Juan Francisco Monteagudo Pérez
Biography
Juan Francisco Monteagudo Pérez, MD, MPH.
I graduated in medicine by University of Valencia in 2017, and started my medical residency in
Preventive Medicine and Public Health in 2018. I am in my third year of residency training,
currently working as a researcher in Epidemiology Department of Murcia region, studying the
influence of heavy metal exposure in children.
During the first wave of Covid pandemic in Spain, firstly I worked in epidemiology department
of Murcia region, and later on, as a member of a provisional Preventive Medicine – COVID 19
regional assessor team.

Summary
In to the wild: experience of a Public Health resident in Spain during
the Covid-19 crisis.
Given the characteristics of the Spanish National Health system, a Beveridge model
formed by 22 regional Health systems, disparities in Public Health (PH) resources among
Spanish regions are common. This fact, in conjunction with the incidence rate of each region,
influenced the type of support given by the Spanish PH resident workforce during the first
wave of the pandemic.
All Spanish PH residents were recruited since the very beginning of the pandemic.
Most of the jobs performed were 1) Contact tracing, 2) Support on Hospitals as part of
Preventive Medicine Units and 3) Prevention and control of infection in hot spots (Nursing Homes) .
In my personal case, given the lack of Preventive Medicine Units in Murcia Region, I
was recruited as part of the Preventive Medicine – COVID 19 regional assessor team, a
multi-disciplinary team created in order to face the hazard of nosocomial outbreaks due to
COVID-19 . Field work and online sessions were combined to provide up-to-date procedures
for each one of our hospitals. As a member of the Team, I was destined to a rural Hospital,
where I helped assessing patient’s safety, biosafety and healthcare attention processes in
emergency room, hospitalization area and surgical theatres.
To summarize, COVID-19 affected to the totality of PH residents in Spain, who were
recruited to COVID-19 related issues since early March. Jobs performed varied between
regions, and were heavily influenced for a structural lack of Public Health specialists.