In the health crisis we are experiencing, students of the UPF-UAB bachelor’s degree in Medicine and the bachelor’s degrees in Nursing at UPF affiliated centres, ESIMar and Tecnocampus, are supporting healthcare activities or infrastructures to address the pandemic.

More than 2,000 students of Medicine, organized through the Council of Medical Students of Catalonia (CEMCAT) and the Medical Association of Barcelona (CoMB), have formed a pool of volunteers and have put themselves at the disposal of the authorities.

From the UPF-UAB bachelor’s degree in Medicine, approximately 40 students are carrying out various support tasks. Among them, some sixth year students are performing healthcare monitoring tasks at healthcare centres. Several students with prior training in nursing are also doing so. Students from other years are working on administrative tasks, mainly as helpline telephonists and providing information to relatives. In addition, first-year students are also doing their bit by offering a babysitting service to look after the children of health personnel.  We should also mention that some students of the bachelor’s degree in Human Biology have also joined in, answering phone calls.

Their involvement in supporting tasks to help overcome the coronavirus health crisis goes far beyond their individual sense of responsibility. It is proof of their sense of citizenship and their vocation to help others”, said the dean of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Quim Gea.

“It is really is in such crisis situations that people prove what they are made of. We are very grateful for and moved by the response of our students from all courses. Their involvement in supporting tasks to help overcome the coronavirus health crisis goes far beyond their individual sense of responsibility. It is proof of their sense of citizenship and their vocation to help others”, said the dean of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Quim Gea.

The rector and the UPF Board of Management wish to thank the students of the University for their collaboration and support to all professionals who are dealing with this toughest of crises. It is difficult times like the ones we are experiencing that highlight the importance of putting the knowledge generated by and transferred from the universities at the service of society.

Students of ESIMar and Tecnocampus are putting everything into supporting healthcare centres

Mar Nursing School (ESIMar) has made some 100 4^th year students at the disposal of  the Mar Health Park (PSMar) and the Department of Health, and a further 80 from other years have put themselves forward as non-professional volunteers. The PSMar has hired students as assistant nurses, training them in safety measures, and who can resort to reference nurses who supervise and guide them.

María Dolores Bardallo, director of ESIMar, stresses “the professional responsibility and commitment shown by the students in such a critical situation”. She adds that “our position, in line with other universities, is that recruiting students should be the last resort. Students will work in units where there is a low risk of infection and safeguarding their skills level. Unfortunately, the reality of healthcare often exceeds the conditions of safety and they must deal with tasks that they would not otherwise tackle”. She concludes that “ultimately, we are seeking to ensure the safety of our students and the patients, as we are convinced that each and every one of the people who are providing direct assistance are themselves doing”.

These weeks, Tecnocampus, through the School of Health Sciences, is also throwing everything into supporting regional healthcare centres. Of the School’s 64 lecturers, 53 (82.8%) are now working in healthcare and, therefore, participating actively in the fight against this emergency. In addition, of the 288 students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree in Nursing, more than half (141) are working in healthcare tasks. Notably, among fourth year students, this percentage rises to 64.3% (70 students).