Health is one of the main concerns of the inhabitants of the Region of Murcia, some of whom were diagnosed with different chronic conditions in primary health care centres in 2021, such as high cholesterol levels (27.78%), high blood pressure (21.7%), low-back pain (19.8%) or some type of mental health condition (17.7%), among others*. Therefore, society is increasingly demanding more specialists with studies in health sciences, an area in which UCAM Cartagena Campus has specialised. With Bachelor’s Degrees like Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry or Physiotherapy as well as the Bachelor’s Degree in Sports and Physical Activity Sciences.

All of these degrees, and some others like Psychology or Podiatry–taught on the Los Jerónimos Campus– are present at the 4th Health and Sports Event that UCAM is holding and which has started this morning. At the event, Vicente Mendoza, UCAM general director, stated that ‘what can be seen at this event is a great example of the work that this University has been doing in order to offer the highest-quality teaching on the Cartagena Campus’. Manuel Padín, councillor of Tourism, Trade, Health, and Consumption, stated that ‘the work done by UCAM must be praised as it involves young people and the city. The heritage recovery on its Campus of Los Dolores is something that all of us –the people from Cartagena– value, and the fact that they are working so hard in areas such as health and sports is extremely important’.

The main objectives of this event are to promote healthy lifestyles among people from Cartagena, to make the different Bachelor's Degrees offered by UCAM on its Los Dolores Campus known and to show the work done by sports clubs and sponsors.

The attendees to this event may participate in different diagnostic tests and activities, such as measuring blood pressure or blood oxygen levels, learning CPR methods or how to react in the event of choking. Furthermore, they can learn about the technological tools that UCAM teachers and students of health sciences use, especially the ones related to clinical simulation, which turn UCAM into a cutting-edge university at a national level.

*Source: Ministry of Health (2021). Main chronic health conditions, percentage of the population aged 15 or older who suffer from specific chronic conditions, registered in primary health care, sorted by autonomous community.