THURS-067 - Preparing Tomorrow’s Physicians: Evaluating France’s Service Sanitaire Training Module

Brief Abstract Summary: This study examines how the French service sanitaire prepares medical students for their role as health educators, focusing on their ability to adopt emancipatory approaches. A pre/post study of 302 third-year medical students showed a significant increase in perceived competence (from 5.5/10 to 6.4/10, p<.05). However, the choice of educational approach—informative, behavioral, or emancipatory—remained strongly influenced by the intervention topic (e.g., vaccination, addictions) and showed limited change during training. Factors such as age, gender, and prior coursework in social sciences and humanities were linked to greater adoption of emancipatory approaches. These findings highlight both the potential and the limits of the service sanitaire as a training model, and stress the need to strengthen its curriculum to better foster psychosocial skills and empowerment in school-based health education.

Detailed abstract description: Alignment with Congress Theme 1 and Learning Objectives
This abstract aligns with the “Leadership, Mentoring, and Training the Next Workforce” track by examining how the French service sanitaire prepares medical students for their educational role, focusing on its impact on their ability to adopt emancipatory approaches to health education.

At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to:

Identify 3 educational approaches (informative, behavioral, emancipatory) and analyze their relevance for school-based health education.

Connect medical students’ chosen health topics (vaccination, STIs, nutrition, etc.) to the emancipatory approach, in order to strengthen psychosocial skill development among pupils.

Background
Health education interventions rely on different approaches shaped by paradigms (Jensen, 1997), psycho-pedagogical frameworks (Ndengeyingoma et al., 2018), and educational goals (Steckler et al., 1995). Three main types are described in the literature: informative (knowledge transmission), behavioral (behavior change), and emancipatory (development of psychosocial skills). Defined by WHO as abilities enabling individuals to adopt health-promoting behaviors (1993), psychosocial skills foster autonomy and empowerment.

In France, school-based health education has increasingly integrated psychosocial skills. To support this, the government created the service sanitaire, which trains future health professionals in the educational dimension of their role. Each year, cohorts of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students design and implement health education projects in schools, in partnership with teachers and school health services.

Methods
A quantitative pre-test/post-test study was conducted in 2022–2023 with two cohorts of third-year medical students (N=302) at a university in southern France. The module included theoretical content (vaccination, addictions, STIs, nutrition), methodological workshops, and supervised fieldwork.

Results
Students’ perceived competence significantly increased from 5.5/10 to 6.4/10 (p <.05), confirming the training’s positive effect. However, the approach adopted (informative, behavioral, or emancipatory) largely depended on the health topic and showed limited change between pre- and post-test. Analyses identified several factors associated with adopting emancipatory approaches: students’ age, gender, and prior or concurrent coursework in social sciences and humanities.

Conclusion
Findings highlight both scientific and pedagogical implications. They contribute to understanding how health topics influence educational approaches and stress the need to identify barriers and facilitators to adopting emancipatory stances centered on psychosocial skills, now recognized as key determinants of global health. The service sanitaire represents a unique training model for health education, but its preparatory module must be reinforced to promote emancipatory approaches in line with international guidelines.