First-year residents rotate through the Burn Unit, Traumatology, General Surgery and the ICU of the Traumatology Hospital. There are three months of rotation in each service. During the second year, rotations are carried out by the different subunits of the Service (Breast Reconstruction, Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Burns, Tumor Unit, General Plastic Surgery). On the fourth or fifth year, rotation to other hospitals is facilitated based on personal interest, and in the fifth year, a rotation is made through Cosmetic Surgery.

The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), has its own animal facilities where students can practice microsurgery. Students may also study in the Burns Unit and take part in national and international publications and presentations.

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because we are leading centre throughout the National Healthcare System of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Andorra for surgery for burns patients and external ear reconstruction.
• Because we are the creators of the Telecremats project, which allows remote consultations so that patients do not have to travel to a health centre, and which also supports professionals working in the unit.
• Because we are experts in Catalonia in the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa.
• Because we have a Face and limb transplant programme and the Facial Traumatology Treatment Unit.
• Because we have a unit for surgical treatment of facial paralysis and another for pressure sores in patients with spinal cord injuries.
• Because we have a Cutaneous Tumour Unit.
• Because we have a unit dedicated to treatment of morbid obesity sequela.
• Because we have a Paediatric Plastic Surgery Unit, and in particular, a unit for treatment of paediatric vascular defects.
• Because we have a breast and lower limb reconstructive microsurgery unit.
• Because we treat serious cutaneous disease in the Exfoliative Dermatitis Treatment Unit (Lyell’s syndrome).
• Because we offer round-the-clock care, with shifts on duty 24 hours a day (consultant and resident).
• Because we oversee our residents’ surgical training so that they can take part in committees dealing with vascular defects, cutaneous tumours, septic patients, breast pathology and epidermolysis bullosa.
• Because residents take part in monthly morbidity and mortality sessions, and weekly single-specialisation and literature review sessions.
• Because we enable attendance at conferences and courses in the specialisation.
• Because we enable residents to undertake rotations at external national and international centres.
• Because we offer the chance to follow doctorate, postgraduate and doctoral thesis courses.

We are an active research centre with a high number of publications, at the same time as participating in several national and international programmes. We have also received awards at different conferences in the specialisation. 

The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation teaching programme includes key aspects for research, such as training in clinical epidemiology and clinical research methodology. In addition, our residents undertake research competence courses to complement their practical work. 

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron? 

• Because the Rehabilitation Department at the Traumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital has 30 beds, allowing residents to undertake a rotation in Rehabilitation programmes, and carry out highly specialised management and integrated rehabilitation treatment.
• Because you will attend to patients with neurodegenerative illnesses and adults with cerebral palsy in particular.
• Because you will attend interdisciplinary consultations related to neurodegenerative diseases, including those in the Stroke Unit, Neuro Orthopaedics and Neuromuscular Diseases.
• Because you will take an active part in the team and the care team meetings.
• Because we are one of seven hospitals in the country accredited by the Ministry of Health (CSUR accreditation) to care for patients with hereditary ataxia or paraplegia.
• Because you will treat both adults and children with spinal cord injuries of traumatic or non-traumatic origin, and the subsequent complications that may arise.
• Because we offer residents a rotation to treat amputee patients, and training in their ongoing care in the acute pre-prosthetic hospitalization and subsequent rehabilitation training programme.
• Because you will take part in all aspects of injury rehabilitation, pain management and prosthetic prescription evolution analysis.
• Because you will work on prosthetic fitting and manufacture.
• Because you will work both in the hospital wards and with outpatients across the complete spectrum of chronic and acute musculoskeletal pathologies and pain syndromes.
• Because you will assess and treat infant and adult patients with cardiac and chronic respiratory disorders, using respiratory physiotherapy and strength training.
• Because we enable active participation in the infant cardiac and lung transplant rehabilitators programme.
• Because we have an ergometry room to carry out spirometry and lung and heart stress tests to enable us to prescribe quality training programmes.
• Because you will work with neuropaediatricians and infant orthopaedic surgeons on rehabilitation of patients with conditions such as brain lesions, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, scoliosis and hip dysplasia.
• Because you will work with all kinds of speech and language disorders that affect swallowing and communication, such as asphasia, dysarthria, dysphonia, laryngeal paralysis, dysphemia, cochlear implants, dysphagia, language development delays or disorders, diglossia, brain injury scar tissue, and hyperacusis.
• Because you will be an integral part of the communication and swallowing rehabilitation team, using techniques such as clinical audiometry, laryngeal stroboscopy, fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and video fluoroscopy.  
• Because  we enable you to attend congresses and take part in conferences on advances in prostheses and orthotics, as well as a biannual course on evidence-based  rehabilitation and medicine, and courses on exercise programmes for pathologies of the musculoskeletal system and electrotherapy.

Our Teaching Unit attracts medical students from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, residents and specialists. Every year, it teaches over 120 resident doctors (45 of whom are the service's own residents) in the cross-cutting, specific skills of Anaesthesia and Resuscitation, and in Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) for anaesthesia, and complements the training of over 20 specialists in anaesthesia and other specialities. It also offers an advanced international training programme in Paediatric Anaesthesia. 

On our Campus, you have the opportunity to attend, learn and reflect on the care performed for all kinds of pathologies. In order to facilitate integration into the service and speciality, during the first month of rotation, the resident is trained in cross-cutting skills, via the Hospital's Teaching Unit, and in the basics of Anaesthesia and Resuscitation, through a personalised training plan. In addition to assisting in various areas, sessions and compulsory courses, the individual training plan for our residents includes participation in the theory-practical modules specifically designed for each training year. These are run by experts in the specific subject skill of the module.

The efforts of our Teaching Unit are directed towards training excellent, thoughtful professionals with a critical spirit, by and for our present-day society. 

In 2023 Dr. Marc Mendo, resident of Anesthesiology in Vall d'Hebron, wins the Jo Innovo Award 2023. His innovative project, 'High Level Support for Critical Situations', revolutionizes the response to cardiac arrest with a unique application. The award includes support from Vall d’Hebron to implement the idea, as well as an experience at the Karolinska Institute.

Why practise this speciality at Vall d'Hebron?

• Because the teaching here ensures safe, high-quality clinical practice, with Teaching Coordination that continually reviews and supervises the protocols and knowledge that are taught.
• Because we prepare you for a future in which residents can perform anaesthesia and resuscitation applied to all existing specialities and in any healthcare hospital.
• Because we have trained over 400 professionals and we have had extensive experience in training Anaesthesia and Resuscitation specialists since 1972.
• Because we offer residents a weekly course where practice and simulation is the most commonly used methodology, in order to ensure real, high-quality learning.
• Because we foster the participation of residents in existing lines of research.
• Because we also offer residents the opportunity of doing their doctoral thesis with us.
• Because we are the cutting edge and we include new surgical techniques, new diagnostic methods and treatments on demand. 
• Because the training we offer is cross-cutting and residents learn not only the most common, but also the most complex procedures.

Prospective radiologists need a solid medical foundation to work closely with specialists from other medical disciplines. For this reason, training in diagnostic imaging, clinical radiology and bioethics is complemented with knowledge on pathological and functional aspects of diseases. 

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because we are a tertiary hospital with outstanding departments. The number of patients who pass through the centre offers great potential for learning and gaining of experience.
• Because we cover most specialisations and you will have the opportunity to see complex conditions and to use cutting-edge diagnostic techniques and treatments.
• Because our training programme can adapt to the initiative and vocation of each resident, with more emphasis on patient-contact or research according to their needs.

Orthopaedic surgery and traumatology is a specialisation encompassing prevention, clinical assessment, diagnosis, surgical and non-surgical treatment, and monitoring - until a definitive functional state is re-established - of cognitive, traumatic, infectious, tumoural, metabolic and degenerative processes, and of acquired functional deformities and disorders of the musculoskeletal system and related structures.

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because your rotations will include a range of services related to Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, such as: The Accident and Emergency Department, the Traumatology Intensive Care Unit,  the Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Vascular Surgery and Rheumatology.
• Because you will gain knowledge of selection, appropriate use, and practice of invasive and non-invasive manual and instrument-driven procedures applied to the specialisation of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology.
• Because you will gain pharmacological knowledge for the indication and application of pharmaceuticals in developmental changes, the forming and functioning of limbs, the spinal column and related structures.
• Because you will be trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
• Because you will have the opportunity to take part in clinical sessions and surgical planning.