The Chair of Bioethics and the M₃O research group have launched a study to evaluate this question
To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced first-year students when choosing degree subjects in the social care, health and biomedicine spheres? The TEMPS project, led by the research group Methodology, Methods, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M₃O) and the Grífols Foundation Chair of Bioethics at UVic-UCC, seeks to find an answer to this question.
The study is designed to analyse the trends in matriculations and applications for the first year of degrees in the areas of social care, health and biomedicine in Spain during a six-year period, from 2016–2017 to 2021–2022. The researchers will use a survey to undertake a quantitative evaluation of the influence of the pandemic as a determining factor in the choice of university degrees in these areas, and will follow this up with a qualitative study of the experience of COVID-19 by students in the first year of social care, health and biomedical subjects (nursing, medicine, psychology, physiotherapy, etc.).
Javier Jerez, lead researcher of the TEMPS project, explained that "the aim is to understand the current situation and the impact of the pandemic on the choice of studies". Building on this, the intention is "to propose possible adaptations to the Spanish university system on the basis of the results obtained, in order to respond to current and future challenges".
The study also involves researchers from the universities of Málaga, La Rioja, A Coruña, the Basque Country and the Complutense University in Madrid, and is funded by the Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation.