France Mayotte Matin: how many young people do you train each year?
Carine Piotrowski: We actually have a somewhat innovative system, we ultimately have a quota of 85 students at the start of the next school year, but that is actually breaking down. On the Mayotte site, we have 35 students. Small promotions of 35 therefore on a human scale and to try to develop the training offer to be given to Mahoran high school students, we have set up interregional partnerships with the metropolis since 2018 and we have 3 training institutes which welcome every year actually 15 students to train them for the 3 years. Afterwards, these students return to Mayotte territory. It is a device that was set up around a partnership with the Departmental Council since it finances it 100%. As there is funding, the students have a commitment to serve on the territory of Mayotte as soon as they obtain their state diploma.
FMM: What is the duration of this commitment?
Carine Piotrowski:9 years ; 3 times the duration of the training
FMM: Are these 85 students sure of having a job at the end of the training?
Carine Piotrowski: Yes I think given the situation, given the difficulties in recruiting or retaining our professionals, it is certain that there is work for all nurses in Mayotte, whether in the hospital sector but also at the level of medico-social structures which are beginning to rise, there is also the rectorate with school nurses.
FMM: How is training organized between classroom lessons and practice at the CHM?
Carine Piotrowski: nursing training is divided into 3 university years, there are clinical times, therefore internship times and theoretical times at the institute. These are 2100 hours of theory and 2100 hours of internship out of the 3, with an alternating rhythm of 5 weeks on average.
FMM : In the nursing training institute, one can only become a nurse or are the other paramedical professions taught?
Carine Piotrowski:we also had an approval to be what is called a training institute for caregivers and a training institute for childcare assistants, which was also very important for Mayotte and a childcare school that has existed since 2016 The choice was made 3 years ago to suspend the training of caregivers and childcare auxiliaries since in fact we found ourselves faced with a paradox, we were graduating people but in fact they had no work. So we train child nurses, it’s essential in Mayotte, and they have work.
FMM: How are you preparing for the extension of the hospital to the new site and more broadly for the increased need for healthcare professionals?
Carine Piotrowski : with the increase in quotas, at the start of the next school year in 2022, 50 students will be in France and 35 in Mayotte, so already this is a significant increase in our capacities. However, 35 students per year locally will not be enough to cover the needs of the territory and here we are precisely thinking about a project to extend or even relocate the IES site to allow us to increase our graduates. What is complicated for us is in fact the training grounds: in fact the more we increase our quota here, the more in fact it is difficult for the CHM to also absorb this increase so it is true that we has developed many partnerships with metropolitan hospitals to welcome our interns to develop the internship offer. It is an axis on which we are working a lot but that is what is blocking us a little bit. The types of internship are highly regulated via the training reference system. The care offer in Mayotte is in full development but we still lack training grounds such as long-term care.
FMM: Next week, if I understood correctly, a promotion will graduate?
Carine Piotrowski: The promotion that will graduate began their studies in 2019, they were in 3rd year 26 students, the final jury will take place on the morning of the 12th. Then we will announce the results.
Interview by Anne Constance Onghéna for France Mayotte Matin
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