Nursing at UC Chile: People Trained to Care for People

Nursing is a program that is taught at the School of Nursing, located at the Campus San Joaquin, is part of the Faculty of Medicine. 

Training focuses on the health of people, both healthy and sick, during their different life stages. The program prepares professionals capable of providing high quality technical and human care to individuals, families, and communities.  

It also allows students to engage in research to further improve health care in Chile and Latin America. 

During their studies, students are introduced to different areas of training, starting with the basic sciences. They also take theoretical and practical clinical courses. Towards the end of the program, students must complete four nursing internships. 

They are also required to take six elective courses in other faculties and two optional courses. The program curriculum creates professionals with intersectional and interdisciplinary knowledge. 

Why Study Nursing at UC Chile? 

• Their professional and human touch means its graduates are in high demand. Since 1950, the School of Nursing has been training professionals who are notable for their ethics and solid vocation of service, which is reflected in their humanized nursing care.  
• Community service is part of the students' outreach activities and is always present.  
• The School of Nursing regularly participates in working groups that define policies and standards for the health sector at the national level.  
• Students develop their practical, outpatient, community, and in-hospital experiences in prestigious clinical fields of the UC Christus Health Network and the Associated Teaching Network. 
• It has extensive contacts and international agreements, so the School of Nursing constantly conducts seminars, programs, and workshops to promote health and quality of life both in Chile and abroad. 
• As a result of partnerships with internationally renowned universities, it has timely access to the latest developments in the discipline, which keeps UC nursing at the forefront in Latin America. 

What Kind of Research Is Done?

Both faculty members and students engage in research at the School of Nursing, which is organized in major areas of research:  

• Health promotion and Self-Care 
• Nursing Teaching and Health Education Development 
• Management and Quality of Nursing Care and Professional Practice 
• Comprehensive Care, Gender, and Mental Health  
• Ethics and History of Nursing Care 

Research at the UC School of Nursing generates new knowledge about the care of individuals, families, and communities, and the results have concrete effects on people's lives.

Example of Research Impact  

Since 1999, studies have been conducted on the difficulties that low-income women have in making decisions that affect their own health and that of their families.  

These studies are being carried out in La Pintana, one of the most vulnerable municipalities in Santiago, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa, Canada and with the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).  

As a result, an Intercultural Health Center was created, through which complementing formal health care with traditional medicine provided by a Machi (Mapuche doctor) has been possible.  

This has improved the Mapuche population's access to the public health system, something that would not have been possible were it not for the studies conducted by the university's nursing program.  

International Mobility 

For UC Chile, academic exchange and international mobility are an essential part of the training of its students, because it allows them to better face the challenges of an increasingly interconnected world.  

More than 500 agreements in more than 55 countries allow nursing students to take courses each year.  UC also receives about 1,400 foreign students in its classrooms. 

If you are interested, please write to asuntosinternacionales.eeuc@uc.cl