23 June 2026
Bilbao
The University of Deusto and the Quirónsalud hospitals in the Basque Country have reaffirmed their strategic agreement to train healthcare professionals. This agreement, signed by the Rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria, and the Regional Director of Quirónsalud in the Basque Country, Manu Díaz de Corcuera, consolidates the framework for cooperation enabling students on the Medicine, Nursing and Physiotherapy degree programmes to complete their practical training at Policlínica Gipuzkoa, Quirónsalud Bizkaia Hospital and Quirónsalud Vitoria Hospital.
This partnership, which began in 2020, has since enabled more than a thousand trainee healthcare professionals to undertake placements at Quirónsalud hospitals in the Basque Country. The current stage coincides with a historic milestone for Deusto, namely the completion of studies by the first cohorts of Medicine students, comprising 76 students, and Nursing students, made up of 169 nurses who are ready to join the healthcare system.
“For us, helping to train future healthcare professionals is both a responsibility and a commitment to society and to our country. We are therefore delighted to continue our partnership and open our hospitals to students from Deusto. We want to be by their side right from the start, supporting them in a real-world setting where innovation, digital transformation and patient-centred care shape our day-to-day work. They will have the opportunity to learn from leading professionals, and I am sure that this experience will help them not only to gain an insight into the reality of healthcare provision, but also to benefit from access to an innovative care model that places the patient at the centre of all our processes and which characterises Quirónsalud, the largest private healthcare group in our country, as a pioneer in the healthcare sector,” says Manu Díaz de Corcuera, regional director of Quirónsalud in the Basque Country.
For his part, Juan José Etxeberria, Rector of the University of Deusto, highlights that “the commitment to the health area is one of the University’s most significant strategic decisions in recent years. This expansion reflects a commitment to addressing scientific and social issues from a holistic and comprehensive perspective. Our education model does not seek technical or academic excellence alone, but places people at the centre of our work through a genuine ‘vocation of care’ and the humanisation of healthcare.”
In a context of profound demographic transformation in the Basque Country, the Rector of Deusto adds that collaboration with Quirónsalud hospitals in the Basque Country is key to addressing the shortage of healthcare professionals in the region and to meeting the challenge of training, attracting and embedding talent to ensure the sustainability of the welfare system. “As our strategic motto states, Transforming our world together, the university mission cannot be carried out in isolation; partnerships with economic and social stakeholders are essential in order to provide real-world practice settings and enable students to ‘learn by doing’.”
The collaboration between Quirónsalud hospitals in the Basque Country and the University of Deusto enables university education to be integrated with day-to-day clinical practice. “During their placements, students are able to engage with the clinical activity of the centres, always under the supervision of healthcare professionals and within an environment that supports progressive learning,” says Dr Irantzu Susperregui, Medical Director of Policlínica Gipuzkoa.
“Hospitals are spaces for care, but also for learning. “Supporting students during their first clinical experiences is part of our commitment to the present and future of healthcare,” adds Dr Irune Cachorro, Medical Director of Quirónsalud Bizkaia Hospital.
In this regard, Dr Carlos Emparan, Medical Director of Quirónsalud Vitoria Hospital, states that “opening the doors of our hospitals to students means accompanying them at one of the most important stages of their vocation. We hope to help them experience first-hand what it means to care, to innovate, and to always place the patient at the centre. Here they will be able to gain practical experience in a cutting-edge environment where technology and human commitment go hand in hand. It is an opportunity to discover the reality of their future and begin to build it with us.”
