The project for teaching the Medicine degree in the area by the Provincial University of the Southwest has just seen its first results, following the students of the first cohort of studies, which began their curriculum in 2017, took the final exam .
The new professionals studied -almost entirely- in the area, at the Pigüé and Coronel Suárez offices, and carried out their professional practices in the municipal hospitals of both cities. To this first group of eight students – already doctors today – another 17 will be added at the end of 2023, which is currently finishing the fifth year of the degree.
Several of the brand new doctors, coming from these two cities, as well as others from Puan, Darregueira and Guaminí, will remain working in their towns of origin. Others, meanwhile, will continue studying some medical specialization.
For this, talks are already underway so that in the two venues of the race, quotas for medical residences are opened in municipal hospitals.
However, and beyond recognizing that the program has been more than positive and that the possibility of continuing the educational project has been discussed, for the moment the house of higher studies is not contemplating the possibility of opening a new cohort and give continuity to the educational project in the area, at least as soon as possible.
The logistical issue is the main argument: teaching theoretical and practical classes requires a constant movement both to and from Pigüé and Coronel Suárez of teachers and students, in addition to the trips that must be made to Bahía Blanca, and also finding professionals who can teach the subjects.
The students from the area did their professional practices in the municipal hospitals of Pigüé and Coronel Suárez.
“We are not thinking of the immediate opening of another cohort; we have to analyze it very well -he admits to “The new one.” Julieta Turani, dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences and Health-. It’s not that you don’t want to continue, but it has been complex to implement the degree in the region, and to articulate that the student has the same possibilities as in Bahia”.
In this regard, he points out that the curriculum has “a very high demand for professionals who are teachers”, which has not been so easy to meet at the Pigüense and Suarense campuses.
“It is a career with complex logistical requirements every day, with transfers from Pigüé to Coronel Suárez -and vice versa-, in addition to other students and professionals who travel from other places, to which are added internships and face-to-face seminars in Bahía White. It requires daily coordination and investment, with a great effort from both the UPSO and the Universidad Nacional del Sur”, he explains.
The logistics issue is UPSO’s main reason to explain why, for now, there will be no new cohorts.
Turani explains that, in any case, this does not mean that careers related to the health area will stop being taught in the area. Among them are the career of Professional Nursing, the technical degree in Therapeutic Accompaniment and the University Diploma in Prehospital Emergencies; for the latter, a previous degree in medicine or nursing is required as a prerequisite.
“We also incorporated a cycle of curricular complementation for the degree in Psychopedagogy. In addition, from next year there will be training for professionals in the care of the elderly, in Puan”, he comments.
Finally, he highlighted that in the Medicine career a long-awaited point was reached.
“It does not mean that it is the end. We have peace of mind in terms of the academic quality and the graduates we have,” he concludes.
Registration for races and scholarships
The inscriptionss for the 2023 academic year at UPSO are open until February 28, 2023, the day on which the scholarship application period will also close.
are offered three types of scholarships: maintenance and lodging; transportation, and study promotion.
The first It aims to finance the accommodation and maintenance of people who, not residing in the town where the degree is taught and with the exclusive purpose of pursuing their studies, adopt a temporary residence in that town.
The second finances the transportation of people who, not residing in the town where the course is held, travel regularly to it from their place of origin.
The last seeks to encourage the study of those people who reside in the town where the degree is taught in person, or who are studying a degree that is taught in a distance mode, so that they can cover minor expenses inherent to the study.