The UVic-UCC and the 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation promote pioneering research to train the doctors of the future

Jaume Giró, the general manager of the 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation, and the president of the Foundation for Advanced Health Sciences Studies (FESS), Josep Arimany, with the rector of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Jordi Montaña, and the president of the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation (FUB) and the mayor of Vic, Anna Erra, have presented the new partnership agreement to promote research by the new Faculty of Medicine, and the implementation of its network of laboratories throughout the first year of the bachelor's degree in Medicine.

Arimany explained that "in the 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation, the Faculty of Medicine has found the partner it needs to achieve excellence in teaching and research. We want to train the doctors of the future and this agreement allows us to take a giant step towards achieving this." Meanwhile, the general manager of the 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation, Jaume Giró, said that "our involvement in the FESS reaffirms the commitment by the 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation to the search for solutions to some of the health problems that affect a large part of society. Investing in research is one of our institution's priorities, as it is one of the keys to generating progress and wealth in societies."

At the cutting edge in digital anatomy: multitouch screens and 3D images

As a result of this agreement, the Faculty of Medicine of the UVic-UCC has become the first in Spain to have a 3D anatomical display table in the human anatomy laboratory. The SECTRA table, which is used in more than 40 centres worldwide, is an educational tool for teaching and research in studies in the Health Sciences branch, and has extensive multidisciplinary application in all fields, in both basic research and in clinical areas. SECTRA is a software package that works using images of real clinical cases that can be viewed in 3D. This system enables students, residents and professionals in the healthcare and clinical network in central Catalonia to have a more accurate vision of the anatomy of the human body, and the functions and processes that take place within it. The table includes a digital anatomical atlas which allows virtual dissections to be used for teaching purposes and by professionals, since doctors wishing to do so can transfer their own cases to the digital dissection table to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Donations to science and for the benefit of society

The 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation has also been a partner in the design and construction of the Laboratories of Histology and Pathological Anatomy, Microbiology, and Human Anatomy and Osteology. The latter works with real bodies thanks to voluntary donations from society, and will enable future healthcare professionals to train and conduct research in various fields for the benefit of society. Professionals who are doing their doctorate and forensic doctors can also do research in this area. The bones of donors will also be catalogued here to improve subsequent research.

Ageing and chronicity and the fight against AIDS - the key areas in the Bachelor's degree course

With this agreement, the Faculty of Medicine will have cutting-edge research facilities for carrying out research in the areas of ageing and chronicity, the fight against AIDS, new technologies adapted to health and health management and education. These are knowledge areas in which the UVic-UCC has expertise through its chairs of the field of health sciences: the chairs in Palliative Care, AIDS, ICT Health, Social Services and Bioethics.

The Faculty is based at Can Baumann, at Carretera de Roda, number 70, in Vic. It currently occupies an area of 2,700 square metres spread over three floors. The top floor is occupied by the offices of administrative and teaching staff, the second floor by multipurpose classrooms and study areas, and the dissection laboratory where the anatomical digital dissection table has been installed is on the ground floor. The UVic-UCC Faculty of Medicine has 87 students registered for this first academic year.