Eleven graduates from School of Medicine of the University of Navarra have obtained a place among the top 100 places in the examination for Internal Medical Resident (spanish medical residency program) called by the Ministry of Health. María Álvarez Nájera, a native of Pontevedra, has obtained the position issue 10, while Adrián Alfonso Álvarez, from the same town, has been placed 12th. They are followed by Anna Margarit Colomer from Barcelona with issue 40 and Nerea Aldabe González from Navarra in position 42, Marina López de Dicastillo Cía in 44, Amaya Huici Eslava with issue 67, Adriana García Goñi with 73. The list is closed by Juan Aramberri Araiz, from Guipúzcoa, in 84th place, José Carlos Román Padilla from Málaga in 92nd place, Javier Agustín Timoneda, from Zaragoza in 98th place, and Javier Goñi Lara from Pamplona in issue 100th place.

98.3% of the graduates of the School Medical School who took the exam obtained one of the 8,772 places offered by the Ministry, and 41% were among the first 2000 places.

"Before the spanish medical residency program I did not have any goal regarding the issue, but I was thinking of obtaining a place that would allow me to train as a doctor and be able to help a lot of people," confesses María Álvarez. "But when I corrected the exam the next day and counted the failures, although I didn't want to believe it, I saw that it could be a reality to get a issue like this one".

Of his time at School, he highlights the good disposition of the professors and the training on the more human side of Medicine, "which is something different here". "The moment that had the greatest impact on me at degree program was when we were given the gowns in third year, which is when you start to have more contact with the patient and rotate through the hospital. That gown symbolized many things, among others, that the dream of being a doctor was taking shape". He also assures that School has provided him with an "exceptional" knowledge base to be able to face the last months before spanish medical residency program with peace of mind, trusting in the training received and in the work he has been doing for the last six years. "Added to that is the family support, which has also been enormous."

Thinking about the future, María Álvarez has not yet decided which specialization program she wants to do. "Although my top 3 are Cardiology, Anesthesia and Endocrinology. I have to think about it a lot these months and talk to colleagues and visit many hospitals to get to know each specialization program. In any case, I will most likely go to Madrid".