At the Thalassotherapy School
For a thalassotherapy center wishing to offer the best service and the best quality of care to its curists, the recruitment of staff is a delicate point. You have to be sure of your qualification and seriousness. This is crucial, because it is the image of the centre that is at stake. As the problem of the Tunisian centres was to cope with a shortage of qualified personnel, this had to be alleviated. This is why the Vital International School of Thalassotherapy and Bio-Marine Aesthetics opened its doors in Tunis in 1999.
T&S: Dr. Tebourbi, you are Director of the Vital School. What is it exactly?
Dr. T: It is the first thalassotherapy school recognized by the State and the International Federation of Perfumery, Aesthetics and Cosmetics Education. Its goal is to train hydrotherapists, specialists in biomarine aesthetics, and qualified hairdressers.
T&S: Which graduates are awarded?
Dr. T.: The Vital school delivers diplomas recognized in Tunisia: construction of bio-aesthetics, construction of hydrotherapy, and BTP of hairdressing visagisme.
On the course program: aesthetics, anatomy, hydrotherapy, dermatology, physiology, cosmetology, nutrition, massage, reflexology, sophrology, aesthetic medicine, but also communication, drawing, law, and foreign languages (French, German, Italian). As you can see, it is a very complete theoretical training, accompanied by practical internships in thalassotherapy centers.
T&S: Are graduate students guaranteed to be recruited?
Dr. T.: Yes, there is a contract between our school and Vital Carter International, which has committed to hiring all students who graduate, for a minimum of 5 years.
T&S: Do you also provide ongoing training for staff already in place at the centres?
Dr. T.: Indeed, we have set up continuing education and development modules, which allow you to refresh your memory, to keep abreast of new techniques, new care and equipment. For example, the reception staff will study the techniques of reception of the curist and professional behavior.
T&S: The school is also a pole of development. Can you tell us more?
Dr. T: Our research teams are very active. Some time ago, we carried out studies on osteoporosis on rheumatoid arthritis, as well as research on water hygiene, in collaboration with the team of Professor Hartmann from Nancy. But the most recent, and one of the most interesting, is our study on the treatment of fibromyalgia {Editor’s note: also called ‘diffuse idiopathic polyalgic syndrome’, this little-known disease affects more than 2% of the population, or more than a million people in France. It is characterized by continuous pain in the muscles and bones, lasting at least three months, as well as pain at the pressure of certain points of the body. Fibromyalgia is accompanied by many other symptoms such as insomnia, depression, persistent migraines, and excessive and persistent fatigue.
The research teams led by Dr. Raoudha and Dr. Azeddine Lakhouaja therefore started in 1999, in the Vital Center centers of Djerba, an elude involving 160 patients with fibromyalgia, aged 18 to 65 years. This study evaluates the short and long-term effects (9 but) of a 3-week thalasso cure in a hot and dry climate, on a group of subjects. These results are then compared to those of a control grouse, treated in a conventional way. These results of this study are very interesting, they will be released in June 2002, at a congress in Stockholm. But I can already tell you that we have developed a specific fibromyalgia cure.
T&S: Let’s finish with the European Thalassotherapy Congress, which took place in Rostock (Germany) from 10 to 13 January 2002. Dr. Azeddine Lakhouaja participated…
Dr. T.: Indeed, Dr. Mohamed Azeddine Lakhouaja led an exciting conference on “Thalassotherapy: past, present and future” and the place of the Tunisian school. Topics as varied as the origins of thalassotherapy, seawater quality standards, staff training, tourism, etc. were discussed. Knowledge of the past, for openness to the future.
