[Études Médicales] introduction

è t u d e s   m é d i c a l e s

Welcome to Ètudes Médicales, or Medical Studies. This course is inherently challenging, primarily because it draws heavily from several of the major areas of magic including Charms, Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration. It also requires students to be perceptive and utilize critical thinking skills, especially when more advanced aspects of Healing are introduced such as patient interviews and establishing a working diagnosis. Those interested in taking this course should prepare to be self-motivated in their learning, to collaborate efficiently as a group, and to always ask questions.


The professor:

Professor Bellantoni – also known as Healer Bellantoni – started her professional life working in a small clinic in Paris until the conclusion of the Muggle Second World War before taking up a post at L’Hôpital des Maladies Magiques Bonaccord in Pediatrics & Maternity, of which she was promoted to Head Healer after only seven years of working there. Shortly thereafter she reached out to her Healing alma mater, L’Académie Guérison Adrienne d’Heur, and began a professorship while still working as a Healer, teaching courses to Healing and Mediwizard/Mediwitch students. After 35 years at L’Hôpital, she began to miss her small clinic and wanted to reach an even younger population of budding Healers and Mediwitches/Mediwizards. In the early 1980s she reached out to Beauxbâtons to inquire about a post, and in the meantime resigned from her post at L’Hôpital and took over management of the General Practice clinic in Chatoeil in which she’d volunteered while she was a Beauxbâtons student. She has been teaching at Beauxbâtons and working in the Chatoeil clinic ever since.


Teaching style & Course structure:

Professor Bellantoni takes her job very seriously, but in the best way possible. She is fiercely passionate about what she does, but at the same time is careful to avoid unfairly overwhelming her students. Her ultimate goal is to for her students to excel – and ideally to have them all realize that they want to enter the medical field, whether as a Healer or Mediwizard/-witch or otherwise. Professor Bellantoni holds high but fair standards, yet at the same time treats each of her students as lovingly as she would her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is a strong proponent of collaboration and group brainstorming, firmly believing that a solution from one person alone is rarely as good as that of multiple minds together to address a problem from multiple angles.

With regard to curriculum and content, Professor Bellantoni obviously ensures that she covers all required textbook material so students are well-prepared for O.W.L and N.E.W.T. examinations. However, she also builds in a great deal of Muggle physical exam techniques and tricks that she has picked up through the years (“Honey, what happens if you are in a pinch without your wand?! *winks* You must be resourceful, yes?”), as well as general life skills and advice.

Her exams are known to be tough, but not unfair or with the intent of trying to “trick” the examinee. Throughout the year, Professor Bellantoni makes herself available to any student with questions, at any time. She holds scheduled, individual meetings with each of her students at three different points in the year: once after the first week to get an idea of their personal goals, once at the midpoint to assess their progress to-date and what they may need or want to improve on, and once during the last week of term to get feedback on how students are feeling and what she could do better. In addition to these three mandatory meetings, students having difficulty with a concept are encouraged to reach out to her for additional assistance. She very rarely offers make-up or extra-credit opportunities as compensatory means for those who do not put in the effort and wait until the last moment to seek help; for her, there are no shortcuts in medicine, and she feels strongly that providing those types of opportunities does not help the student in the long-term.

She does offer one form of extra-credit; the difficulty is more at the level of a Healing student, however she does award at least partial credit for those who made a solid effort. Every other week she presents a difficult case (usually one she’s personally seen and managed) and has students come up with history questions to ask, how they would examine the patient, come up with a differential diagnosis, and put together a treatment plan. The assignment is to be turned in by the end of the day on the second Thursday: students ARE allowed to use outside resources to aid them, but may not discuss the case with others at this time (this is one of the only times they are not permitted to work together, aside from exams). The following day the case is discussed as a class, with those who did not submit the assignment encouraged to verbally participate first, followed by a presentation of findings from students who did complete it. The class works through the case together from start to finish, and at the conclusion Professor Bellantoni provides them with what the actual diagnosis and treatment was, followed by a summary of important takeaway points. This is, of course, beyond the level that students are expected to master as this point in their educational careers, but the discussions are intellectually stimulating and prove exceptionally helpful for those that go on to careers in any field of medicine.

Overall, her students tend to do quite well on their Medical Studies O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s., and she loves to keep in touch with her graduates.


Grading:

Professor Bellantoni uses the same grading scale as the rest of the school and as the Ministère de la Magie for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. grades. As discussed above, she rarely offers make-up work or extra-credit (aside from every-other-weekly cases) unless there are unique extenuating circumstances.

Overall she is fairly generous when it comes to awarding House points, and generally does so without bias. Bonus points are usually awarded for answering more difficult questions, or by posing particularly thoughtful points of discussion. However, she will not hesitate to deduct House points for unprofessional or unkind conduct.