Jean Fondacci

Clinical research during a PhD

The NeuroSchool PhD program introduces doctoral students to careers in clinical research.

Clinical day

Once a year, our PhD program organizes a thematic day about a pathology or advanced technology that brings together clinicians and researchers. PhD students help organise the event and chair the discussions.

- February 2015 : Parkinson's disease

- June 2016 : Brain-Machine interface

- May 2018 : Multiple Sclerosis

- July 2019 : Epilepsy

- June 2021 : Autism (replay on YouTube - in French)

- February 2022 : Parkinson's disease (replay on YouTube - in French)

- December 1st, 2023 : join us for our next clinical day on spinal trauma!

Staff meetings

You will be able to attend these meetings where different difficult clinical cases are exposed and discussed. These meetings are in French.

Conferences of the "Pôle de neurosciences"

You will be able to participate in these conferences, where a high-level speaker is invited once a month to present the most recent knowledge in a pathology. These conferences start at 8 pm.

Internships at the hospital

The clinical units of the AP-HM invite 3 or 4 students of our program during one week. The students follow the clinicians in their different tasks. They attend to consultations, if possible surgeries, they participate in staff meetings and in different events organized by the hospital.

In case of limitation for the number of enrolled students, priority is given on the basis of the students’ active participation to the PhD program.

The following clinical units have already offered such internships :

Bipolar disorder expertise center (Prof. Jean-Michel Azorin, Hôpital Ste Marguerite)
Clinical Neurophysiology & Epileptology (Prof. Fabrice Bartolomei’s service, Hôpital de la Timone)
Ear, Nose and Throat (Prof. Jean-Pierre Lavieille, Hôpital de la Conception)

Testimonial: Clinical Immersion Internship

In early June 2018, PhD students from the PhD Program completed a clinical immersion internship. Where did they go? What did they see? Two students share their experiences.

For PhD students, a clinical internship is an opportunity to confront the clinical aspect of the diseases they deal with on a daily basis, in their laboratory. During this week, through meetings, surgeries and consultations, they discover what lies within the clinical units of the AP-HM.

Estelle Nakul and Guillaume Rastoldo, both working on the vestibular system, did their internship in Pr. Lavieille’s Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department at the Hôpital de la Conception.

Supervised, and very well received, by Dr Marion Montava and her team, they attended four surgeries as well as numerous consultations.

“By spending several days in a row with the same team, we were able to observe patient care, from diagnosis to treatment“, Estelle explains. “All this really helps to discover how the service works.” The aim of the internship is therefore fulfilled.

According to Estelle and Guillaume, an internship in an ENT department could also be informative for PhD students who work on hearing. In addition, many other units are open by the PhD Program, in order to meet the interests of each student. Any last thoughts?

Estelle Nakul and Guillaume Rastoldo

“Continue to offer this type of internship to PhD students: it’s exciting, whether you’re looking for a career in medicine or in research! »

Interview by Fanny Trifilieff (July 2018)