"One of the objectives of the University of Barcelona is to strengthen its presence in the hospital sector and, in doing so, across the wider territory," said the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, during the annual meeting held between the University and its affiliated healthcare institutions . The session, which took place on Wednesday 8 July in the Aula Magna of the Historic Building, served to strengthen ties and highlighted the power of collaboration.
The Rector thanked Ricardo Casaroli, special assistant for coordination with healthcare institutions, for his "tireless work" in strengthening the relationship between the UB and the healthcare institutions. Casaroli highlighted that the University has gone from having three university hospitals in 2021 to having eight at present. This powerful network is complemented by nine associated hospital centres, the Josep Finestres Foundation - manager of the Dental Hospital, the Podiatry Hospital and the UB Psychology Services Centre - and collaboration with 167 primary care centres. "Around 4,400 students undertake placements in this hospital network, where they are taught by almost 2,200 academic staff, a ratio of two students per tutor, which guarantees quality learning," said Casaroli.
The event continued with a round table on planetary health featuring Quique Bassat, general and scientific director at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and ICREA professor at the UB; Núria Casamitjana, director of training at ISGlobal and professor at the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; Jaume Duran, manager of the Mollet University Hospital and professor at the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Maria Teresa Sauras, vice-rector for Sustainability and Climate Action. The session also included a lecture by Gemma Marfany, professor of Genetics at the UB, on precision medicine applied to the detection of rare diseases in newborns.
The network of healthcare institutions affiliated with the UB includes everything from large hospitals of international standing to more specialized centres or those dedicated to primary care. The fields of study of the students at these centres are Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Psychology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Social Work, Social Education, Neurolinguistics, Dentistry and Podiatry.
