Study of a cross-sectoral scheme within the framework of France’s Health Service for Health Students initiative: Conception, implementation, and perspectives

Within the framework of France’s Health Service for Health Students (Service sanitaire des étudiants en santé, SEES) initiative, students in physiotherapy and nursing from the same region were brought together to take part in an experimental scheme. As the students from each sector were not used to working together (2), the trainers needed to adapt in order to create a favorable teaching environment. This contribution looks at “what happened” during the setting up of such a scheme. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the Institute for Training in Physiotherapy Management team at the beginning of the 2019–2020 academic year, and with the physiotherapy and nursing trainers involved in two of the schemes at the end of the experiment. The data from the interviews was processed using a thematic analysis. Beyond the challenges of such a scheme, the results also take into account the trainers’ subjective experience. Feedback on the experience reveals quite contrasting training cultures and self-identification. The study as a whole makes it possible to identify the drivers behind, obstacles to, and optimal conditions for setting up this type of cross-sectoral preventative action, as well as shedding light on new training issues to be explored.