The cooperative movement at the service of social medicine
The eighteenth edition of the program consolidates a flagship initiative that, since 2008, has benefited 564 professionals with a cumulative investment of nearly 530,000 euros.
In a context of constant scientific and technological evolution within the medical sector, supporting ongoing academic training remains a fundamental pillar for ensuring care excellence. Assistència Sanitària presented the diplomas for the eighteenth edition of its postgraduate grant program in health sciences last July. The initiative reaffirms the organization's commitment to continuing education, professional excellence, and the improvement of the healthcare system.
The institutional ceremony was held at the Hospital de Barcelona and was chaired by the President of Assistència Sanitària, Dr. Ignacio Orce, and the Vice President of SCIAS, Mr. Martí Llorach. The event also featured the participation of Dr. Rosa Delgado, Head of Management Control at Assistència Sanitària, and Dr. Paula Saludes, Medical Director of the Hospital de Barcelona. The session included an academic lecture titled Reflections on the future of medical care, delivered by Dr. Carlos Humet, who served as Medical Director of the Hospital de Barcelona for over three decades. During his address, Dr. Orce congratulated the grant recipients and emphasized the value of lifelong learning, stating that artificial intelligence can be a great ally, but without well-trained and constantly updated professionals, it is impossible to deliver the best healthcare.
In this year's call, the entity awarded a total of 33 grants with an overall funding of 30,367.96 euros, aimed at financing fifty percent of the tuition for master's and postgraduate programs in health sciences taught at Catalan universities. This edition registered 300 applications, a figure that confirms the prestige and consolidation of the initiative among healthcare professionals seeking to expand their specialized training.
The diversity of the profiles received reflects the cross-disciplinary nature of healthcare professions. Among the applications, nursing students predominated with thirty-five percent of the total, followed by psychology with sixteen percent and medicine with eight percent, alongside candidates from physiotherapy, dentistry, nutrition, biotechnology, biomedicine, pharmacy, and biochemistry. Regarding the final awards, the majority went to nursing with fifteen recipients and medicine with eleven, followed by psychology with four, while biomedicine, pharmacy, and dentistry accounted for one recipient each. Furthermore, nineteen of the thirty-three beneficiaries maintain a prior connection with the insurance organization or its hospital environment. The Selection Board, composed of representatives from Assistència Sanitària and the Hospital de Barcelona, highlighted the high academic standard and professional strength of the submitted candidacies.
Since its inception in 2008, the grant program by Assistència Sanitària has established itself as one of the leading private initiatives supporting third-cycle studies in the healthcare field in Spain. Across its eighteen editions, the call has received 4,813 applications, granted 564 awards, and reached a cumulative investment of nearly 530,000 euros.
The initiative was established with the goal of fostering scientific progress and high qualification among healthcare professionals in close collaboration with Catalan universities. Dr. Orce recalled that both Assistència Sanitària and SCIAS maintain an uninterrupted commitment to training health professionals and announced that, given the program's maturity and success, the organization is considering increasing the financial allocation in future editions to further strengthen support for key strategic educational fields.
Featuring FC Barcelona players, the new creative concept reinforces the entity's positioning as a benchmark among medical professionals. The slogan "Number 1 for those who know" highlights a unique model, created and led by doctors.