Bachelor's degree in Medicine

Presentation

Teaching goals

The general teaching goals that students must achieve on this degree course are as follows:

• Acquisition of professional values, attitudes and ethical behaviour by means of a recognition of the essential characteristics of the medical profession, the application of the principle of social justice, work as a professional with respect for the patient's autonomy and the recognition of one's own limitations, and awareness of the need to update one's own professional skills with autonomous learning of new knowledge.
• Learning of the scientific foundations of medicine, especially the structure and workings of the human body in the molecular, cellular, tissue and organic fields; the basis of human conduct; the effects of disease on the organism; the causal factors of disease and the fundamentals of therapeutic action according to the scientific tests available.
• Acquisition of the clinical skills that enable diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases, and preparation of a clinical history, the undertaking of a physical and mental examination, the production of diagnoses, dealing with urgent situations, the establishment of preventive measures and experience to be acquired in various healthcare areas.
• Acquisition of the communication skills that enable relevant information to be obtained regarding patients' problems; effective understanding of patients' concerns; explanation of health problems in an understandable and empathetic manner, and communication with the media and other professionals.
• Knowledge of the principles of public health and the healthcare system, especially the determining factors of health, prevention and protection against disease, forming part of professional teams, the use of epidemiological data, knowledge of Spanish healthcare systems and international organisations.
• Critical command of biomedical information  that enables correct judgements to be reached, as well as the correct use of information technologies and patients' information and records.
• Development of the skills that enable professional work focusing on research, with the acquisition of scientific thought applied to the detection and solving of healthcare problems.

Description of the course

The objective of the degree in Medicine is to train multi-skilled doctors able to work professionally in various areas. The studies are organised in the following four major areas:

• In-depth training in the biological, social and community-based foundations of medicine. In order to achieve this, in-depth knowledge of the disciplines of new biology which will enable the diagnostic and therapeutic breakthroughs of the future to take place is necessary. Special consideration of the underlying social foundation of disease and the population facets of health is also essential.
• Development of competent clinical reasoning. The years in the clinical cycle do not merely involve an accumulation of decontextualised knowledge without an appropriate understanding of how it is to be applied in clinical practice. When they graduate, the doctors must be able to diagnose and therapeutically resolve situations which are part of the normal practice of general practitioners due to their prevalence and importance.
• Social commitment and ethics in the medical profession. This is a key objective for new graduates that must be achieved by training in areas that have generally been absent in explicit terms from Medicine syllabuses, and in broad-based teaching in the other subjects that are already part of the course.
• A humanist attitude to the profession. A doctor will not be a good professional if he/she does not have a view of her work that goes beyond the biological consideration of disease. In order to understand patients better, it is necessary to have in-depth knowledge of the importance of falling ill and the various ways in which illness is culturally interpreted. It is also necessary to have a willingness to understand situations created by a loss of health and how this affects people.

In order to achieve this objective, the degree in Medicine contains various teaching innovations:

• Early contact with the realities of healthcare from the first year onwards: internships in primary healthcare, in hospital teams and in public health centres, among other areas.
• Inclusion of the basic and clinical disciplines starting in the first year: availability of specific subjects to make this possible.
• Use of active teaching methodologies: use of problem-based learning, teaching dossiers and the clinical case method.
• Mobility programme: opportunities to undertake internship programmes in European and North American centres.
• Availability of specific training blocs: in experimental medicine, in hospital clinical medicine, in community clinical medicine, in surgery, neurosciences and health management.
• Inclusion of English as a third language: presence of subjects taught in this language.
• Introduction to biomedical research: inclusion in research groups at the UPF, UAB and the Hospital del Mar.

Skills acquired by graduates in Medicine

• Professional values, attitudes, behaviour and ethics
• Scientific foundations of medicine
• Communication skills
• Clinical skills
• Knowledge of public health and healthcare systems
• Ability to use information
• Critical and investigative thought

Career prospects

A medical career in the public and private healthcare system after the appropriate specialist training has been completed. Other opportunities are a professional career in the biomedical research field, the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry, public health and health management, after taking specific training programmes by means of official master's degrees and doctorate programmes.

Tracks

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Community Medicine
• Biomedical Research
• Neurosciences
• Health Management