The
conference was held at the Sant Cugat campus on Wednesday, 13 June 2012, and
was presided over by Dr. Albert Balaguer, the Dean of the Faculty, who welcomed
the audience and spoke about the importance of the person in all medical work.

Under the
title “Learning and Teaching Medicine”, the conference took place over several
sessions throughout the day. The focus of the talks was both academic and
practical. One academic issue discussed was the curriculum up to the sixth year
of the bachelor’s degree programme. On the practical side, topics included case
studies to encourage student participation and motivation, and the explanation
of the Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) for Medical and
Nursing students, which have already been used twice.

Among the
speakers was Dr. Josep Porta, who has recently joined the teaching staff and is
an internationally recognized medical expert on palliative care, a field which
he has worked in for 20 years. Dr. Josep Argemí, the former UIC Rector and
currently a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Director
of the Institute of Bioethics, as well as Dr. Albert Balaguer, the current Dean
of the Faculty, also participated in the conference.