Medical Education in Italy for International and Italian Students Both | Admission Curriculum Exams

How is the medical education system and studying medicine in Italy? How is the admission process and curriculum in Italian medical schools? How is the studying medicine as an international student?

The questions will be answered by the flamingo in the video: https://youtu.be/E6Jjk5qy_pM

Hi and hola para amigos.

Benvenuto for Italian audience by the way.

Let’s get some information about the country first. As of 2021, Italy has sixty million citizens with the mean age 45 and life expectancy is eighty one for men and eighty five for women in Italy.

Then, let’s jump into the healthcare system in Italy. The healthcare system was adapted from British National Health Service in 1978. Access to emergency, hospital care and family medicine are free. However, the citizens have to pay for medications and outpatient health services based on their income.

How about medical schools and the medical student positions? Italy has 20 regions. The number of positions for medical students in medical schools is determined by a commission every six years. The commission consists of representatives from the regions and health ministry.

As of 2021, there are 61 medical schools in Italy. 5 of them are private. There are more than twelve thousand places for students in total. It was 43 medical schools with more than seven thousand places in 2001. Now, the average of medical student/teacher ratio is around 27 in Italy. In Turkey, here, the ratio is around seven by the way.

So how is the admission to medical schools in Italy? First, you have to graduate from high school. Then, you should take the national admission test held by Ministry of Health. But private universities can use their own admission exams. Up to 2012, every university has used their local admission exams but it was turned into a national rank system since 2013. The current exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. It evaluates logical reasoning and knowledge on general culture, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics.

Ok, we entered medical school. What kind of education is waiting us? How is the curriculum in Italian medical schools? It lasts six years and is adopted European Credit Transfer System. The six years are divided into three phases: Basic sciences, preclinical sciences, and clinical sciences. In the first two phases, the students take some lectures mostly in classrooms away from clinics. In the clinical years, they are mostly in touch with patients and they learn actively in hospital and ambulatory settings. The dose of the clinical experiences offered to students increases year by year as the students move forward in their six years of education. Medical students also participate in a research project under the guidance of a mentor. Students have to write their thesis for graduation. What about exams? The oral examination remains the main assessment method in medical schools.

In the past, medical education in Italy was teacher-centered deeply but as time passes by it is evolving towards a student-centered and competency-based model of learning which is highly preffered. Though, higher education in Italy is still influenced by the theories of Giovanni Gentile. He is an idealistic philosopher, and was the Minister of Education a century ago. According to his tradition, knowledge is superior to experience. If you have the knowledge, you can find ways to use it. This perspective is outdated in terms of current educational psychology literature but Italian educational system still suffers from it to some extent.

Anyway, let’s back to medical degree. Italian medical degree is valid throughout all of the European Union countries. After the degree, a doctor can immediately apply for any residency program for a specialty in Italy. There are 50 specialties and these postgraduate programs last 3–6 years. The admission to postgraduate training is through the national test composed of multiple-choice questions on basic and clinical knowledge. The training is informal, in other words, learning by doing with no or little structured instruction.

Finally, let’s give some information for international students.

The first undergraduate program in English was started in Pavia in 2009. As of 2021, there are 16 international medical schools with 806 medical student positions. 58% of the students in international curricula comes from outside Italy. The admission test is IMAT, International Medical Admission Test which is the same as national test but in English. It can be taken in Italian consulates abroad. The lectures for international students are in English but in clinical years, students are required to communicate with patients in Italian language.

That’s all. The information that you get in this video is totally from a scientific article published in 2021. So it is reliable and up-to-date. If this video is informative, consider to like and subscribe to see similar content. The link of the article is at the description of the video: https://youtu.be/E6Jjk5qy_pM

See you or a presto and adios para amigos.

And also, don’t forget the flamingo.