Spain has one of the oldest GP programmes in Europe, with more than 30 years of experience. Spanish is a worldwide spread language that attracts many people to get to know it. Furthermore, Spanish people and our outgoing culture pull toward millions of tourists to visit our country. How is General Practice Training in Spain?

To enter any Specialty training in Spain, including General Practice, you should have passed the Medical National Exam after University (called MIR), organised by the Ministry of Health. Depending on the mark you may choose desired specialty and Deanery.

From 1978 until 2005 it was a three years vocational postgraduate training programme. From 2005 it became a four years based programme, where rotations in both General Practice and Hospital based (medical and surgical specialties) are present.
The Specialty training is organised within multi-professional teaching Deaneries where both general practice nursing trainees and general practice medical trainees are learning one beside the other.

You will have a GP trainer / educational supervisor who will monitor you along the 4 years of training. Even though you´re not doing your general practice rotation your GP trainer is available to share experiences and look for advice.

We all have a paper-based portolio (called "libro blanco") where all competencies you are supposed to acquire during each rotation are described. This portfolio has been developed by the Ministry of Health.

Apart from your clinical duties, there are other compulsory courses / modules you have to attend in order to acquire a standard of skills. These include communication skills and interviewing, clinical courses and research methodology.

Since the new 4 years programme has been stablished, you should develop a research project during your last year of training to be qualified as a GP. We hope this might make a difference in General Practice Academia in a long-term

Although there are several scientific societies, semFYC (Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine) is the only one with international representation and is the responsible of Hippokrates in Spain. It has the major representation of Spanish GPs with more than 20000 members. It is responsible for the development of national Clinical Guidelines for General Practice, in collaboration with other scientific boards. It has also a broad offer of learning modules, both presential and online, accredited for CPD, including an innovative Master of Research in Primary Care (with the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona).
www.semfyc.es

If you want to know more about our training, please go the document below.

How is the Health System in Spain?

It is a public universal system free for all Spanish citizens and residents. All services are covered through national central taxes paid from workers on their wages and pensions and therefore you don´t have to pay a fee.

The GP is the gatekeeper of the system and many of the major health problems are dealt within General Practice.
General Practices is organised in Health Centers where GPs, nurses, primary care paediatricians and administrative staff work. A GP and a nurse work always in pairs and they share patients list. When you register within a practice you will be always seen by the same GP and the same nurse, except if they´re on annual leave or any other issues such as sick leave. In this case, you will be then allocated to any of the other members of the team.
Distric nurses don´t exist and the home visits are done by your same GP and nurse who visit you in the practice.
Each GP usually has a list size between 1500 and 2000 patients, with a maximum of 2400 established per law.

There are standards of quality of care and clinical protocols to be followed, all grouped in what we call "Preventive activities and health promotion", including chronic patient care, women´s health, paediatrics reviews, care of the elderly, polimedicated patient, palliative care, etc. although incentives are not really paid for these.

There are some other services such as baby clinics, immunisations, minor surgery, and in some practices physiotherapy and dental care.

If you want to know more about our system, please go to the document below.

Hippokrates programme in Spain?
All Health Centers involved in the programme are Teaching GP practices, accredited for postgraduate training. 

If you are interested in having an experience in a Spanish Health Centre, please don´t hesitate in contacting us. We promise a well organised teaching opportunity along with nice tapas and good weather!

In the same way, If you want to participate receiving guests at your Health care centre in Spain, contact the National Exchange Coordinator for Spain.

National Exchange Coordinator for Spain

Contact: internacional@semfyc.es 
 

Attached Documents