The SIDES platform, renamed SIDE Santé and now integrated into the UNESS portal, centralizes the digital educational resources for health studies in France. Connection via university credentials, federated authentication, blocks abroad: the access pathway remains a point of friction for many users, whether they are students, interns, or non-university healthcare staff.
Federated authentication and UNESS Cockpit portal: what has changed since 2023
Since the end of 2023, access to SIDE Santé is gradually being integrated into the UNESS Cockpit portal. This portal relies on federated authentication via the Renater federation, the same mechanism that secures university ENT systems and the Educonnect network.
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In practice, most students and teachers no longer need to create a specific SIDE account. The username and password used to access the faculty intranet or university email are sufficient. This switch has simplified the process for profiles linked to a member institution of the Renater network.
For those who wish to access Side Santé on Santé Radieuse, a detailed guide outlines the specific steps according to the type of profile (student, intern, non-university healthcare staff).
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However, this integration does not cover all cases. Non-university healthcare staff, for example, still need to select “UNESS International and non-university accounts” from the dropdown menu of institutions, then enter the login and password received by email. This parallel pathway still generates confusion.
Connecting to SIDE Santé from abroad: restrictions and workarounds
Internships abroad, Erasmus mobility, and semesters outside the mainland pose a recurring problem. Since 2023-2024, connections to SIDE Santé from abroad are subject to enhanced security checks: systematic reCAPTCHA, geographical restrictions by IP address, and blocking of certain public VPNs.
A student interning at a partner university hospital in North Africa or North America may face a connection refusal, even though their credentials are perfectly valid. The error message does not always specify that the block is related to geolocation.
Using the institutional VPN
The solution documented by the IT departments of several faculties is to use the institutional VPN of their home university. This VPN assigns a French IP address and bypasses geographical restrictions without triggering anti-fraud filters.
- Check with the IT department of your faculty that the VPN is activated for your account before going abroad
- Test the connection to SIDE Santé via the VPN from France before leaving to identify any potential configuration issues
- Avoid commercial public VPNs (NordVPN, ExpressVPN), whose IP address ranges are often blacklisted by university platforms
Field reports vary on this point: some students report smooth connections from abroad without a VPN, while others are systematically blocked. The filtering policy seems to vary depending on the periods, especially during online exam sessions when checks become stricter.
User profile and internship validation on SIDES: common mistakes
Upon first connection, a window prompts users to fill in profile information: last name, first name, student number, specialty, year of study. The accuracy of this information determines the association with the correct educational resources and, for interns, the validation of internships.
A common mistake is entering a name different from that registered in the academic system (using a preferred name instead of the birth name, missing accents, forgotten hyphens). This discrepancy prevents the automatic association of the SIDE Santé profile with the university record.
Check the consistency between SIDE profile and administrative registration
The data entered in SIDE Santé must exactly match that of the university’s administrative registration. In case of doubt, the faculty’s administration can confirm the exact form of the name and student number recorded.
For interns who change their internship location during the year, updating the hospital attachment in SIDE Santé is not always automatic. Sometimes it is necessary to contact the UNESS pedagogical support unit at [email protected] to manually trigger the transfer.
Online exams and connection stability: technical precautions
The medical faculties of Lyon, Lille, and Nantes have documented specific technical protocols to limit blocks during exam periods. These recommendations, relayed by the TICE and IT departments between 2024 and 2025, target a concrete problem: loss of connection during the exam.
- Prefer a wired connection (Ethernet) over Wi-Fi, especially in university residences where bandwidth is shared
- Disable browser extensions (ad blockers, password managers) that may interfere with the platform’s rendering
- Connect at least fifteen minutes before the start of the exam to absorb any loading times related to high traffic
- Use an up-to-date browser (outdated versions of Firefox or Safari regularly cause compatibility issues with SIDES)
These precautions may seem basic, but reports from pedagogical councils show that the majority of incidents reported during exams are due to user-side problems, not server outages.
What to do in case of disconnection during an exam
The SIDES platform records answers as they are entered. A temporary disconnection does not result in losing already validated answers. Simply reconnect with the same credentials to resume where the session was interrupted. The timer, however, continues to run: immediately reporting the issue to the proctor allows for potential additional time to be considered.
The address sides.uness.fr/elearning remains the main entry point. For technical questions not resolved by the connection guides, the UNESS support unit ([email protected]) handles requests, with response times significantly increasing during exam periods.