On Wednesday 23 September, the Faculty of Medical and Paramedical Sciences of Aix-Marseille Université and the 10th Army Medical Centre - Marseille signed the renewal of their partnership agreement aimed at promoting the Army's health service to medical students.
Gathered at the Château Saint-Victor, under the authority of Lieutenant General Benoît Houssay, Military Governor of Marseilles, and in the presence of Professor Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille Université, Professor Georges Leonetti, Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Paramedical Sciences of Marseilles and Chief Medical Officer Stéphanie Michel, Commander of the 10th Army Medical Centre, the optional teaching module in military medicine has been extended for five years. It offers volunteer students a better understanding of the organisation of Defence in which the missions of the Armed Forces Health Service are carried out, and in particular the specificities of medicine in the armed forces, including the initiation and awareness of rescue and combat procedures.
Among the thirty or so hours that the teaching unit contains, students have the privilege of immersing themselves in the forces: in the Marseille fire-fighting marines battalion, in the 1st foreign cavalry regiment of Carpiagne or on board the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The module's referents also offer numerous accounts of external operations and the diversity of assignments (aboard a submarine, in the Kerguelen Islands, etc.).
Initiated in 2015, this option is accessible to 3rd year medical students. If it helps to encourage vocations for careers in the armed forces health service and the operational reserve, this teaching may prove useful for all future graduates who may be required during their career to follow military patients and/or interact with military doctors. The 2020/2021 cycle already has nearly 100 student volunteers.
You will find photographs of the event by following this link: https://amubox.univ-amu.fr/s/9gEtZgCNGb9oct9