20 July, 2022

Sabàtics, an initiative to help in the training of medical professionals

Medical training is something that never stops. Continuous innovation and research make it necessary for medical professionals to dedicate part of their time to maintaining and improving their professional competence, to adapt to the new demands and requirements that are generated by the evolution of medicine, the health system and society in general. Precisely thinking of helping in this continuous medical training, the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona created grants in the 1980s to carry out this training in centres of excellence abroad, the ‘Sabàtics Permits’. Later, in 2015, barnaclínic+ joined this initiative allowing more training time to be financed.

“This is a great opportunity for us, health professionals, to continue training and thus improve our knowledge and, with it, patient care. Thanks to this positive and splendid initiative by barnaclínic+, I have the privilege of being able to work abroad, keep up to date with the latest developments in my field and be able to put them into practice in the future, thus improving the quality of care at our institution”, explains Dr Ana María Otero, one of the participants in this training program.

Dr Borja de Lacy, another of the participants, also thinks about the importance of continuous training. “Stays abroad are basic both for the professional and for the Hospital Clínic, but unfortunately financial support is needed to live in most places and even more so if shifts are not performed. So that barnaclínic+ carries out and finances this type of project seems perfect to me and demonstrates its interest in professional training”.

“Stays abroad are basic both for the professional and for the Hospital Clínic (…) so that barnaclínic+ carries out and finances this type of project seems perfect to me and demonstrates its interest in professional training”

Dr Borja de Lacy, Specialist in Gastrointestinal and Oncological Surgery at Hospital Clínic Barcelona and barnaclínic+

‘SABÀTIC PERMISSIONS’, TO IMPROVE TRAINING AND CREATE SYNERGIES

Thanks to this initiative, the professionals of the Hospital Clínic Group have the opportunity to learn first-hand about reference centres in their respective specialities, and this is something that Dr Francesc Balaguer values very positively. “The Sabàtics permits to carry out stays abroad are a unique opportunity offered by our hospital to be able to complete and enhance our care and research career. These permits are key to visiting leading centres in the world and creating strategic synergies that often lead to improvements in care and research projects”.

“Sabàtics permits to carry out stays abroad are key to visiting leading centres in the world and creating strategic synergies that often lead to improvements in assistance and research projects”

Dr Francesc Balaguer, Head of the Gastroenterology Service at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and a specialist in the Digestive System at barnaclínic+

Being able to see first-hand how other centres work is important to understand that there are different ways of approaching similar problems, as Dr Borja de Lacy points out. “Already during the residency, I realised the importance of rotating outside and opening my mind. Being able to go away for a year to learn oncology and peritoneal carcinomatosis surgery at one of the world’s leading centres is an indescribable opportunity that I don’t intend to miss out on”.

Dr Ana Otero thinks similarly. “In my case, I am undergoing a stay at the Cleveland Clinic. It is a centre with a high reputation worldwide in the field of inflammatory bowel disease, which provides comprehensive care to this type of patient, with a multidisciplinary approach, using the latest advances in both treatment and diagnosis. It also has an extensive research project, in which several studies are currently being carried out, being able to participate in them and later I will be able to apply all this new knowledge in our environment”.

Dr Anna Goncé also values these programs very positively. “It has been a very interesting and motivating experience. I have delved into a topic that interests me a lot and of which they have a lot of experience in the centre in which I have made the stay. Also, on a personal level, it has been very enriching to change country and habitat. Without a doubt, I would recommend other colleagues to participate in this initiative.”

The ‘Sabbath Permits’ granted by barnaclínic+

These have been the different selected in the different calls for ‘Sabàtics Permits’ carried out to date.

• 2014:
  • Santiago Sánchez – General and digestive surgery: Goal: Surgical techniques for pancreatic and biliary resection. Centre: Centre Hépato-Biliaire Paul Brousse – Paris (France).
• 2015:
  • Cristina Carrera– Dermatology. Goal: New photonic techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer: melanoma and carcinoma. Centre: Memorial Sloan-Kettering – New York (United States).
• 2016:
  • Eva Rivas– Anaesthesiology. Goal: Effect of paracetamol on postoperative complications related to the administration of opioids in the morbidly obese. Centre: Research Cleveland Clinic – Cleveland (United States).
• 2017:
  • Ana M. López– Anaesthesiology and resuscitation. Goal: Efficacy of perineural loposomic bupivacaine in the control of postoperative pain in orthopaedic surgery. Centre: NYSORA Europe Creer a Ziekenhuis Oost – Genk (Belgium).
• 2018:
  • José Luis Blanco– Infectious diseases. Goal: Project for the global optimization (assistance, research and teaching) of the anal canal cancer prevention program at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. Centre: Kirby Institute – Kensington (Australia).
• 2019:
  • David Sánchez– Thoracic Surgery. Goal: Surgical treatment program for pleural mesothelioma, robotic surgery and lung cancer screening. Centre: Division of Thoracic Surgery – Toronto (Canada).
• 2020:
  • Ana María Otero– Gastrointestinal Surgery. Goal: Current complex perianal treatments in patients with Crohn’s disease. Centre: Cleveland Clinic – Ohio (United States).
• 2021:
  • Francesc Balaguer– Gastroenterology. Goal: Lynch Syndrome. Centre: University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia (United States).
  • Anna Goncé– Maternal-fetal Medicine. Goal: CMV. Universal screening in the first trimester of pregnancy. Keys for rational implantation. Centre: GHU Paris. Centre Hospital Necker-Enfants Malades. Paris (France).
  • Mariona Rius– Gynaecology. Goal: Development and application of a robotic surgery program in deep endometriosis. Centre: Center for endometriosis and Advanced Pelvic Surgery (CEAPS). Washington D.C. (United States).
  • Ana Isabel Tercero – Neurology. Goal: Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM), with special interest in its application in neurosurgical pathology. Centre: University Hospital, Inselspital Bern. Bern (Switzerland).
• 2022:
  • Dr Borja de Lacy, Gastrointestinal Surgery. Goal: Peritoneal carcinomatosis. Centre: Waiting for approval.