Coordinators: Lluís Blanch and Agustín Gómez de la Cámara

The dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines a hospital as “a facility intended for the diagnosis and treatment of patients, as well as for research and teaching”. The definition of the term itself, therefore, includes intrinsically what is still common practice in our country: research and teaching in healthcare centers are relegated to a secondary roleso as to prioritize a better attention to the patients.

However, a wide majority of the scientific community acknowledges the need to make these three tasks converge in the clinical environment. This is at least the conclusion drawn at the meeting held between clinical investigators and research responsibles of different Spanish hospitals, organized by the Esteve Foundation and the subject of this new Notebook. So far, this desire for convergence seems to collide head-on with lasting traditions, not only in healthcare center management offices but in all parties involved, from the Administration to healthcare providers themselves.

In everyday practice, motivated clinicians will find barriers that prevent them from combining healthcare provision with research and teaching. These barriers may be tangible (lack of investments, structures, space or time) or intangible (lack of acknowledgement in the professional career or poor motivation). At any rate, “reconciling innovation and development with white coats and green gowns brings added value because it improves patient care”, states Agustín Gómez de la Cámara, from the Research Unit of University Hospital 12 de Octubre, coordinator of this book together with Lluís Blanch, from the Intensive Care Unit of Sabadell’s Corporación Sanitaria Parc Taulí.