The University of Navarra’s School of Medicine has trained 11,477 students since 1954

The event, which took place in the Sports Center of the University of Navarra, began with a welcome from the University’s Rector, María Iráburu: “When reflecting on 70 years of the College, the memory of our graduates Pioneers, such as Luis María Santiago, Alvaro del Amo, and Eduardo Ortiz de LandazorI and others. Of course, also Juan Jiménez Vargas. The university president stressed “the originality of these pioneers who saw medicine with the utmost professionalism and the utmost humanity and always thought about patients,” which are the advantages of the college. He also stated that the more than 11,400 students who passed through his classrooms are “the invisible footprint of this college.” “It’s the best legacy because you’re providing a service to the community,” Maria Iraburu added.

Secondo Fernandez, Vice President for Academic Organization and former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, also participated in the meeting. During his speech, he reviewed seven decades of the college’s history, which They began with a class taught on October 8, 1954 in the Comptus Room in Navarra, with 25 students in attendance.. “From Juan Jiménez Vargas, one of the college’s pioneers, I learned how research should be done, how a teacher should be. I also learned the basic rules of the profession and the spirit of the university,” explained Secundino Fernández, recalling the man who was his mentor during his training.

Afterwards, a seminar was held that included Ramon Díaz and Inés Dorronsoro, spouses and students from the first and fifth batch, respectively, along with Santiago Martinez, the current Integrated Curriculum student. This new method was imposed in 2020 in collaboration with Harvard University, through which students learn “without medicine becoming watertight compartments, making it a whole,” Santiago Martinez explained.

“Something intangible makes students unique.”

“Today I want I pay tribute to all the people who make this college possible” Ramon Diaz began. Together with his wife, they reminisce about stories from their university days. “I have to give thanks because the university came for me and not for her. “It helped me grow as a person,” Ines Dorronsoro explained. “Although you now study with an integrated curriculum – as I spoke to Santiago Martínez – there is one thing that should not change, which is that this university defends the life and dignity of the person,” said Inés Dorronsoro.

The event concluded with a conversation between Marta Ferrer, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Joseba Campos, General Director of the University of Navarra Clinic, a reality that is “important and necessary for doctors, who must also learn at the bedside.” Campos quoted Eduardo Ortiz de Landazori, clinical practice promoter at the college.