This is a full-time study programme due to the high volume of practical work involved. Classes are taught in the morning and afternoon alike. Students are expected to devote 45 hours a week to their studies during teaching periods (including face-to-face and online activity and personal study).
The bachelor’s degree in Medicine is specially designed to train highly qualified professionals who will be able to practise to an excellent standard in different health and medical fields ranging from primary care through hospital medicine and health management to biomedical research.
The bachelor’s degree is offered jointly with the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in a multidisciplinary biohealth environment at the Mar Health Park, a unique area with leading health facilities including the Hospital del Mar and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).
The programme is structured according to the following four major areas:
In-depth training in the biological, social and community bases of medicine and the development of competent clinical reasoning. Upon graduating, doctors will be able to make diagnoses and, through therapy, resolve situations involved in the day-to-day of a general practitioner Thus, it is essential to ensure that the students undertake the social and ethical commitment of the medical profession. This goal must be achieved through subjects that, in most cases, have been missing from the syllabuses of programmes in Medicine.
The human aspect of the medical profession: a doctor must have an understanding attitude towards health problems and their effects on people. It is therefore essential to come into contact with the reality of healthcare as of the first year of the programme: practical work at primary healthcare centres, hospital units and centres that provide social and health care, among other kinds of facilities.
Specific training (optional subjects): medical research, clinical medicine in hospitals, clinical medicine in the community, surgery, neurosciences and healthcare management.
Introduction to biomedical research: participation in the work of research groups of UPF, the UAB or the Mar Health Park, and The drafting of a research-oriented bachelor's degree final project.
The objective of the bachelor's degree programme in Medicine is to produce versatile doctors capable of practising their profession to an excellent standard in different fields, ranging from primary healthcare to specialized medical treatment in hospitals, healthcare management and biomedical research.
Competences to be acquired
Working with professional principles, attitudes, conduct and ethics.
Being aware of the scientific basis of medicine.
Having communication skills.
Having clinical skills.
Being familiar with health systems and the population's health.
Making use of information.
Thinking critically and in a manner that befits a researcher.
Practical training is a crucial part of the programme. A lot of hard work is needed to fulfil its learning objectives related to practical skills.
While all the programme's teaching activities are compulsory, attending a subject's practical classes is essential in order to pass it. The programme envisages a great deal of practical activity besides the said classes.
The faculty encourages students to study or carry out research in other countries. In addition to the standard exchange programmes (e.g. ERASMUS), the course's curriculum provides for a term of mobility so that students who undertake a study period at another university (be it in Spain or abroad) can gain automatic academic recognition for a significant number of credits. The faculty also promotes summertime research activity at other universities. Almost all its students have undertaken such research periods, most of them abroad.
Medical practitioner in public and/or private health systems, after completing the corresponding specialized training.
Other possibilities include careers in biomedical research, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, public health or healthcare management, after obtaining specific training through official master's degree or PhD programmes.
