Tomás Chivato: "We do not come to compete with the UIB, but to respond to the lack of professionals"

PalmaDr. Tomás Chivato, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at CEU San Pablo, is one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the center in Mallorca through CEU Beato Luis Belda, which will begin operating next academic year with degrees in Nursing, Physiotherapy, Psychology, and Medicine. He argues that the project is born with the aim of contributing to Balearic society and advocates for the coexistence of public and private universities as complementary models.

Why does CEU decide to establish itself in the Balearic Islands now and why with a project focused on Health Sciences?

— CEU is an institution with a long history, which, since 1973, has been training professionals in the healthcare field. It has progressively expanded its offerings with Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Biotechnology, and other related degrees. Over the years, the CEU group has grown in different autonomous communities and has identified a common need: the lack of well-trained healthcare professionals, with technical skills, but also with humanistic values, communication skills, and solid ethical principles.

— It was detected that the Balearic Islands did not have a private Faculty of Medicine. After analyzing it, and with the support of the Government, it was decided to promote the project there. We arrive with the illusion of more than 50 years training good professionals, competent both theoretically and practically, to respond to a real need: the shortage of health professionals, which is a global problem and requires collaboration at a state level.

What did you detect in the Balearic university and healthcare system that made you think there was space for a new faculty?

— The lack of professionals is evident. In the Balearic Islands, in the case of allergists, for example, their incorporation into public healthcare has been demanded for years and until recently there was not enough response. For decades, the Balearic Islands were the only community that did not have them, until a few years ago, with the current government. The problem is not only local, but global: there is a lack of generational renewal, professional burnout, lack of an attractive professional career, and a healthcare system with room for improvement.

The project arrives in a context of debate about private university. Does CEU enter to cover a gap or to compete with UIB?

— We are not here to compete with the UIB. We are here to respond to a problem of a lack of professionals. The UIB has a consolidated trajectory and a strong structure, just like us. There is no real competition, but rather different models that can coexist. What the CEU San Pablo University does is establish agreements for the training of students in hospital settings with Juaneda, and the UIB has its hospitals. The objective is the same: to train good professionals. The problem is global, and we all share the need to respond to it.

The project has been criticized for the speed of its processing and the declaration of strategic interest. Is it an 'express lane'?

— It has not been an express path. It has been many months of work. What has been done is to respond to a real need. We are not coming to replace anything, but to complement the existing offer. I would not speak of public or private universities as opposed, but rather that what should be looked at is which centers offer quality, regardless of ownership. There are many young people who have to leave the Balearic Islands to study Medicine. Now they can be given an alternative so that they can stay here.

How has the relationship with the Government and other institutions been?

— The relationship has been fluid and with good predisposition, not only with the Government, but also with the UIB, professional colleges and hospitals. Aspects such as the purchase and requalification of the headquarters of Beato Luis Belda, as well as other spaces necessary for the project, have also been facilitated. We come to add and collaborate with the whole system.

What will differentiate you from the UIB's proposal to get students to pay for a more expensive educational offer?

— It is not about being better or worse, but different. One of our commitments is the humanization of healthcare training. We have specific subjects, a chair, and an observatory dedicated to healthcare humanization, in addition to biomedical congresses. We also place great importance on clinical simulation, which allows students to train competencies in safe environments before treating real patients. This strengthens their preparation when they reach professional practice.

What would you say to someone who considers that this private model fragments or weakens the public university?

— Absolutely not. We live in a free country and each person can decide where to study. The coexistence between public and private universities is normal in many countries. It is not about replacing but complementing. Furthermore, we are an institution that offers an important state-level scholarship system to facilitate that if a student meets the profile, they can come to study with us.

Why do you think that at the beginning of the 2000s in Spain there were few private universities and now they are about to surpass public ones?

— Mainly due to the need to train more professionals. If the public system cannot provide enough response, complementary solutions must be sought. The key is not whether it is public or private, but the quality of the training and that the degrees are valid in Spain and Europe.

There are those who criticize that practices such as abortion and euthanasia are not incorporated into medical training.

— We have palliative care subjects, which is an area that needs further development and that unfortunately does not have a legal framework to support it. It is true that euthanasia and abortion are legal practices in certain cases, but from a medical and deontological point of view there is a deep debate. Medicine is a millennial profession, linked to the Hippocratic oath, which places the defense of life at its center. From this perspective, it is argued that euthanasia is not a medical act. The doctor cannot intentionally cause or collaborate in the death of a patient.

But a dignified death is a right.

— Nobody knows, but Adolf Hitler was the first to decriminalize euthanasia practices, with the aim of eliminating people considered a burden, such as the injured or disabled after World War I. It is necessary to clearly differentiate between what is legal, what is technically possible (such as creating a cocktail of drugs that lead to death), and what is ethically and deontologically acceptable. What should be done is to advocate for palliative care: there are still tens of thousands of people in Spain who do not have access to it. When one cannot cure, the goal must be to care for and accompany the patient.

How will the center be integrated into the sociolinguistic reality of the Balearic Islands?

— Common sense will prevail.Teaching will be done in Spanish, which is the authorized language of the project, but if there are groups where Catalan predominates, it will be adapted. They do not yet know what the language of our students will be nor in which they will feel most comfortable for the teaching staff. It is also planned to incorporate groups in English in the future. The objective is to guarantee effective communication and good training.

What impact do you expect to have on retaining young talent in the Balearic Islands?

— It will be possible to assess in a few years, when the first promotions end. The real challenge is also the system's ability to retain these professionals, because international competition is very high.

If you look back in ten years, what would you want to have been said about CEU in Mallorca?

— We would like the same to be said about other CEU campuses: that we train good professionals. That hospitals are satisfied with our graduates and that they find jobs and develop good careers. That would be the best recognition possible.