Tension, nerves and even excitement for it to be 8:30 p.m., when everything will have passed. That is what was felt during the early hours of the afternoon at the doors of various university faculties throughout Spain, where some 32,212 applicants have opted for some of the 11,943 places offered this year for Specialized Health Training by the Ministry of Health. a record by increasing the figure by 2.9% compared to the places offered last year. At 4:00 p.m. the test began. Ahead, 200 questions and four and a half hours of exam to obtain the long-awaited specialty.
The Faculty of Geography and History of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) has been one of the locations chosen by the Ministry to carry out the test. Alba Gutiérrez arrived one of the first, almost three hours before the start of the exam. He is 24 years old and has many nerves that suffer from the cigarette that he smokes ardently right next to his sister Covadonga, who accompanies him to calm his spirits. “I have studied up to 14 hours a day and I trust myself, I have not thought about the possibility of not passing, although I am not sure what specialty I would choose,” says this Madrid native.
A little later, those responsible for the Faculty began to post the lists with the table number that the applicants will have, as has happened in the rest of the 27 locations in the country where the exam took place. The capital has been the city in which the most people have taken the test: 5,789. They are followed by Barcelona with 2,924 and Valencia with 2,503. Where least, Logroño, with 207; Girona with 239; and León with 282.
María Gutiérrez, who has just turned 26, has placed herself somewhat removed from the door. He has studied up to 13 hours a day: “I have left my social life aside, also the hobbiesexcept on Sunday,” says this young woman who is debating between choosing Family Medicine or Oncology and who has been accompanied by her parents and her boyfriend. As amulets, he wears a t-shirt from the academy in which he has prepared for the exam in recent months and a Christian cross.
Screaming examiners and lucky t-shirts
Andrea Herrera has a somewhat special amulet: her mother has come from Mexico to accompany her on this day that began with a completely overcast sky, to which some still entrust themselves. She studied in Mexico, she is 29 years old and this is the second time she has taken the MIR: “Last year I didn’t like the examiner we had at all. He yelled at us and that made the stress worse. Let’s see if this year is better,” he comments.

These months Herrera has worked in a residence, which has left him about five hours a day to study. At his side is Flor Cartagena, a doctor from Honduras who would choose the specialty of Psychiatry. At 30 years old, he assures that this is his dream. “It’s the first time I’m performing and I hope it’s the last,” he says with humor. She was a doctor at Movistar+ for Quirón Prevention. “I left work in August to dedicate myself to studying. Let’s see if after today I can get back to my life,” he wishes.
In the vicinity of this UCM faculty there are many other non-EU students. This is the case of Diego Laredo, 27 years old, who arrived in the capital just a week ago. Among symptoms of nervousness, he assures that he prefers a surgical specialty, such as otorhinolaryngology or urology, although he does not rule out psychiatry. This Venezuelan did not hesitate today to put on his lucky shirt, in which an elephant appears somewhat blurred by the use of the garment. “If it helped me throughout my career, it will also do so now,” he predicts.
Family Medicine continues to lead in number of places
In this year’s call, the Ministry has offered 2,508 places for Family and Community Medicine, to which 15,106 doctors aspire, according to Ministry data. Mara Rey will opt for one of them. She has been preparing for the test for nine months and now she just wants to face this unique birth. “I studied about 11 hours a day, with Sundays off. “It has been a parenthesis in my life,” he says.
This Madrid native is aware of how lucky she is to live with her parents. “Facing an exam with a meal cooked and a house clean is not the same as having to work to pay for a room in Madrid,” he maintains. Despite not being superstitious, Rey is accompanied by a photo of her cat, who died last week.
About an hour before all the summoned doctors entered the classrooms, the Prosegur van that a few hours ago was storing the exams has left the place. Around them, there were already dozens of applicants trying to calm their nerves. One of them was Roberto Molina, Peruvian. She wants to choose hematology and it is the second time that she appears at the MIR, although this time she will do so accompanied by a little chain that her boyfriend gave her. “I hope it gives me luck,” he smiles.
Molina is one of the candidates for one of the 9,007 places offered only for Medicine. In total, there are 32,212 students who opt for one of the 11,943 places open by the Ministry in Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and degrees in the field of Psychology, Chemistry, Biology and Physics, a record offer with 366 more places than last year. Of all of them, 836 are reserved for people with a minimum disability of 33%, and 927 for non-EU students.
The privilege of just studying
As Rey said, family and economic conditions play a determining role when it comes to preparing the MIR. Flavia Iovino is Italian, she is 27 years old, and on December 30 she gave birth to a son in Madrid. He lived in Rome, and there he already had a place as a resident in vascular surgery, the same thing he would choose in Spain. “In the summer I worked 12 hours a day at the Red Cross and at a residence for women with disabilities in Alcalá de Henares, so I have been able to study little. “I come to tempt fate,” he says.
Something similar is what has happened to Mariana Quintero, who at 30 years old is the second time she appears for the MIR, after trying four years ago. “The specialty I choose is up to the Mariana of the future,” he says with a smile on his face. She is from Venezuela and her job as an emergency doctor at Sanitas has not left her much space for studying, just about two hours a day.
Patricia Ramos is also not so clear about what she would choose. At 24 years old, he assures that he is very interested in contact with patients, which is why family medicine is among his first options. “When I have rotated in health centers I have seen very committed doctors, and now that I have motivation I want to live it,” he says before mentioning the overload that family doctors usually deal with.

She also lives with her parents, who accompany her: “Here is my long-suffering mother, who has been at the forefront. I am very grateful to both of them for the support I have had,” he comments. Ramos’ words radiate the energy and care necessary to care for a patient when she becomes a family doctor. In recent months, he has also shared his study process on TikTok under the name @Patiramosglez, where he has shown his insecurities, but also what he has learned, in case they could help some of his classmates.
Lexatin last night, now coffee
Right in front of the Faculty of Geography and History is the UCM María Zambrano library. His customers looked in perplexity at what was happening just a few meters away, while his hall has become an improvised dining room for the applicants. Many of them were trying to get a coffee from the machines. Energy drinks have also been seen, and some have even ordered food brought to them by delivery men on motorcycles and bicycles. Gone are the Lexatin that some of them have taken to overcome the previous night.
Most of the applicants have arrived accompanied, even by their dogs, while some solitary doctors took refuge in their headphones. There has also been room for business. Several people in orange overalls have been busy delivering up to 1,300 cloth bags advertising a study academy, with a plastic bottle, a syringe-shaped pen and some candy inside.
The minister defends the Framework Statute
Once the exam began, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, stressed to the media that “this year we are close to success in terms of places, the largest offer in this country.” Likewise, he stressed in front of the Ministry, on the Paseo del Prado in Madrid, that they will try to ensure that the smallest number of places remain vacant. “We are going to guarantee that the National Health System is the home of these professionals, where we are going to take care of them and retain their talent, that their working conditions improve and that more professionals work according to what they have studied,” he defended.
García has also referred to the current negotiations around the Framework Statute, which “collects European legislation that improves the working conditions of healthcare workers and rulings won in Spain by the unions, regarding guards, breaks and recovery of extra pay.” . On the other hand, he stressed that “the Framework Statute is not a collective agreement, but rather speaks about all professionals, and unequivocally improves their conditions after many years of mistreatment.”
The last photos, kisses and hugs for the students arrived a little earlier, around 3:00 p.m., when they began to enter the Faculty. By then, some faint rays of sun had opened the sky, and an hour later only the suffering companions remained in the area who would wait until the departure. In the classrooms, with four and a half hours left in the exam, hundreds of doctors were deciding their future as health specialists.
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