Pilar Cufí Acevedo, 27 years old and a graduate of the Universitat de Girona, has achieved the second best score in Spain in the 2024 PIR exam. The exam was held on January 24 and brought together 3,355 applicants for 280 places nationwide. The ratio of applicants per place in psychology is twelve, only surpassed by biology, which reaches almost fourteen per place.
A demanding preparation and a context of high competition
The young woman, native of La Jonquera, finished the Psychology degree at the UdG in 2021. She is the only representative of the University of Girona who appears in the rankings of the Ministry of Health with the ten best grades in each field. In the regions of Girona there are only three vacant positions at the Institut d'Assistència Sanitària, while the field of medicine offered 9,276 positions in the same call.
"I have been preparing for a year; starting from summer I studied between eight and ten hours a day, all week except for one day of rest" - Pilar Cufí, PIR candidate
The pressure for access to specialized healthcare training is reflected in the increase in candidates and in the scarcity of places. Pilar Cufí acknowledges that planning had already begun for future calls, given the difficulty of obtaining a place on the first attempt.
Displacements and logistical difficulties in the convocation
This year, the exam venue in Girona was eliminated, which forced applicants from the area to travel to Barcelona. Pilar Cufí recounts that she had to travel from La Jonquera the same weekend that the railway chaos occurred, with the suspension of Rodalies trains.
"I doubted a lot about whether to present myself or not because I didn't know if I could return home"
The organization of the process has also been subject to criticism from the candidates. Pilar Cufí denounces that the results have been published a month later than last year and that there were applicants who, on the day of the exam, still did not know if they were admitted.
Perspectives and challenges after the exam
The results published so far are provisional and the definitive ones will be known in March. Pilar Cufí expresses her preference for choosing the Institut d"Assistència Sanitària in Salt, both for its proximity and for the quality of the professionals of the Xarxa de Salut Mental. Her experience in the educational field and with children and adolescents has marked her previous career.
"Nowadays we talk a lot about mental health, but in reality there are not enough places and every year more people come forward"
The young woman emphasizes that the real challenge begins now, since the exam measures theoretical knowledge, but the healthcare reality is different. Pilar Cufí encourages those who are considering taking it to try it.
"If you set yourself to it, it's because you really like it. It's worth trying it and not being left with the doubt of whether you could have done it"