ESTABLISHED IN 1993 as a not-for-profit institution, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (UFV) is located 10 miles northwest of Madrid, Spain. Fully accredited as a private university in 2001, it was named after a 16th-century scholar widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern international law. A Catholic university that strives for the “pursuit of truth”, UFV has around 3,500 undergraduate students enrolled in more than 20 degree programmes. “As a university, the focus of our work is our students. We strive to


educate them in such a way that they can transform society,” says Dr Juan Perez-Miranda, Vice-Rector of International Relations. “For us, excellence translates as a comprehensive education, encompassing all aspects of life and following an academic model that integrates knowledge, skills, attitudes, professional criteria and human values.”


PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMMES Two programmes that embody this approach are delivered by UFV’s business and medical faculties, respectively. Responding to an increasing need for business leaders who are able to take organisational control at a global level, the university has created an Integral Leadership programme. This comprises a double degree in business administration and law, which also incorporates a postgraduate certificate programme at the University of Notre Dame in the USA. “The purpose of this programme is to train future leaders in both the business world and in legal practice,” explains Dr Perez-Miranda, “with the expectation that they will transform the society they work in.” Integral Leadership takes place over a five-year period, helping students


to develop the leadership, emotional intelligence and creative skills that are needed to succeed in today’s business world. “In the course of their studies, students gain first-hand experience of the art and science of leadership,” says Dr Perez-Miranda. “Once a year they will travel to a foreign destination to explore the business and cultural roots of that market, and its impact on


the world economy.” Students also benefit from mentored guidance with the aim of helping them to become powerful influences in whatever organisations they progress to. Through its cooperation with the University of Notre Dame, UFV has embedded a global view of the business and legal professions in the heart of its academic programme.


MODERN ROLE UFV’s approach to its medical curriculum also reflects a keen understanding of the role of the modern university. “In traditional medical schools, students are not exposed to patients until the final courses of the curriculum,” says Dr Perez-Miranda. “The result is that they develop a fragmented view of medicine, making it more difficult for future doctors to develop a person- centred practice that combines both the scientific and humanist aspects of the medical profession.” Responding to social and professional demands, UFV has developed a


new six-year medical degree programme. This is designed to cover not only the intensive transmission of theoretical knowledge—basic and clinical—but also to give students the chance to interact with patients so as to improve their social and communication skills. Launched in 2010/11, UFV’s Early Clinical Experience programme


(ECE) for first-year medical students has been created to raise awareness of the relational and communicative needs of clinical practice. It does this by exposing students to real medical situations with personal and emotional content. The programme is the first step on a complete ECE pathway that allows students to progressively increase their responsibilities through a range of teaching methods. With its groundbreaking approach to teaching—and the study of business and medicine, in particular—the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria is helping to develop Spain’s education system of the future.


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