Eduardo López Ferrada, first UdeC neurosurgeon: “I have to respond professionally to the training they gave me”

A new milestone in its commitment to training high-level doctors for the health system was achieved by the UdeC School of Medicine with the graduation of the first specialist in Neurosurgery.

Doctor Eduardo López Ferrada is one of the 221 professionals who finished their specialty programs in the medical and midwifery areas in the period 2019-2020 and that they received their certification at the end of May.

Dr. López finished his undergraduate studies in 2015 and until he began his training in the specialty, he was covering emergency shifts as reinforcement in the Surgery area of ​​the Hospital Herminia Martin de Chillán.

He says that his concern about his specialization arose during the development of the internship. “I was very interested in neurology and general surgery, but when I was closer to surgery I did not like the pathology that it entails. I was finally introduced to neurosurgery and it was the add-on I was looking for,” she says.

He chose the UdeC to perfect himself, considering its tradition and prestigeand in a particular way, its link with the Guillermo Grant Benavente Hospital (HGGB), one of its main cynical fields of the house of studies.

“It is the largest hospital in Chile; that allowed me in my training to have a significant number of surgeries for my future performance”.

After the four years that the program lasts, the specialist acknowledges that he received “very good training”, highlighting the concern and dedication of teachers, equipment and support staff.

“Being in such a large hospital, with so many highly qualified and experienced professionals, one learns a lot.. In addition, the environment is very demanding, which generates an optimal mix to carry out a good specialty training. For me, the most remarkable thing is the training center with all the people that it entails”, he affirms.

Looking at the process that today has him within the team of specialists at the HGGB Neurosurgery Service and starting to teach, he says that being the first to finish the program has something special.

“It makes me proud, but more than that I feel a responsibilitysince I have to respond professionally to the training they gave me, in the form of gratitude and respect for those who contributed to my currently being a specialist”, expresses the neurosurgeon.

pioneer in the south

The graduation of the first neurosurgeon from the UdeC marks the consolidation of a process that began several years before the opening of the program in 2016, a pioneer at that time in the south of the country.

Its director, Dr. Francisco Luna Andrades, recalls that he executed a complete work plan aimed at establishing the university, academic and healthcare bases to start the training of specialists of excellence in the area.

“The rationale was that the teaching-care conditions allowed the creation of this specialty considering that (Guillermo Gran Benavente Hospital) is one of the largest clinical fields in Chile in the area of ​​neurosurgery”, explains the director of the program, Dr. Francisco Luna Andrades.

“Also, we had subspecialist neurosurgeons in all areaswhich, added to the excellence and university tradition, allowed us to predict that it would be a high-level training center”, adds the neurosurgeon.

The doctor points out that at that time there was the conviction that the Faculty of Medicine, as a training center, could make an important contribution to the care of patients with neurosurgical diseases.

For this reason, high standards have been established in the preparation of the specialists who will have the mission of “contribute to the resolution of general neurological pathologies of the adult and pediatric population”, such as craniocerebral, spinal and peripheral nerve diseases, highlights the academic, pointing out that the graduates will not only serve in the Concepción Health Service, but also in Los Angeles and Ñuble, in addition to the Navy.