01 June 2026
Bilbao Donostia-San Sebastián
The University of Deusto is celebrating this June the graduation of the first cohort of graduates from its Nursing degree programme. The group, which began its studies in 2022 in response to social demand in healthcare, is made up of 95 students who completed their studies in Spanish at the Bilbao campus and 74 who completed them in Basque at the San Sebastian campus. These 169 Deusto nursing graduates are the first graduates in the Basque Country to have been trained in the use of the ABEC methodology (Scenario-Based Clinical Learning).
This teaching approach, which includes simulation and therefore places strong emphasis on students’ experiential learning, organises subjects into competence-based nursing areas, facilitating both the understanding of content and its practical integration. It is an active and distinctive form of training in which team management, care, and patient-centred attention are developed. Nursing professionals are trained to maintain a continuous commitment to patient care and service throughout all stages of life, with an emphasis on prevention based on early detection and the management of chronic conditions.
Throughout the four years of study, students have had access to state-of-the-art facilities within the DeustoBio building on the Bilbao campus, which houses laboratories, a virtual hospital, two skills rooms, four consultation rooms, a ward room, an intensive care unit (ICU), an operating theatre and briefing rooms. At the San Sebastian campus, teaching has been delivered in the Larramendi Building, which includes various laboratories, a virtual hospital with consultation areas, a therapeutic gym, a hospitalisation area and an ICU, as well as theory–practice classrooms equipped with specialised equipment.
2,500 hours of clinical placements
In line with the University of Deusto’s ethos, the degree programme has promoted international mobility. During the third year, students have had the opportunity to study a semester abroad through programmes such as Erasmus or SICUE, completing 500 hours of clinical placements in diverse healthcare settings. In addition, the degree includes 2,500 hours of external curricular clinical placements, in line with the regulatory requirements of the healthcare profession. The University of Deusto has agreements with healthcare institutions for teaching activities that enhance the comprehensive training of future professionals, as well as research agreements related to these studies.
Faculty of Health Sciences
The implementation of this degree forms part of the institution’s strategic commitment to the field of Health Sciences, which began with the launch of the Medicine degree in 2020, whose first cohort has also graduated this year. In this sense, the entry of these newly qualified nurses into the labour market marks a historic milestone that was made possible by the establishment of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Under a humanistic leadership model, the Faculty brings together the degree programmes in Medicine, Nursing and Physiotherapy, as well as Psychology studies, which have a long-standing tradition and strong reputation at Deusto. With more than 2,400 undergraduate students and outstanding research teams whose work delivers social impact, the University is strengthening its position as a leading institution for the education of skilled and committed professionals who place people at the centre of care, guided by an approach that focuses on “caring for the person, not just treating the illness”.
Photographs from the Farewell Ceremony for the 1st graduating class in Bilbao
Ceremony for the 1st graduating class in San Sebastian
