- The course taught in the extreme north of Chile is one of the youngest in the country and with two generations of graduates it has shown outstanding results both in the EUNACOM and in the entrance competition for health services.
Among more than 1,800 applicants to the National Contest for Entry to the National Health Services System (CONISS), which grants scholarships for the training of specialists, two doctors graduated from the University of Tarapacá were among the 70 best in Chile in the 2024 version.
Likewise, 100% of the graduates of the program passed the Single National Examination of Medical Knowledge (EUNACOM) 2024, a theoretical and practical test that qualifies them to practice in the national territory.
Francisco Javier Villalobos Miranda obtained 41st place in the CoNNIS and from that prominent position he stated that “this result is super important because it allows me to select the scholarship I want, in the place I want and the return I want and not be dependent on the rest”.
According to what he said, the scholarship he is applying for is surgery at the University of Chile: “Since I started studying, it caught my attention, especially because it is practical, it is decisive, and throughout my career I have had different instances in the that I have been able to get closer to what it is to be a surgeon beyond the wards. I had the opportunity to publish a work in different surgical congresses, I participated in other presentations of clinical cases, I have also focused on the surgical area, I also worked as an assistant in the field of surgery.”
Regarding the training he receives at the UTA, the young doctor indicated that “the career is well positioned and having placed high in the CONIS proves it. We have teachers who are of excellence, we share with other universities, we are on par with the rest of Chile.”
This opinion is shared by her colleague Carla Bernales Buanca, a doctor who graduated from the University of Tarapacá, who stated that “the training and teaching that UTA has is very complete.” She also highlighted the result achieved in the contest: “it is already a dream to have graduated from the race, which was a very long road. And achieving a good place in the CONNIS contest is gratifying, it is not only grades, it is also research work. Have taken training courses, among other points that add up. So you really feel super complete.”
Regarding his plans, he said that “I want to stay here for a while in Arica. Give my service as a doctor, as a zone general and provide everything we learned these long seven years. Being able to contribute to the community. And later, God willing, to be able to specialize.
For her part, the dean of the Utarapacá Faculty of Medicine, Andrea Larrazabal, explained that “we are a new career with only two generations of graduates, 16 and 17 doctors for 2023 and 2024 respectively, and in both years we have had results. highlights that fill us with pride since we are very few teachers and few students in relation to other universities in Chile.
Meanwhile, the head of the program, Maggie Monzones, explained that “CONNIS is the mechanism through which the Minsal gives access to positions in the public health system, all recent graduates apply in said contest considering the curriculum they are generating. during the course of the race. For us, as one of the youngest medical programs in the country, it is of great satisfaction that our graduates are always well positioned, even with the clear possibility of taking specialization scholarships and that even so, faithful to our seal, they feel motivated to stay. as a doctor in the Destination and Training Stage, known as zone general physicians, strengthening primary care and medical care in the Arica and Parinacota Region.”
The CONISS is aimed at doctors who graduated in the last two years and through a scholarship, financed by the Ministry of Health, it covers the payment of registration, fees, monthly salary and other allowances and bonuses determined by law for doctors who choose to be a Primary Scholar, which corresponds to the recently graduated general practitioner who directly enters his training as a specialist.
There is also another route that corresponds to the Destination and Training Stage, where the newly graduated doctor works as a general practitioner for between 3 and 6 years and then opts for a ministerial scholarship to qualify for his specialty. These are the local general practitioners.
