A commission to work on the design and creation of the unprecedented School of Medicine of the Arturo Prat University (UNAP) was established in Iquique, convened and led by the governor of Tarapacá, José Miguel Carvajal, and the rector of UNAP, Alberto Martínez Quezada.
The Iquique Medical College, management and academic authorities of the UNAP, directors of the Iquique and Alto Hospicio hospitals, professionals from the Regional Government, the Seremi de Salud and representatives of the Iquique Clinic and Tarapacá Clinic participated.
The multi-sector coordination and collaboration event – which will generate proposals to improve and strengthen the health of Tarapacá – took place at the “Victoria” Regional Social Project Accelerator Center, in the same commune of Iquique.
MEDICAL SPECIALTIES
The commission will also work on a parallel project to finance scholarships for medical specialties in the short term, and training of health and technical level personnel (TENS).
During the activity, it was highlighted that Tarapacá continues to be one of the three regions of Chile without a School of Medicine. And to reverse that, the initiative will be promoted through the Special Plan for Extreme Zones (PEDZE), as part of the portfolio of projects that the Regional Government will present to the central level.
HUMAN CAPITAL
“Together with the rector of UNAP we are promoting initiatives that allow us to care about the human capital of an area as sensitive to the community as health. Therefore, we hope that this coordination that has begun will allow us to talk not only about a School of Medicine, but also allows us to talk about the formation of human capital that we know is vital for the health of the population,” explained Governor José Miguel Carvajal.
HISTORICAL
The rector Alberto Martínez assured that the formation of this body is a regional historical milestone. “The first step to be able to have a School of Medicine in Tarapacá is recorded in the history of the region and the University. A desire, a historical need of our region and that, together with the regional government, led by the governor, the Arturo Prat University and the different actors in our territory related to health, we have met at a fairly large table to begin to build in a participatory manner,” said the rector.
“Those of us who make up this table are very happy with the commitment to work on the projects as soon as possible. There is a great commitment from the government through the governor and the Arturo Prat University,” said the president of the Iquique Medical College, Sergio Calcagno.
PARTICIPANTS
The multisectoral health commission or table was made up of: the governor of Tarapacá, José Miguel Carvajal; the rector of UNAP, Alberto Martínez Quezada; Eduardo Huerta, UNAP Chief of Staff; Sergio Calcagno, president of the Iquique Medical College; Héctor Rocha, manager of the Victoria Project Accelerator Center; Pedro Iriondo Correa, director(s) of Iquique Regional Hospital; Mario Requena Peña, School of Medicine project coordinator; Liliana Herrera, UNAP Academic Vice-Rector; Diego Olivares, general director of Liaison and International Relations UNAP; Ximena Ibarra, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, UNAP; José Luis Aguilera, director of Analysis and Planning, UNAP; Jonathan Cerda González, chief of staff of the Ministry of Health Tarapacá; Marco Aramayo, director of the Iquique Clinic; Javier Peña, chief physician of the surgical process at Alto Hospicio Hospital; Alejandra Ceballos Rojas, advisor to the Regional Government Cabinet (GORE) of Tarapacá; Katherine Rodríguez, GORE Tarapacá Cabinet professional; Augusto Rodríguez, deputy director(s) of Iquique Regional Hospital; Ximena Heredia, director(s) Hospital Alto Hospicio; María Paula Vera, medical director of the Tarapacá Clinic; Eduardo Olguín, Medical College of Iquique.
