Medicine and Surgery
Profile of the programme
Brief overview of the Single Cycle Degree course in Medicine and Surgery
Category: LM-41 of single-cycle degrees in medicine and surgery.
Location: Parma.
Admission: subject to a quota, regulated by an admission test. The maximum number of students admitted to the course (242 + 20 extra-European students) is determined by the academic authorities on the basis of specific requirements of the healthcare sector and available teaching facilities and staff. As stipulated by the Ministry of University and Research, the selection of applicants for the degree course takes place through a national test and local rankings, with questions on topics regarding logic and general culture, biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Entry requirements: secondary school diploma or other qualification obtained abroad recognized as equivalent.
Educational and professional goals
The mission of the Single Cycle Degree in Medicine and Surgery is that of training doctors to an initial professional level by providing them with biomedical and psychosocial knowledge, a multidisciplinary and integrated vision of the more common health problems and diseases. Training focuses on the community, local areas and disease prevention and health promotion, along with aspects of humanistic culture relevant to medical practice; this specific mission is designed to meet new treatment and health needs, and not only centres on disease, but first and foremost on the patient, viewed in his totality of soma and psyche and considered within his social context. This medical training oriented towards the individual is the first stage of a lasting education. The knowledge to be acquired by students has been structured from this perspective, giving the proper importance to individual learning, to experiences gained not just within the Hospital but in the local area, and to epidemiology, in order to promote the development of clinical reasoning and a culture of prevention.
The course aims to train doctors with qualifying characteristics that include:
1) Good communication skills;
2) Self-study and self-evaluation skills;
3) The ability to independently analyse and solve problems connected with medical practice together with good clinical practice based on scientific evidence;
4) The habit of constantly updating knowledge and abilities, and possession of the methodological and cultural foundations needed for acquiring and evaluating new knowledge and abilities with an independent and critical approach geared towards continuing professional development;
5) Proper interdisciplinary and interprofessional education;
6) In-depth knowledge of the necessary methodological foundations for the correct approach to scientific research in the medical field, together with the independent use of computer technologies necessary for proper clinical practice.
Medicine and Surgery graduates work as surgeons in different clinical, healthcare and bio-medical roles and environments. The degree in Medicine and Surgery is also the prerequisite for admission to postgraduate schools of medical specialities. The course lays the groundwork for the various branches of the Surgeon's profession.
Programme of studies
The degree course in Medicine and Surgery lasts 6 years. In accordance with the regulations currently in force, each academic year of the degree is divided into two coordinated cycles lasting less than one year: the cycles, which are called semesters, start in October and March respectively, and have an overall duration of at least 28 weeks. In order to graduate, students must have acquired 300 university credits; in addition, they must also have gained specific professional skills in the fields of internal medicine, general surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, laboratory medicine, skin and venereal diseases and surgical specialities through professional training activities for a length of time equivalent to at least 60 credits.
Lecture halls, laboratories and services
This complex and modern teaching organization not only requires the considerable commitment and helpfulness of lecturers and researchers, but also a substantial deployment of facilities and services which the Faculty already has, or which it plans to develop and upgrade. At present, the following facilities are operative: the “central teaching laboratory” consisting of computer, chemistry, physics and morphology laboratories; classrooms and lecture halls with 10, 30, 50, 90 and 200 seats, small classrooms for tutorial activities (teaching small groups), and space for self study at the teaching facilities in the Biotechnology Integrated Complex located at no. 39, Via Volturno, which houses most of the Departments teaching pre-clinical subjects. In addition to these facilities, there are new classrooms located at no. 14, Via Gramsci, and the faculty’s classrooms, laboratories, clinics and ward activities, so that each course year has its own location and necessary service premises.
Internship: This is a form of tutorial activity in which students perform practical activities with a high level of autonomy by simulating work at a professional level; it is compulsory. In each stage of the compulsory internship, the student must operate under the direct supervision of a lecturer/tutor. The clinical skills acquired through the professional training activities are evaluated with criteria established by the Course Council, and a mark is given out of a total of 30.
The Course Council can identify healthcare facilities outside of the university where the internship can be conducted, in part or entirely, after the Technical commission for didactic and pedagogical planning has evaluated and approved their suitability.
The final examination involves the discussion of a thesis/dissertation prepared by the candidate. 18 credits are allocated to students for the preparation of the thesis at clinical or biological university facilities. It is defined as a “Degree Internship”. Students intending to conduct their degree internship in a given facility must present a formal request to its director accompanied by their curriculum (a list of exams with the marks obtained in each of them, a list of optional activities chosen, work experience in laboratories and clinics and any other training activity). The Director of the facility, after consulting its teaching staff and ascertaining the availability of places, approves the request and assigns a tutor – who may be suggested by the student – the responsibility of monitoring and certifying the activities carried out by the student within the facilities.
Admission requirements
Entry requisites and procedures for the Single Cycle Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery are governed by Ministerial Laws and Regulations on a national level. Broadly speaking, students will be assessed on:
- scientific knowledge regarding the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics;
- general knowledge and the ability to make logical deductions, inductive reasoning and comprehension of texts;
- the results achieved during previous studies, with regard to Italian State examinations and the school curriculum of the last three years of higher secondary education.
Admission to the Single Cycle Degree in Medicine and Surgery requires a Higher Secondary School Diploma or other qualification obtained abroad recognized as equivalent.
Key learning outcomes
The Single Cycle Degree in Medicine and Surgery involves a total of 360 University Credits divided over the six-year course, of which at least 60 must be acquired in practical training activities geared towards developing specific professional skills (profession-oriented credits).
Each credit corresponds to a student commitment of 25 hours, which generally includes no more than 12 hours in the classroom.
Each profession-oriented credit corresponds to 25 hours of work per student, of which at least 17 hours must be of profession-oriented lessons conducted with small groups of students under the lecturer's guidance.
The specific goal of the Single Cycle Degree in Medicine and Surgery is of a biomedical and psycho-social orientation. It aims to achieve real development of professional skills and values. It is based on the importance of combining the biomedical approach to treating illnesses with the psycho-social approach of caring for human beings, within the meta-approach of the complexity of care. Accordingly its aim is to train doctors to an initial professional level so that they possess:
- a multidisciplinary, inter-professional and integrated vision of the most common health problems and diseases;
- an education oriented towards preventing illnesses and promoting health within the community and the local area as a whole;
- in-depth knowledge of new health and care requirements, focusing not only on the disease but first and foremost on the patients, viewed in their totality of soma and psyche and considered within their social contexts.
The educational approach used to achieve the expected qualifying characteristics combines knowledge on a horizontal and vertical level with a teaching method based on a solid cultural and methodological basis, achieved by studying pre-clinical subjects. It later goes on to focus chiefly on problem-solving and decision-making skills, on early contact with patients, on acquiring good clinical skills as well as good human relationships with patients.
- Biomaterials and synthetic biocompatible materials. The various course programmes involve, in line with the specific objectives, taking part in an internship and preparing the final examination, which consists of an original experimental thesis. Both the internship and preparation of the degree thesis can be conducted in the University departments as well as in private companies, public and private laboratories, and in other Italian or foreign universities. Specific agreements have been formed for this purpose. The various curriculums accordingly give the graduate knowledge geared towards performing high responsibility tasks in the field of research, for developing projects in fields linked to biotechnologies; the knowledge acquired also allows graduates to opt for higher education in Masters and doctorates in the field of biotechnology, and in schools specialising in the biomedical field. The educational programme of the Single Cycle Degree aims to achieve the right balance of vertical and transversal integration between:
a) The basic sciences, which must be broad and include knowledge of evolutionary biology, molecular biology and genetics, as well as biological complexity. These must aim to provide knowledge of the structure and function of the human body under normal conditions, with an end to maintaining conditions of good health and the proper application of translational scientific research;
b) Knowledge of disease processes and the mechanisms that trigger them, in order to plan prevention, diagnosis and therapy;
c) Clinical and methodological medical practice, which must be particularly sound through considerable use of a tutorial style of teaching. The aim is to transform theoretical knowledge into personal experience, with an end to creating a personal scale of values and interests, as well as acquiring professional skills for managing the complexity of medicine;
d) The human sciences, which should comprise a knowledge base for acquiring awareness of the medical profession and the associated skills that are called for;
e) Acquisition of the scientific, medical, clinical and professional methodology concerning health problems faced by the individual and the community as a whole.
The expected learning results are defined by combining the European Descriptors (5 Dublin descriptors) with the proposals of the Institute for International Medical Education (IIME), Task Force for Assessment, and The TUNING Project (Medicine) Learning Outcomes/Competences for Undergraduate Medical Education in Europe.
The learning objectives for the Single Cycle Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery attributed to the various methodological skills were stipulated by Ministerial Decree 16/03/2007, Art. 3 paragraph 7 “requirements of the Graduate”. The objectives also meet the conditions of the Core curriculum for the Single Cycle Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery proposed by the Permanent Conference of the Presidents of the Italian Degree Course Councils
(www.presidentiMedicina.unibo.it).
Career opportunities
Graduates in medicine and surgery will perform the practice of doctor – surgeon in the various clinical, healthcare and biomedical professional roles and settings. Moreover, the Master’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery is a requirement for admission to medical Second Degree Colleges. The course provides preparation for the professions of Doctor and Surgeon in all their various functional forms.
Knowledge and understanding
The expected results of learning are those defined by integrating the European Descriptors with what is proposed by the “Institute for International Medical Education (IIME), Task force for Assessment”. Thus the 60 learning objectives of IIME for Medicine Faculties are shown below and here attributed to the various “methodological skills” required by the aforesaid Ministerial Decree, for graduates in medicine. It is also important to note that these objectives are all consistent with what is indicated by the “Core curriculum” for the Master’s degree in Medicine and Surgery proposed by the Conference of Presidents of Italian Master’s Degree Courses (www.presidentimedicina.unibo.it). The “educational objectives” listed below describe the knowledge, competences, skills and conduct which each student of the Master’s Degree Course of Medicine and Surgery must demonstrate to have achieved at the time of their degree, and which thus represent the “priorities” in the education of students enrolled in the degree course. Knowledge and understanding. Graduates must have demonstrated knowledge and an ability to understand to allow them to create and/or apply original ideas within the context of biomedical and transverse research. Thus they must be able to: 1) Scientific Foundation of Medicine Correlate the normal structure and function of the body as a complex of adaptive biological system. 2) Interpret the abnormalities in body structure and function which occur in diseases. 3) Identify normal and abnormal human behaviour. 4) Indicate important determinants and risk factors of health and illnesses and of interaction between man and his physical and social environment. 5) Remember the fundamentals of molecular, cellular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms that maintain the body’s homeostasis. 6) Describe the human life cycle and effects of growth, development and aging upon the individual, family and community. 7) Illustrate the aetiology and natural history of acute illnesses and chronic diseases. 8) Cite essential knowledge on epidemiology, health economics and health management. 9) Correlate the principles of drug action and its use, and efficacy of various therapies. 10) Implement at the level requested at the beginning of medical practice the main relevant biochemical, pharmacological, surgical, psychological, social and other interventions in acute and chronic illness, in rehabilitation and end-of-life care.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Graduates must be able to apply their knowledge, understand and solve problems including regarding new or unfamiliar problems, in broad and interdisciplinary contexts, in order to practice the clinical competences needed to deal with all health problems of the population and their treatment. Thus they must be able to: Clinical Skills 1) Take an appropriate history including social issues such as occupational health. 2) Perform a complete physical and mental status examination. 3) Apply basic diagnostic and technical procedures, to analyse and interpret findings, and to define the nature of a problem. 4) Perform appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategy with focus on life saving procedures and applying principles of best evidence medicine. 5) Exercise clinical judgement to establish diagnoses and therapies. 6) Recognise immediate life threatening conditions. 7) Manage the common medical emergencies. 8) Manage of patients including health promotion and disease prevention in an effective, efficient and ethical manner. 9) Evaluate health problems and advise patients taking into account physical, psychological, social and cultural factors. 10) Provide indications for appropriate utilisation of human resources, diagnostic interventions, therapeutic modalities and health care facilities. Population Health and Health Systems: 1) Knowledge of important life-style, genetic, demographic, environmental, social, economic, psychological and cultural determinants of health and illness of a population as a whole. 2) Knowledge of their role and ability to take appropriate action in disease, injury, and accident prevention and protecting, maintaining and promoting the health of individuals, families and community. 3) Knowledge of international health status, of global trends in morbidity and mortality of chronic diseases of social significance, the impact of migration, trade and environmental factors on health and the role of international health organisations. 4) An acceptance of the roles and responsibilities of other health and health related personnel in providing health care to individuals, populations and communities. 5) Understanding the need for collective responsibility for health promoting interventions which requires partnership with the population served, and a multidisciplinary approach including the health care professions as well as intersectorial collaboration. 6) An understanding of the basics of the health system including policies, organisation, financing, cost-containment measures of rising health care costs, and principles of effective management of health care delivery. 7) An understanding of the mechanisms that determine equity in access to health care, effectiveness and the quality of care. 8) The use of national, regional and local surveillance data as well as demography and epidemiology in health decisions. 9) Willingness to accept leadership when needed and as appropriate in health issues.
Making judgements
Graduates must have the ability to integrate knowledge and manage the complexity, as well as make judgements based on limited or incomplete information, including reflections on social and ethical responsibility connected with the application of their knowledge and judgements. Thus they must be able to: Critical Thinking and Research: 1) Demonstrate a critical approach, constructive scepticism, resourcefulness, and a research-oriented attitude in professional activities. 2) Understand the power and limitations of the scientific method including accuracy and validity of scientific information in establishing the causation, treatment and prevention of disease. 3) Use personal judgements for analytical and critical problem solving and seek out information rather than to wait to be given. 4) Identify, formulate and solve patients’ problems using scientific thinking and based on obtained and correlated information from different sources. 5) Understand the role of complexity, uncertainty and probability in decisions in medical practice. 6) Formulate hypotheses, collect and critically evacuate data for the solution of problems. Professional Values, Attitudes, Behaviours and Ethics: 1) Recognition of the essential elements of the medical profession, including moral and ethical principles and legal responsibilities underlying the profession. 2) Professional values which include excellence, altruism, responsibility, compassion, empathy, accountability, honesty and integrity, and a commitment to scientific methods. 3) An understanding that each physician has an obligation to promote, protect and enhance these elements for the benefit of patients, the profession and society at large. 4) Recognition that good medical practice depends on a mutual understanding and relationship between the doctor, patient and the family with respect for the patient’s welfare, cultural diversity, beliefs and autonomy. 5) An ability to apply the principles of moral reasoning and decision-making to conflicts within and between ethical, legal and professional issues including those raised by economic constrains, commercialisation of health care, and scientific advances. 6) Self-regulation and a recognition of the need for continuous self-improvement with an awareness of personal limitations including limitation of one’s medical knowledge. 7) Respect for colleagues and other health care professionals and the ability to foster a positive collaborative relationship with them. 8) Recognition of the moral obligation to provide end of life care, including palliation of symptoms. 9) Recognition of ethical and medical issues in patient’ documentation, plagiarism, confidentiality and ownership of intellectual property. 10) Ability to effectively plan and efficiently manage one’s own time and activities to cope with uncertainty, and the ability to adapt to change. 11) Personal responsibility for the care of the individual patient.
Learning skills
Graduates must have developed those learning skills which allow them to continue to study for the most part in self-guided manner or independently. Thus they must be able to: Management of Information 1) Search, collect, organise and interpret health and biomedical information from different databases and sources. 2) Retrieve patient-specific information from a clinical data system. 3) Use information and communication technology to assist in diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive measures, and for surveillance and monitoring health status. 4) Understand application and limitations of information technology. 5) Manage records of own practice for analysis and improvement.
Communication skills
Graduates must know to clearly and unambiguously communicate their conclusions, knowledge and the rationale behind them to specialist and lay counterparts, as well as – with the procedures required by the circumstances – to their patients. Thus they must be able to: Communication skills 1) Listen attentively to elicit and synthesise relevant information about all problems and understanding of their content. 2) Apply communication skills to facilitate understanding with patients and their families and to enable them to undertake decisions as equal partners. 3) Communicate with colleagues, faculty, the community, other sectors and the media. 4) Interact with other professionals involved in patient care through effective teamwork. 5) Demonstrate basic skills and positive attitudes towards teaching others. 6) Demonstrate sensitivity to cultural and personal factors that improve interactions with patients and the community. 7) Communicate effectively both orally and in writing. 8) Create and maintain good medical records. 9) Synthesise and present information appropriate to the needs of the audience, and discuss achievable and acceptable plans of action that address the issues of priority to the individual and community.
Final examination, if any
The final examination for obtaining the Degree consists of executing and discussing a written dissertation on a subject decided beforehand with the professor of the subject.
To be able to sit the final examination, students must fulfil the following obligations in the given order: presentation of the
form supplied by the Students' Registry office (or printed from the Web page of each faculty) to the Students' Registry Office, within the deadline stipulated in the relevant notifications to the professional Registers and on the U.C. website, in order to obtain approval of the subject chosen for the written dissertation. The student must have the form signed by the professor under whose supervision he or she intends to carry out the work involved. .
The Degree Boards are appointed by the Head of the Faculty or the President of the Degree Course/Didactic Area Council, if appointed.
The Boards for the Degree examinations can award up to 110 points. The Degree examination is taken as being passed with a minimum mark of 66/110. In the event that the candidate should obtain the maximum grade, honours may be awarded with a unanimous vote. The Degree examinations are public.
Rules regarding the Degree examination
SPECIALIST DEGREE COURSE IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY
REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE DEGREE EXAMINATION IN FORCE AS AT JULY 2009 (updated in July 2012)
OBLIGATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE DEGREE EXAMINATION:
1. The subject of the thesis must be submitted to the Students' Registry office 12 months prior to the presumed date of its discussion. It must be submitted with a form signed by the Speaker lecturer in charge of the chosen subject area (it is necessary to submit 4 copies, see MOD 01). The Speaker is responsible for ensuring the deadline is respected. The deadlines regarding the degree sessions for the obligations listed to follow will be published as soon as they are available on the Degree Course website under the heading "Enrolling in Examinations and Final Exams".
2. Undergraduates must enrol in the Final Examination online, at least 2 months before the presumed date of the degree examination. They must do so from the Degree Course website, under the heading Enrolling in Examinations and Final Examination.
3. A draft of the thesis must be handed in, preferably in electronic format only and approximately 40 days beforehand to the Co-Speaker, with whom a meeting to discuss the work must be scheduled.
4. The candidate must submit to the Students' Registry office the following documents, no later than 20 days prior to the degree examination:
a) stamped Degree Application form MOD A/15 (where indicating the exact title of the degree Thesis, also in English);
b) a copy of the thesis summary must be handed in on paper to the Students' Registry Office (not printed front and back, and not bound, as it will be transformed into a PDF file) preceded by the front page as per the facsimile (MOD 02 which must also contain the English title), in a maximum of two-hundred typewritten pages (around three hundred words). After expiry, it will not be possible to replace the file as the Students' Registry Office will send it to all the members of the Degree Commission together with the official summons;
c) A receipt proving the Alma Laurea questionnaire has been duly filled out via computerised means: ALMA LAUREA is a service which makes the CVs of graduates available to Companies, Organisations and Banks in order to help promote their entry into the labour market and professions. Use any computer connected to Internet and a printer, enter the Alma Laurea website at the following address http://www.almalaurea.it/lau/laureandi/registrazione, follow the instructions on the screen, print off the receipt and hand in to the Students' Registry Office. Students not wishing to take part must fill out the replacement declaration and/or exclusion request in the Students' Registry office.
The Faculty puts its computers in the Central Medicine Library at the disposal of students who do not have a PC connected to Internet.
d) A receipt for payment of Euro 114.62 (cost of certificates and parchment scrolls and virtual duty stamp for the parchment scroll) to be made at a branch of the Unicredit bank, by using the slip provided by the Students' Registry Office;
e) Request for the degree parchment scroll with form no. MOD A/13 with 1 duty stamp. The Parchment scroll will be sent to the address indicated on form MOD 04. For those who do not request postage, a notification will be posted on-line when the Degree Certificate is ready for collection.
f) Questionnaire on perceived quality of services provided by the Students' Registry Office.
5. The course examinations must be concluded at least 12 days prior to the final Degree examination. The candidate must perform the following tasks no later than 12 days prior to the degree examination:
a) Deliver the student ID card to the Students' Registry Office
b) deliver the Internship Booklet (with effect from students enrolled in the 3rd, 4th and 5th course year during the 2006/2007 academic year);
c) Present 4 copies of the Degree Thesis for authentication to the Students' Registry office, signed by the undergraduate on the last page of the text, before the Bibliography;
d) Once authenticated, it shall be the candidate's responsibility to deliver the Degree Thesis to the Speaker and Co-speaker;
e) any deferments to the subsequent session must be communicated to the Speaker, Co-speaker and Students' Registry office promptly in the event that the student should not prove able to graduate as scheduled.
METHOD FOR DRAFTING THE THESIS
1. The front page must indicate the University, Faculty and Degree Course clearly (see facsimile - MOD 03)
Generally speaking, only one Speaker is permitted: it is possible to have a second speaker under particular conditions. It is possible to indicate the name of the Tutor. The name of the Co-Speaker does not need to be supplied.
2. The thesis must contain the following, in the order given: summary, introduction, materials and methods used, results, discussion and bibliography;
3. The materials and methods must be written out in full;
4. Any figures and tables should have a title and contain an explanatory key;
5. The bibliography must be numbered in the order of quotation and contain the name (initials) and surname, full title of the quoted work, volume, initial and final page and the year of publication;
6. Abbreviations should be avoided in the title as far as possible;
7. The format of the thesis must contain pages of around 25 lines each, with double spacing between the lines;
8. It is advisable to use front and back of the pages. .
9. The thesis can be drafted in an EU language, preferably English, with the Italian summary attached. It must have a title in both Italian and the foreign language.
GUIDELINES FOR THE DEGREE EXAMINATION
The undergraduate must put his or her own copy of the thesis at the disposal of the Board, and collect it at the end of the presentation.
The candidate must give an oral presentation of the results. This may also include the use of digital means. In doing so, the candidate must draw the appropriate conclusions upon which a discussion will be opened by the Board members.
The candidate can use a total of 8 written slides with legible characters, of which:
-1 slide for presenting the subject, as brief as possible
-1 slide for materials
-1 slide for the methods, including statistical analysis
-3 slides for presenting the results: prevalently graphics
-2 slides for conclusions
The maximum amount of time available is 10 minutes.
