Of the 4,666 people who have applied for the Degree in Medicine at the University of Oviedo, only 147 will end up enrolled in these studies next year. And two thirds of those in the most prominent positions are not even Asturian students. Which offers a good reflection of how “expensive” the places in Medicine are sold. Despite this, the University of Oviedo considers it totally unfeasible to increase places due to the high cost involved. “Both in Medicine and Nursing studies, these costs have been studied and it has been estimated that the minimum increase per year, just by increasing the offer of these studies by 10 places, would be 300,000 euros a year,” the rector explained yesterday, Ignatius Villaverde.
Villaverde put these figures on the table to explain that the fact that the Medicine degree in Oviedo has 147 places -which does not even make it the studies with the most students- “is not a whim”, but the number that logistically can cover the University right now, and that increasing it entails the need for strong investments. “We would love to absorb all the demand, both from Asturian students and from other parts of Spain, but right now we don’t have the capacity to do so,” says Villaverde.
And everything is included in this logistics: “In the first place, there is an infrastructure limitation, we have the obligation to guarantee all University students a place in the classrooms,” explains the rector, who also adds that there is a teaching limitation, that is, in the teaching staff that is available and the teaching hours that this teaching staff can give: “we must be aware of how many groups each teacher can take on”.
The third problem that arises in order to increase the places would be the realization of clinical practices that includes the Degree in Medicine. “In the health field, internships are extremely important and must be carried out in the best conditions -recalls the rector- and they must also be carried out in Asturian health centres”.
Therefore, solving all these problems would imply strong economic investments. “The regional government would have to commit to investing a lot of money to be able to increase infrastructure, to hire more teaching staff in the health field and to expand the catalog of university hospitals in Asturias where internships can be carried out,” says the rector. Villaverde understands the problem and the frustration caused by so many students who are left out of the studies they want, but he states that “with the current situation, we have already reached the limit, we cannot expand further”.
The cut-off mark in Medicine following the publication of the first list of admitted students has been 13,354, the highest of all the studies at the University of Oviedo. Which is expected to be slightly reduced in subsequent publications. And with that cut-off mark, today 65% of students from outside Asturias would have guaranteed entry. The rector makes a positive reading of this figure, since he affirms that “these data confirm that there is an interest in the studies offered at the University of Oviedo” and that it is a “proud” to have “one of the best Faculties of medicine from all over the country. “The health branch in our University has a very high level of excellence and quality, our goal is to preserve it.” He also points out that the good results that year following year the MIR students who have studied in Oviedo contribute to this good reputation, and hence the great demand for studying at this faculty.
The University of Oviedo collaborates with the University of Huelva and hosts the exhibition “Contemporarte”
The “Contemporarte” contest, organized by the University of Huelva, lands at the University of Oviedo to present the exhibition that includes the 13 winning works of its thirteenth edition. Joaquina Castillo, vice-rector for Social and University Outreach at the Andalusian university, said yesterday at the inauguration that it is a satisfaction that her “most beloved and consolidated” project has been welcomed in Oviedo. In this “emerging artists’ shuttle”, young people from universities from all over Spain and also from abroad participate –this edition has had the participation of Morocco, the United States and Germany–. The exhibition can be visited until August 28 in the exhibition room of the Historic Building, which the vice-rector for University Extension and Cultural Projection, María Pilar García, has stated is “the emblem of the University of Oviedo” and “an open house” to host this type of collaboration.
