Studying health without leaving the Ardèche? At the heart of the Aubenas hospital centre, the Lyon 1 PASS offers a first year with the same courses and exams as at university, but close by. This is a selective but well-supported route to medicine, midwifery, dentistry, pharmacy and physics, as well as the Access to Health bachelor’s degrees. Presentation of the PASS ardéchois.

The PASS in Aubenas offers high school students with a good scientific level (admission via Parcoursup) a first year of health studies at university level in the Ardèche, while giving access to the medicine, maieutics, odontology, pharmacy and physiotherapy streams at Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University.

This training programme uses the same curriculum, exams and requirements as the PASS Lyon Sud, but is based at the heart of the Southern Ardèche Hospital Centre to meet the challenge of equal access to studies in an area where there is a high demand for healthcare professionals.

• Southern Ardèche hospital, video presentation :

A first year in medicine in the heart of the Ardèche

From the start of the 2025 academic year, Aubenas will be home to a Specific Health Access Pathway (PASS) run by the Lyon Sud Faculty of Medicine and Maieutics, a first for the department.

The course is housed in new premises integrated into the Centre hospitalier d’Ardèche méridionale, making the campus a place of study directly connected to the healthcare field. Designed as part of the Include Campus¹ initiative, PASS Aubenas aims to bring the university closer to rural areas, with particular attention to local healthcare needs.

A course open primarily to secondary school students from the Ardèche region

The PASS Aubenas is aimed primarily at baccalaureate holders from the Ardèche, who have priority admission to all 40 places available. Applicants from outside the département are limited to a small number of places, depending on availability.

This regional priority means that high school students who might not have the means or the desire to go to Lyon in their first year can try their hand at health studies in a more familiar setting.

Applications are made via Parcoursup under the heading PASS² / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, with the choice of a subject minor as soon as you apply: Chemistry or Life and Environmental Sciences, each offering a limited number of places.

A course in the Ardèche, modelled on Lyon Sud

From an academic point of view, the PASS Aubenas strictly follows the curriculum of the Lyon Sud faculty: a common core of health-related courses (basic sciences, biostatistics, public health, anatomy, physiology, drugs, etc.) supplemented by a minor (Chemistry or Life and Environmental Sciences) enabling students to switch to a bachelor’s degree.

The year is divided into two semesters, each culminating in written examinations (mainly MCQs) in mid-December and April, with possible make-up sessions at the end of the year. Students are selected for health courses on the basis of a highly competitive grading system, which distinguishes between students who are ‘super-admitted’ at the end of the written exams and those who are called for oral exams to assess their reasoning and interpersonal skills.

An immersive, highly supervised campus

The lectures and some of the tutorials are broadcast live from the lecture theatres at Lyon Sud using an immersive high-definition video system, enabling students in Aubenas to see the lecturer, follow the same lessons and even take part remotely.

Students have access to a number of classrooms and work areas, a communal living area and access to the hospital’s canteen, with university staff responsible for daily liaison with Lyon.

Support is also provided by the University of Lyon 1’s Tutorat³ (pre-start, mock exams, work groups, mentoring) and by health professionals in the Ardèche, who provide additional supervision in what is reputed to be a very demanding year.

What happens after the PASS?

If the year is validated and they are ranked highly, Aubenas students, like their counterparts in Lyon, can access the^2nd years of medicine, maieutics, odontology, pharmacy or physiotherapy(MMOPK), on the Oullins (Lyon Sud) or Lyon 8 campuses: they then leave the Ardèche to continue all their health studies in Lyon.

Those who pass the PASS without being admitted to the MMOPK stream can join a Licence Accès⁴ (L.AS) in the^2nd year at Lyon 1 in the degree corresponding to their minor (Life Sciences or Chemistry), with a second chance to join a health stream at the end of L.AS 2 or L.AS 3.

If the year is not passed, it is not possible to repeat a year in the PASS: you must then reorientate yourself via Parcoursup, which underlines the need to arrive well prepared, motivated and aware of the level of work required, even in a local environment that offers a better quality of life and lower housing costs than in Lyon.

Introducing the PASS

A 35-slide presentation of the PASS by the Faculté de Médecine et de Maïeutique Lyon Sud / Charles Mérieux:

Parcoursup registration

And to register for the course on Parcoursup⁵, here is the tutorial for choosing the Aubenas PASS when making your online applications:

Aubenas in the Ardèche?

• Location of the hospital centre in Aubenas in southern Ardèche :

• Presentation of the town ofAubenas and practical links :

• Doing your PASS year in Aubenas
• Studying health at Lyon 1, list of qualifications

1. Les Include Campus, Université Lyon 1 ↩︎
2. PASS Aubenas, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, fiche Parcoursup ↩︎
3. Tutorat PASS Santé , Lyon 1 Université Lyon 1 ↩︎
4. Licences Accès Santé (L.AS), Université Lyon 1 ↩︎
5. Comment formuler vos souhaits Parcoursup ? FAQ ↩︎