In Andalusia there is a lack of doctors. It is one of the reasons given by the Andalusian Government to explain the saturation in health centers and hospitals, where waiting lists have lengthened in the last year.. Professional groups share the argument and also warn that the problem will get worse in the coming years..

If it is already difficult to fill positions in some areas, it will be practically impossible when a massive replacement has to be found.. 35% of active Andalusian doctors are over 55 years old, so more than a third of Andalusian professionals will retire over the next decade. The data forces Andalusia, like the rest of Spain, to urgently train new doctors. And that determination has caused one of the controversies of the week in the community.

The Loyola University of Seville started this week a new degree in Medicine in the middle of the course. On Tuesday, the private entity received the approval of the Governing Council of the Board and only 24 hours later it summoned the 60 students of the first class to its facilities.. Many came from other careers in the health field and even from other universities in Spain, where they were able to access Medicine in September. However, they decided to return to Andalusia to start classes the next day at the new faculty, located in Dos Hermanas (Seville)..

There is no time to lose in a course that began at the end of November, almost three months behind the rest of the degrees.. The decision, “unprecedented and exceptional”, has been criticized by all the rectors of the Andalusian public universities, since it will worsen “the quality of the education received” by future doctors.. Loyola, however, has promised an intensive course, practically without pause, to bring its students up to date..

The explanations of this private university have not convinced the rectors of the public university, who also question the legality of starting the course without obtaining approval from the State.. “It is not legally viable,” they stated in a forceful statement..

The Andalusian Minister of Universities himself, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, stated that the start of classes was “premature”, since Loyola still does not have the mandatory endorsement of the Council of Ministers and the consequent publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE). ).

🔵Communication from the Association of Andalusian Public Universities (AUPA) of absolute rejection of the escalation of war that is taking place in the Middle East and its resounding condemnation of the attacks suffered by the civilian population pic.twitter.com/l50KYLhm4V

— Pablo de Olavide (@pablodeolavide) November 23, 2023

The private university defends the legality of the operation and recalls the urgency to “meet the demand for professionals” and “avoid the flight of young talent from Andalusia”.

As explained by the Department of Universities, the career of Medicine is, today, the most in demand in the community.. With a cut-off grade that reaches 13.54 in Seville, the province where this private degree will also be taught, only the students with the best grades can access the degree..

The new degree in Medicine, the first private degree in Andalusia, has become the most expensive at the entire Loyola University: the first year alone will cost 14,000 euros for each of the students in the first promotion. There are 60 young people chosen after passing an admission test carried out in April of last year, even before completing the selectivity exam.. Up to 700 candidates came to take this test.

And the MIR?

Given the demand of students, the Government of Spain has already announced the financing of new places in public universities to alleviate the “deficit” and “strengthen the National Health System”. However, the communities have also been demanding the expansion and flexibility of places offered for the MIR, so that there do not end up being graduates who are left out of the system and unfilled specialties.. Throughout Spain, 4,000 graduates were left without a MIR place this year, to which some 12,000 candidates applied for a total of 8,000 positions..

In any case, despite passing the test, dozens of health workers opted for another path. In Andalusia, of the 1,051 doctors who finished the MIR this year, 37 did not join and 13 resigned. Many of them had vacancies for family and community medicine, one of the specialties where the most doctors are needed.. Students prefer specialization in hospitals and the most difficult positions to fill represent an even greater problem in the medium term. According to data from the Andalusian Ministry of Health, of the 6,800 retirements planned in the coming years, 2,900 will be family doctors.

In this report by Hector G. Barcelona, several professional associations deny that the opening of new Medicine courses is the solution to the problem, especially at a time when the offer of MIR places once again exceeds that of undergraduate degrees.. “We do not need more doctors [with a career], which we have in excess, but rather specialists in some specific geographical areas,” the experts explain..

In the case of Andalusia, family doctors, anesthetists, neurologists and psychiatrists are needed. These are specialties in which there is no staff to cover the casualties, which is why the Board has been demanding a modification or relaxation of the criteria for the accreditation of new teaching units in the MIR.. In family medicine, for example, Andalusia will call for 434 places: it is an insufficient number to respond to demand, but it is the limit allowed by the State.