01.29 Escoles d'Auxiliar Tècnic Sanitari

During the 1960s and 1970s, Auxiliar Tècnic Sanitari (ATS) training was primarily provided in schools affiliated with hospitals, healthcare institutions, and religious organizations. Following the creation of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1968, many of these schools chose to become affiliated with the UAB in order to obtain university recognition, ensure academic quality, and harmonize their educational programmes.

From the 1970s onwards, several ATS schools in the province of Barcelona and across Catalonia established this affiliation. The UAB supervised curricula, assessment criteria, and faculty requirements, while each school maintained its own management structure and its connection with the healthcare centres where practical training was carried out.

This model made it possible to consolidate a network of ATS schools that played a decisive role in the professionalization of modern nursing in Catalonia. The affiliation system remained in place until the university reforms of the 1980s, when ATS studies were transformed into the Diplomatura d’Infermeria and progressively integrated into university faculties and schools. This process led to the disappearance of the former affiliated schools and the full incorporation of nursing education into the university system.