching center—SimHU Nîmes, dedicated to university-hospital medical simulation—presented by anesthesiologist Laurent Mattatia, that captured the guests’ attention the most.  

An exceptional facility built in partnership with the Nîmes University Hospital, which now has ten simulation rooms where medical students and healthcare professionals can practice medical and surgical procedures on “patient robots.” Thanks to hyper-realistic simulations, where scenarios evolve in real time—whether in the operating room, the emergency department, the delivery room, the neonatal unit, the intensive care unit, or other hospital departments—all hospital departments open their doors to learners without any risk to patients. “The creation of ‘SimHU Nîmes,’ based on the principle of primum non nocere [‘first, do no harm’], is embedded in our DNA,” concludes Nicolas Best, Director General of the Nîmes University Hospital. “The hospital-university collaboration between our two cities continues to grow and develop, allowing us to pool our expertise to serve patients in our region.”

Keywords: Students, Training, Medicine, University