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Navarro (UA), Mazón (GVA), and Ruiz (UMH) will meet this Monday. DA
First Three-Way Meeting to Establish 'Pax Romana' on Medicine in Alicante

First Three-Way Meeting to Establish 'Pax Romana' on Medicine in Alicante

Rectors of the two public universities in the province meet with the President of the Generalitat seeking consensus and agreements for the future of both degrees

Adrián Mazón

Alicante

Lunes, 13 de enero 2025, 08:15

Solomonic justice arrived in the province of Alicante to bring peace before Christmas. The Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of the Valencian Community ruled on the legality of the decree that authorized the teaching of the Medicine degree at the University of Alicante.

Its rector, Amparo Navarro, used this biblical parable—with a reinterpretation favorable to both parties, including the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, which filed a lawsuit against these studies—at the start of this academic year.

The professor embraced this scenario and presented her vision: King Solomon "would have it very easy," she noted. The explanation was simple, as the child would not have to be split in two and share its halves with each party. In this case, the children are two and "they are alive and can walk together."

This was the verdict handed down by the TSJ, which also dismissed the appeal filed by the UMH against these studies, emphasizing that the documents and procedures that allowed the return of the Medicine degree to the UA were executed with full legality.

Thus, after learning of the court ruling, the rector of the UA has emphasized in various interventions that the issue now focuses on "turning the page" on this chapter, paving the way for new paragraphs that allow for coexistence between the degrees of both universities and, above all, collaboration between educational, academic, and health institutions.

To reach this agreement, it is necessary to have the will of all parties, as Navarro has repeatedly stated. Both universities, through their rectors, have shown their intentions and highlighted this word, "there is willingness," on various occasions. However, there are several issues to address to make it effective.

In order to seal the 'Pax Romana', a period of tranquility and harmony between the campuses of San Vicente and Elche, the Generalitat has convened a first three-way meeting this Monday to discuss new controversies that have arisen following the TSJ ruling.

Although the Consell withdrew from the judicial process, emphasizing through the Universities' official that the decree had "numerous irregularities," President Carlos Mazón—who stressed that if the court overturned these studies, he would reinstate them to protect the rights of the 136 students—now seeks concord.

In this regard, he has called a meeting at 9:30 a.m. this Monday between the three pillars that support the direction of this discipline in the province: the Generalitat as the administration that will validate decisions, the University of Alicante as interested in expanding its economic and teaching resources, and the Miguel Hernández University to open up to collaborations.

With the ruling in hand, there is little left to dispute. This little is pending the UMH's decision on whether to file a cassation appeal in the Supreme Court. This would prolong the agony of a war whose battles have already yielded results: the viability of Medicine at the UA.

To calm tensions and move away from the courts, the Generalitat wants to open a new dialogue process that allows for finding solutions. Among them, the one proposed after the withdrawal, the creation of a provincial inter-university campus of Health Sciences.

On this, the UMH has shown its favorable view, while the UA presents reservations by insisting that the solution lies in collaboration and sharing resources. Among them, the one that has generated the most controversy in recent weeks: clinical internships in hospitals.

This is another point to be addressed during this Monday's meeting between the three parties. The UMH has agreements with the main public hospitals in the province—General of Alicante, Sant Joan, and General of Elche—and must authorize UA students to intern there.

These are assured in others, those already mentioned in the accreditation report of the studies—Vinalopó of Elche, Torrevieja, and other private centers—although the San Vicente campus wants to expand its internship offer, both in those already agreed upon and in others pending.

Regarding the coexistence of students from both universities, the rector of the UA has already offered her argument, based on the same system they use for the Master's in Secondary and Vocational Training Teaching. The different centers are distributed among institutions, just as it happens—beyond borders—in Madrid, where each university has a reference center.

Collaboration also involves other options, as the Alicante institution does with other private ones like CEU and Europea, by granting and authorizing their Nursing degree internships at the Doctor Balmis General Hospital of Alicante.

This will not focus solely on hospital centers, but aims to go further as happens in the field and discipline of Law, by having shared resources between both academic institutions, such as faculty and research groups.

Thus, the first face-to-face meeting between the two heads of the UA and UMH, along with the President of the Generalitat, will seek this mutual consensus. In case of refusal, it will be Mazón who intervenes through directives to the Ministry of Health, an agency that—according to the rector of the UA in an interview with TodoAlicante—must "harmonize" internships and distribute hospitals.

This is another example of how times have advanced and administrations and laws must adapt to them. The Royal Decree 1558/1996 of June 28, which establishes the general bases of the concert regime between Universities and health institutions, does allow sharing hospitals through the authorization of the already agreed center. However, various voices call for its reform.

This will depend on the Government of Spain; and who knows if the next meeting will include representation from the Ministry of Science and Universities. Meanwhile, the demands continue before this first meeting, such as funding.

An issue to address, beyond this meeting focused on Medicine, is the multi-annual funding plan, which will allow the public institutions of the Valencian Community to plan their financial reports for a decade, with a view to implementing medium and long-term policies, including improving and expanding studies and, also, infrastructures, while ensuring efficiency in research resources and guaranteeing stability and sustainability, as well as a new respite for the campuses.

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