“I am more afraid of the exam than of catching the Covid”, was one of the most repeated phrases yesterday at the Tafira University Campus in the capital of Gran Canaria half an hour before the celebration of the oppositions of Specialized Sanitary Training. And it is that the nervousness and the uncertainty carried out a decisive day for the 1,149 people, 597 in Las Palmas and 552 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who appeared yesterday for the test in the Islands. Throughout Spain, 28,714 people apply for a total of 10,634 places for the specialties of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physics, psychology, biology or chemistry. So only 37% of them have options to get one. In the Archipelago, the offer was 414 places.
The Covid did cause afraid the applicants the days before the exam, since the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, assured last Thursday that the test was “unique” and stressed that, “once done, the questions are published”, so opponents who are infected with coronavirus will not have the option to present themselves until the next call. “Testing positive these days translated into losing a year and a half of your life, that is scary,” said Juan Francisco Tirados, a 25-year-old who appeared for the first time at the Medicine test with “all the hope.” of the world”. No last minute review, no questions to friends. The minutes before the exam are to “laugh and thus fool the nerves,” explained Tirados, who decided not to reveal his preferences when choosing a specialty for fear of “failing” his options.
neither wanted get wet about your future position Marina García, a young doctor who decided to repeat the exam after not being satisfied with her position last year. The Canarian considered it “unfair” that those infected lose “all their options” and demanded that “alternatives be proposed that prevent the positives from hiding their illness in order to present themselves with all the other applicants.”
The exam, which was held at the same time in 28 locations across the country, consisted of 210 questions and lasted four and a half hoursTherefore, respect for health measures was one of the main objectives of the Ministry of Health. To this end, more than 2,000 people collaborated, exercising the functions of center delegates, auditors and members of the Examination Tables or members of the seven Qualifying Commissions.
The Covid not only conditioned the nervousness of the days before the exam, it has also marked the interest of the candidates to continue their studies in the health branch. Some affirm that the pandemic has increased their “desire” and others, on the contrary, recognize that the wear and tear of workers in the sector “disappoints” them. Daniel Sánchez, a young 22-year-old nurse, is in the first group since he considers that the Covid has served to value his profession. “Before we were invisible and now people know that we are essential to get ahead in critical situations like the one we have experienced,” said the aspiring community nurse yesterday. On the contrary, Silvia Cubero, another young nurse who has been practicing for a few years, lamented that many people still underestimate the daily work of Primary Care health workers. “We receive calls from people insulting us every day, they don’t take into account the hard work we do and you don’t want to dedicate yourself to this,” Cubero acknowledged minutes before entering the test. Both health workers agreed that working conditions in Spain are “improvable” and assured that they do not rule out “moving” to other regions.
The Ministry of Health called for this year «record supply», after three consecutive years of increase. In total, the number of places has increased by 3.8% compared to last year (385 more places) and 9% compared to 2019. 7% of the places are reserved for people with an equal or higher degree of disability to 33% (745 places in total).
Specifically, in the Medicine degree, the offer is 8,188 places (increase of 2.5%), of which 573 places are reserved for people with disabilities. The specialty with the greatest offer is Family and Community Medicine with 2,336 places. 13,060 doctors aspire to them. 52% of applicants to Spanish universities completed their studies in 2021.
The Nursing degree offer amounts to 1,822 places, 8.3% more than in the previous call, of which 128 are reserved for people with disabilities. The Nursing specialty with the greatest offer of vacancies is Family and Community Nursing with 748 vacancies (increase 8.1%). The number of Nursing applicants is 7,915. In the rest of the degrees, the offer is 309 places in Pharmacy and the number of applicants is 1,711, 204 places offered for degrees in the field of Psychology and 4,435 applicants, 46 places offered in Biology and 1,107 applicants, 43 places in Physics and 245 applicants and 22 places in Chemistry attended by 241 applicants.
Despite the progressive increase in the number of seats, many opponents have been left out in previous years, this is the case of Cubero who has accumulated four attempts. Others manage to enter the list but not in the desired position, it is the example of Catalina De Alejabeitia, an aspiring pediatrician who decided to apply for a second time to achieve a “better position”. There are also cases in which destiny prevails over specialty, such as that of Eduardo Santana, a 34-year-old nurse who appears for the first time with the handicap that he is only “looking” for a place in the Canary Islands because he does not want to “separate” from his two children. And he also prefers to stay in the Archipelago, Etienne Lozano, a young doctor who is clear that his destiny passes through the Hospital Insular de Gran Canaria. “You can’t find the quality of life here anywhere else,” he explains.
