In another university, she would surely have had to wait at least another year to confront the reality on the ground. But Jeanne, who is entering her third year of medical school in Nantes, already has “five or six internships” to her credit, all completed last year. “I tested general medicine, cardiology, radiology, but what I liked the most was urology, says the young woman, visibly delighted. I followed consultations, was able to go to the operating room, where I even managed to recognize two or three things from my anatomy diagrams! It was much more concrete than in the amphitheater, with this real chance of being alone alongside the practitioner and the patient. »
A device of discovery courses of liberal medicine launched in Pays-de-la-Loire has met with great success with these future health professionals. In a year and a half, 350 medical students from Angers and Nantes have in fact carried out one or more short internships (one day or two) on a voluntary basis, in one of the 424 medical practices in the region which are registered for the operation. “The objective is that they discover different organizations and medical practices, explains Thomas Hérault, director of the Regional Union of Liberal Physicians (URML), at the origin of the device. This is not a criticism but it is so: medical training today is too centered on the public hospital, where students constitute a real workforce. The possibilities of freelance internships are quite anecdotal. »
Break down received ideas
At a time when the shortage of city doctors is felt, voluntary practitioners hope to gain in attractiveness in the eyes of their future colleagues. Doctor Cécile Guihéneuf has already received around twenty students in her office in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire in order “to show them that there is something other than the hospital, where they are unfortunately sometimes thrown into the deep end. “. So, the pediatrician takes the time to show, transmit, and sometimes to break down preconceived ideas. “Some arrive thinking that the consultations are stereotyped, they realize that it goes well beyond “I weigh, I measure”, that the practices are very rich”, she assures. “They don’t suspect that there is so much teamwork, adds Thomas Hérault. Funding on a fee-for-service basis, being in control of one’s organization, making administrative decisions… The student must also be able to know all this, so as not to be afraid of it. »
This year, the URML is renewing its system by seeking practical solutions to guide students who wish to do so in more rural areas. A sign that the worlds of hospitals and city medicine have every interest in getting closer, the University of Angers has agreed to integrate these internships into its university curriculum, and Nantes should do the same. A decision “for the benefit of the students, who even if they are still young will keep in the back of their heads a good memory of their experience as a liberal, hopes Thomas Hérault. Also for the benefit of the decompartmentalization of city-hospital and ultimately from that of patients. »