Spanish Universities Grapple with Critical Shortage of Health Sciences Faculty Amidst Aging Workforce and Precarious Conditions

Crisis in Health Sciences Education Deepens

Spanish universities are confronting a growing emergency within their Health Sciences faculties, characterized by an aging teaching staff and a pronounced scarcity of new professors. This critical situation is significantly worsened by prevailing precarious working conditions, which are deterring new talent and impacting the future of healthcare education in Spain.

Aging Workforce and Precarious Employment Conditions

A primary driver of the faculty shortage is the high average age of the teaching workforce, with retirements outpacing new recruitment. This demographic shift is compounded by a labor model within Spanish public universities that often features precarious employment. Many university teachers, particularly those in earlier career stages, face:

• Low salaries
• A heavy burden of research, teaching, and administrative duties
• A high number of temporary jobs and fixed-term contracts
• Delayed or impossible access to stable, permanent positions

More than 20% of teachers in Spain are employed under annual or fixed-term contracts. This widespread job precariousness affects approximately 6.5 million workers in Spain, with nearly 900,000 experiencing high levels of precarity, a situation linked to poor mental health outcomes.

Broader Healthcare Professional Shortage

The academic deficit in Health Sciences is intrinsically linked to a wider crisis in the Spanish healthcare system, which is struggling with a general lack of physicians and limited access to medical training for students. Many healthcare professionals are nearing retirement, and their replacements are not being trained or integrated into the system quickly enough. Spanish universities offer a limited number of medical training vacancies, leaving thousands of aspiring physicians unable to pursue their careers each year. Projections indicate a shortage of 9,000 doctors in the National Health System by 2027. Furthermore, 95% of health centers are actively seeking nursing staff, and 55% are looking for medical staff.

Consequences and Calls for Action

The repercussions of this dual crisis are significant, leading to growing waiting lists for medical consultations and procedures, and an increasing disparity in access to medical care, particularly in rural areas. Experts and professional bodies are advocating for urgent, multifaceted interventions. Proposed solutions include:

• Improving working conditions and reducing workloads for university faculty and healthcare professionals
• Facilitating students' access to quality medical training, potentially through international programs, with incentives to return to Spain
• Developing a comprehensive national workforce strategy to address the recruitment and retention challenges across the healthcare and academic sectors

These measures aim to ensure a sustainable future for both Health Sciences education and the broader healthcare system in Spain.