Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico (Single cycle degree/Combined Bachelor and Master - 300/360 ECTS) in Medicine and Surgery

The main aim of the Single-Cycle Degree Programme in Medicine and Surgery is to provide medical graduates with the knowledge and skills required to practice a modern kind of Medicine; they must be able to incorporate health promotion, disease prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation into their practice, and they must be able to do so in an international context as well. The programme curriculum delivers these goals thanks to the following features:
- Basic medical disciplines are taught in an integrated fashion thoroughout the different branches of knowledge. Integrated teaching has a two-fold advantage: on the one hand, it leads students to develop a unified vision of a complex system; on the other hand, it helps professors organise their teaching activities with an increased focus on the relevance of each learning objective within the wider frame of human biology;
- Medical Humanities, communicative skills, health promotion, health and disease concepts in the globalised world, community medicine, and intercultural mediation are prominent topics of the curriculum;
- Students begin practical learning activities early on, developing increasingly complex skills as they progress through the programme. Years 1 and 2 feature clinical clerkships; year 2 clerkships allow students to learn to approach the physicall examination of patients through elements of medical semeiotics;
- A substantial number of ECTS credits is dedicated to clinical clerkships. In addition, a variety of teaching modalities such as laboratories, practical classes, e-learning, small group activities, interdisciplinary seminars, problem-based learning, discussion of clinical cases and clinical guidelines are designed to elicit the active participation of students;
- Critical and scientific analysis skills are developed and refined systematically during the programme. Graduates will then be able to assess unknown concepts and situations in a critical manner, and to participate in national and international clinical research teams;
- The use of English as the official language allows graduates to become proficient in English medical terminology, facilitating their access to medical literature, international meetings and collaborations. Graduates will be able to communicate better with foreign patients, and to interact with colleagues from different countries for clinical and research purposes. The English language programme may also attract students from abroad, creating a multicultural student community which will help foster communication skills essential to the medical profession. Student and staff mobility to/from foreign Universities is also expected to benefit, helping familiarise graduates with international settings.

The 6-year Degree Programme contains 360 ECTS credits, as prescribed by Italian and European law, of which 64 are dedicated to clinical clerkships.
During Year 1, students are introduced to basic concepts of the medical profession (Medical Humanities); basic knowledge of biochemistry, physics, tissue and molecular organisation of organs; and a basic life support clinical clerkship to begin their approach to clinical training.
Year 2 focuses on morphology and the normal functioning of organs; anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are taught as integrated disciplines,progressing towards semeiotics (the ability to perform a medical examination and to discern between normal and abnormal conditions) and the development of basic clinical skills.
From Year 3 to Year 5, teaching focuses on clinical skills through the attendance of formal lessons, seminars and clinical clerkships which integrate diagnosis, clinical and surgical skills, pathological anatomy, and pharmacology.
Year 6 focuses on clinical reasoning based on previously acquired knowledge and on the scientific method; this is applied also in emergency situations.
Finally, the elaboration of a thesis represents an important educational opportunity for students to show their critical thinking skills and their ability to apply the scientific method.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Graduates know:

• The morphological, biochemical, physiological, and social factors that contribute to the health status of individuals.
• Causes, mechanisms, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the most common diseases.
• National healthcare organisation, ethical and legal aspects of the medical profession.
• Clinical experimentation methods and scientific professional updating tools.

Graduates acquire knowledge through lectures, interdisciplinary workshops, e-learning, small-group activities, laboratories, problem-solving, discussion of clinical cases, and clinical clerkships. Since English is the language of instruction, graduates also improve their English language competence.

Knowledge will be assessed through exams, intermediate tests, practical evaluations, and the final dissertation.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Graduates can:
• Assess the health status of patients, taking into account their lifestyle and other congenital or environmental risk factors, and suggest adequate prevention strategies.
• Prescribe adequate therapies for the most common diseases and recommend further specialised diagnostic and therapeutic strategies when needed.
• Cooperate with other healthcare professionals to manage complex patients.
• Assess the scientific and ethical accuracy of innovative medical approaches.
• Assess medical exams and documents written in English, and communicate with English-speaking patients.

Graduates develop abilities to apply knowledge through lectures, interdisciplinary workshops, e-learning, small-group activities, laboratories, exercises, discussion of clinical cases, and clinical clerkships. Teaching methodologies will be predominantly interactive, allowing students to take an active role in acquiring knowledge, in order to develop clinical reasoning skills and communicate in English.

The capacity to apply knowledge will be assessed through exams, intermediate tests, practical evaluations, and the final dissertation.

MAKING JUDGEMENTS

Graduates can identify and interpret relevant data to solve simple and complex health-related issues. They can distinguish whether inaccuracies result from incomplete medical or scientific knowledge, or from technical limitations. In the afore mentioned contexts, they are able to take into account their ethical and social responsibilities when drawing conclusions.
More specifically, graduates can:
1) Use information from biomedical research (both pre-clinical and clinical) in a critical way, and follow the principles of evidence-based medicine;
2) Further elaborate the deontological aspects of the medical profession as general ethical issues, and for the specific social context of patients.

Knowledge and skills will be learnt and assessed through laboratories, clinical clerkships, workshops, and the preparation of the final examination.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Graduates can interact in international and multicultural settings with other healthcare professionals, colleagues, collaborators, and patients and their families. In the face of such specialised and general audiences, graduates can:
1) Express information related to their professional activity in a simple, clear, and concise form, orally or in writing, and taking into account the cultural level of their audience;
2) Interact respectfully and with intellectual honesty with patients, in order to support them in making their health-related decisions, and with their family members to share the patient's point of view and behaviour.

Knowledge and skills will be learnt and assessed mainly during clinical clerkships, when students are exposed to a number of interactive situations. Skills will also be assessed through laboratories, clinical clerkships, workshops, and the preparation of the final examination.

LEARNING SKILLS

Graduates can:
• continue their studies autonomously;
• keep up-to-date in their specific professional branch;
• consult international databases and literature;
• participate in international scientific events, contributing data and exchanging information.

Finally, graduates can practise the medical profession within its normative and ethical boundaries.

Skills learnt during the entire programme are assessed during individual learning activities and by the preparation of the final examination.