2016_03_11_MED_talento_Deportivo
10 students from School of Medicine participate in the University's Sports Talent Program.
Thanks to this initiative, they are able to combine their programs of study with the internship performance sport
Javier Valderrey plays basketball, Ferrán does taekwondo, Martín water polo, Silvia degree program steeplechase. All of them, in addition to practicing sports at high performing , study at School of Medicine. Together with six other students from the academic center, they are part of the Sports Talent Program of the University of Navarra. An initiative that financial aid them to make compatible their two great passions: sport and medicine.
"Thanks to the University of Navarra's Sports Talent Program I was able to go to the Youth Olympics in Olympia and meet amazing people. I've been playing basketball since I was 9 years old and have always been very attracted to the relationship of health and sport. I think medicine and sport are totally complementary, and one also fosters interest in the other, and in my case, they are one of the pillars of my life."
"Being a medical student gives you knowledge of Basic Sciences and the functioning of the human body that helps you to be able to go deeper and be able to understand what surrounds sport on a physiological level. It allows you to better understand the limits of your body, your injuries, your fitness, your preparation, which makes you capable of becoming a better athlete. It also gives you a very important base in case you want to train as a sports professional in the future".
"Both degree program and basketball require a lot of dedication. The Talento Deportivo program brings enthusiasm to continue working hard in both, supports us and takes our merits into account. In addition, you learn to organize yourself much better to be able to achieve everything".
"I believe that both medicine and sport, in general, share a series of values such as effort, sacrifice and discipline. In this sense, I think that the development of both facets makes them enhance each other. These values and many others that are worked on in sport can be extrapolated further, for example, to the study of medicine, and vice versa".
"Being part of Sports Talent Program, is a small reward for the effort made over several years, where I have combined sport with programs of study. On the other hand, I believe that sport is one of the moments where you can get to know a person better, which is very important for a good doctor-patient relationship".
"To be a medical student you need a series of characteristics that the sports world financial aid helps you to cultivate: work teamwork, companionship, coordination, discipline, responsibility, effort, sacrifice, fun, work hard, respect.... All of them and some more are essential to be a good medical student and at the same time a good athlete, and both facets complement each other very well".
"Being a better medical student makes you a better athlete because sport is based on your body and knowing the physiology of the organism is fundamental. On the other hand, being a sportsman financial aid you to be a better doctor in the future, because as health professionals we will have to promote a healthy lifestyle, being able to explain to patients habits about healthy exercise and nutrition, topics that we control from experience."