The course of study provides professionalism in the field of family medicine and hospital medicine with the potential to reach top positions in the organizational and managerial context.

Job offers in the health sector, in fact, are progressively increasing and the shortage of medical personnel is currently one of the main health problems not only in Italy but also in the international context.

The international dimension of the course and the in-depth study of issues related to health in its entirety make the graduate in Medicine and Surgery ready to undertake international paths of specialization, work and research.

The main career opportunities of the Surgeon can be identified in:

- Specialist medicine in hospitals or specialist centres, public or private clinics, national and international health and humanitarian organisations;

- General medicine;

- Management in the healthcare sector;

- Clinical research in universities, IRCCS;

- Public or private research institutions.

In addition, the international dimension of the course and the presence of topics related to global health make the graduate in Medicine and Surgery ready to undertake international specialization, work and research paths.

Students can undertake the final examination after acquiring at least 342 credits. The final examination allows to obtain additional 18 credits and consists of presenting a thesis on an original medical or interdisciplinary research project, with the production of a written paper in English.

The activities related to the preparation of the thesis for the Master's Degree will be carried out by the student under the supervision of an advisor, a faculty member of the course. The final examination is discussed in a public session in English before in front of a committee of faculty members and a representative of the Professional Order, who will express the overall evaluation with any possible honours, taking into accountconsidering the entire course of study.

The dissertation must demonstrate mastery of the topics, critical ability, aptitude for independent work, and good communication skills. The final examination may be related to a project or an internship activity.

The organizational procedures of the final examination, the composition of the committee, and the evaluation criteria are defined by the academic regulations of the Master's degree course.

In order to be admitted to the single-cycle master's degree course, students must have an upper secondary school diploma required by the regulations in force, or another qualification obtained abroad, recognized as suitable by the competent bodies of the University.

The number of places assigned, the date of the admission test, the content and the methods of carrying out the selection are determined annually by Decree of the MUR and are reported in the call for applications.

Admission also requires adequate initial preparation and knowledge of the English language.

The methods for verifying the knowledge of the English language and the knowledge required for admission are defined in the Didactic Regulations of the course.

The prerequisites required of the student who wants to enrol in a degree course in medicine should include: good ability to human contact, good ability to work in a team, ability to analyze and solve problems, ability to independently acquire new knowledge and information by being able to evaluate them critically (Maastricht, 1999). In addition to the scientific knowledge useful for attending the first year of the course, the student should therefore also possess good attitudes and valid motivational components, important for the formation of a 'good doctor' who knows how to relate correctly to the required social responsibilities.

The procedures for making up for any gaps and educational deficits of the student (to be filled in any case within the first year of study) are governed by the Didactic Regulations of the single-cycle master's degree course.

Single cycle degree/Combined Bachelor and Master in MEDICINE AND SURGERY

Graduates of the English-taught Medicine and Surgery program can communicate their conclusions, knowledge, and the rationale underlying them clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, as well as to their patients, even in an international and multicultural context. In this relational context, they can present the knowledge base and rationale of their judgments clearly and directly. Specifically, graduates are able to:

• Listen attentively to extract and synthesize relevant information on all issues, understanding their content.
• Apply communication skills to facilitate understanding with patients and their relatives, enabling them to share decisions as equal partners.
• Communicate effectively with colleagues, faculty, the community, other sectors, and the media.
• Interact with other professionals involved in patient care through efficient teamwork.
• Demonstrate basic skills and the right attitudes in teaching others.
• Show sensitivity to cultural and personal factors that enhance interactions with patients and the community.
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
• Create and maintain good medical documentation.
• Summarize and present information appropriate to the audience's needs and discuss achievable and acceptable action plans that prioritize individual and community needs.

Since the most homogeneous context for acquiring these skills is clinical internship activities, which are characterized by a wide variety of interactive situations, the main method of verifying these competencies is the oral examination. Other methods include ongoing assessments, evaluations in laboratories, and group activities. Communication skills are also verified during the thesis discussion.

Graduates of the English-taught Medicine and Surgery program must independently acquire and interpret relevant data to solve both simple and complex problems related to the professional context. They must also be able to formulate judgments when available information is lacking due to the technical-scientific development of medicine. In such contexts, they must be able to draw conclusions with ethical and social responsibility. Specifically, they should be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical approach, constructive skepticism, and a creative, research-oriented attitude in their professional activities.
• Consider the importance and limitations of scientific thinking based on information obtained from various resources to establish the cause, treatment, and prevention of diseases.
• Formulate personal judgments to solve analytical and complex problems ("problem-solving") and independently seek scientific information without waiting for it to be provided.
• Identify, formulate, and solve patient problems using the foundations of scientific thinking and research, based on information obtained and correlated from different sources.
• Understand the role of complexity, uncertainty, and probability in decisions made during medical practice.
• Formulate hypotheses, collect and critically evaluate data to solve problems.

Regarding professional values, abilities, behaviour, and ethics, graduates must be able to:

• Identify the essential elements of the medical profession, including moral and ethical principles and the legal responsibilities underlying the profession.
• Respect professional values that include excellence, altruism, responsibility, compassion, empathy, reliability, honesty, integrity, and commitment to scientific methods.
• Be aware that every physician has an obligation to promote, protect, and enhance these elements for the benefit of patients, the profession, and society.
• Recognize that good medical practice depends closely on the interaction and good relationships between doctor, patient, and family, safeguarding well-being, cultural diversity, and patient autonomy.
• Demonstrate the ability to correctly apply the principles of moral reasoning and make appropriate decisions regarding potential conflicts in ethical, legal, and professional values, including those that may arise from economic distress, commercialization of healthcare, and new scientific discoveries.
• Respond with personal commitment to the need for continuous professional improvement, being aware of their own limitations, including those of their medical knowledge.
• Respect colleagues and other health professionals, demonstrating the ability to establish collaborative relationships with them.
• Fulfill the moral obligation to provide medical care in the terminal stages of life, including palliative symptom and pain therapies.
• Apply ethical and deontological principles in handling patient data, avoiding plagiarism, maintaining confidentiality, and respecting intellectual property.
• Effectively plan and efficiently manage their time and activities to cope with conditions of uncertainty and exercise the ability to adapt to changes.
• Exercise personal responsibility in caring for individual patients.

The acquisition of these competencies is verified through ongoing assessments, group work, active participation in seminars, and the autonomous preparation of a written thesis to be defended in the final examination.

Graduates of the English-taught Medicine and Surgery program have developed the learning skills necessary to continue studying predominantly in a self-directed or autonomous manner. Therefore, graduates are able to:

• Collect, organize, and correctly interpret health and biomedical information from various resources and available databases.
• Gather specific patient information from clinical data management systems.
• Utilize information and communication technology as valid support for diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive practices, and for health status surveillance and monitoring.
• Understand the application and limitations of information technology.
• Maintain a good archive of their medical practice for subsequent analysis and improvement.
• Actively participate in and contribute with personal data and observations to international scientific or continuing education events.

The skills acquired throughout the entire training program are assessed through continuous evaluations during educational activities and by verifying the self-learning abilities developed during the activities related to the final examination.

Graduates of the English-taught Medicine Program will have the following knowledge and understanding:

• They know the morphological, biochemical, physiological, and social factors that contribute to determining individuals' health status.
• They understand the causes, mechanisms, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches for the most common diseases.
• They are familiar with the national healthcare organization, ethical aspects, and medicalo-legal aspects of the medical profession.
• They understand the normal functioning of the human body at the cellular level, including nervous, muscular, epithelial, and endocrine tissues, as well as the cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems.
• They understand the structure and normal functionality of the organism as a complex of biological systems in constant adaptation.
• They know the morpho-functional anomalies of the organism found in various diseases.
• They understand the determinants and main risk factors of health and disease, and the interaction between humans and their physical and social environment.
• They know the fundamental molecular, cellular, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms that maintain homeostasis in the organism.
• They understand the human life cycle and the effects of growth, development, aging, and death on individuals, families, and communities.
• They know the etiology and natural history of acute and chronic diseases.
• They understand the principles of epidemiology, health economics, and health management.
• They know the mechanisms of drug action, their indications, and the effectiveness of various pharmacological therapies.
• They can correctly gather a comprehensive clinical history, including social aspects like occupational health.
• They can conduct physical and mental state examinations.
• They are familiar with clinical trial methodologies and scientific updating tools.

Graduates demonstrate knowledge and understanding that enables them to develop and/or apply original ideas within the context of biomedical and translational research.

Knowledge in the aforementioned areas is acquired through attendance at lectures, interdisciplinary seminars, e-learning, small group teaching, laboratories, exercises, discussion of clinical cases, and professionalizing activities. If not already native speakers, graduates also perfect their knowledge of English, used as the language of instruction. Knowledge verification is carried out through exams, ongoing assessments, evaluation of practical activities, and the final thesis.

Graduates must be capable of applying their knowledge, understanding, and problem-solving skills to new or unfamiliar topics within broad and interdisciplinary contexts. This ensures they have the clinical competencies necessary to address the complexities of population health issues and their treatment. Graduates of the English-taught Medicine Program are able to:

• Assess a patient’s health status, relate it to lifestyle, congenital or environmental risk factors, and recommend appropriate disease prevention approaches.
• Connect molecular, morphological, microbiological, immunological, and physiological knowledge with the etiopathogenesis of diseases and the fundamental pathophysiological mechanisms of the body.
• Recognize morphological aspects that allow the identification of various human tissues, aiding in organ diagnosis.
• Describe the human body in its three-dimensional, topographical, and functional relationships.
• Properly approach clinical evaluation of patients concerning physical examination, with the ability to independently assess different systems.
• Discuss surgical or endoscopic approaches to deep organs and recognize the relationships between normal organs in diagnostic imaging.
• Describe the effects of major lesions of the central and peripheral nervous system and the locations of referred pain.
• Treat common diseases with appropriate therapies and refer patients to specialized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches when necessary.
• Identify and manage acute clinical syndromes and apply theoretical and practical principles of trauma management and first aid.
• Collaborate with other healthcare professionals in managing complex patients.
• Evaluate the scientific and ethical soundness of innovative medical approaches.
• Evaluate medical analysis and documentation in English and communicate with English-speaking patients.
• Retrieve information and updates from scientific literature on diseases and new therapeutic approaches, assess their methodological rigor, and select sources, including international ones, for continuous professional development.
• Utilize common IT methods, access clinical databases, and manage sensitive data.

Graduates develop the ability to apply the knowledge acquired through attendance at lectures, interdisciplinary seminars, e-learning, small group teaching, laboratories, exercises, discussion of clinical cases, professionalizing activities, and elective courses. The educational organization of the degree program is predominantly interactive, ensuring that students play an active role in learning knowledge, clinical reasoning, and interaction in English. Knowledge verification is carried out through exams, ongoing assessments, evaluation of practical activities, and the final thesis.

Medical Doctor (Medico Chirurgo)

The degree program provides professional skills in both family and hospital medicine, with the potential to reach top positions in organizational and managerial contexts. Job offers in the healthcare sector are steadily increasing, and the shortage of medical personnel is currently one of the main healthcare issues not only in Italy but also internationally. The international dimension of the course and the in-depth study of global health topics prepare graduates in Medicine and Surgery to pursue international pathways in specialization, work, and research. The main career opportunities for Medical Doctors include:

• Specialized medicine in hospital facilities or specialized centers, public or private clinics, national and international health and humanitarian organizations;
• General practice;
• Healthcare management;
• Clinical research in universities and IRCCS (Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare);
• Public or private research institutions.

Moreover, the international dimension of the course and the inclusion of global health topics prepare graduates in Medicine and Surgery to undertake international paths in specialization, work, and research.

ENGLISH

In order to be able to carry out the functions of Physician-Surgeon, both disciplinary and transversal skills and abilities are required, including the orientation of the community, to the territory and to the prevention of disease and health promotion.

Especially:

- theoretical knowledge deriving from the basic sciences and the ability to manage them correctly with a view to subsequent professional application;

- knowledge of the historical, epidemiological, epistemological, ethical and legal dimensions of medicine;

- global vision of medicine and the repercussions on medical practice of the process of world globalization;

- scientific bases and theoretical-practical preparation necessary for the exercise of the profession;

- methodology and knowledge for continuing education;

- interdisciplinary approach to health and people's problems also in relation to the chemical-physical, biological and social environment that surrounds them, aimed at acquiring the necessary professional autonomy;

- competence to examine from a clinical point of view, in a unitary vision, also extended to the socio-cultural and gender dimension, the data relating to the state of health and illness of the individual, critically interpreting them also in the light of basic scientific knowledge;

- skills and experience, combined with the ability to self-assess, to responsibly address and solve priority health problems from a preventive, diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative point of view;

- ability to communicate clearly and humanely with the patient and family members, even in international and multicultural contexts;

- ability to collaborate with the various professionals in the various group health activities to contribute to a high-quality care process to make an effective contribution to the development of a care activity in a health system understood as local, regional, national and international;

- knowledge of the principles of health economics applicable to health services and of the sustainability of the health system both in an economic and environmental sense;

- ability to recognize the health problems of the community by intervening competently, based on the principles of effectiveness and appropriateness of clinical practice;

- ability to critically interpret scientific knowledge in the biomedical field and knowledge of scientific methods suitable for participation in cooperative clinical trial groups;

- put the patient at the center of a care process based on up-to-date knowledge, clinical skills and ethical-professional values, through the collection and interpretation of information and clinical decisions that lead to a correct diagnosis and targeted therapeutic interventions;

- develop, in the light of the international aspect of the Course, a sensitivity towards the differences in the epidemiological, diagnostic-therapeutic, ethical, gender and doctor/patient relationships related to cultural and social aspects;

- recognize the problems of the international community, having a global vision of medicine and the repercussions on medical practice of the process of world globalization, intervening competently.

The main function of the doctor is the management of the health of the individual and the community: collecting the clinical history of patients, establishing diagnoses and therapies, taking preventive actions for the protection of health, applying the ethical and responsible principles related to the medical profession.

The Physician-Surgeon:

• collaborates in the promotion of the health of the individual by promoting complete physical, mental and social well-being through interventions aimed at identifying and correcting risky lifestyles and the application of strategies for the prevention and early diagnosis of diseases.

• is able to identify pathological conditions and the appropriate pathways for their diagnosis;

• chooses and implements all therapeutic measures for the treatment of the most common pathologies;

• acts as counselling and interface between the patient and the specialist for pathologies of specialist interest;

• collaborates with medical specialists to whom subjects with pathological conditions of their competence refer.

The profession of Surgeon is regulated by current national and European regulations.

The surgeon must apply the ethical and responsible principles related to the medical profession, as well as promote the core values of the global community, such as respect for diversity, especially in contexts of intervention on multicultural populations.

The Master's Degree in Medicine and Surgery in English qualifies for the profession of Surgeon on the national territory after Registration in the Professional Order and allows access to the Specialisation Schools of Medical, Surgical and Services Area, the Research Doctorate, the second level Masters, and the General Practitioner Courses, Clinical Research in Universities, IRCCS, Public and Private Research Institutions. It also allows you to carry out the profession of Surgeon within the European and international Community.

The particular attention to the training of the future doctor also in the communicative-behavioral and bioethical fields, will allow an indispensable training enrichment for the new figure of the professional in the health context that can be spent in Europe and abroad, as well as in Italy, for example in contexts with frequent interactions with other countries.

The aim of the Degree Programme is to train a doctor who is able to operate on a modern medicine that ranges from the promotion of health and a correct lifestyle, to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of diseases also in international contexts. To meet this objective, the training course includes:

1. a strong integration between the disciplines that has a double advantage: it leads the student to a unitary vision of a complex system, and allows the teachers themselves to carry out a more organized teaching focused on the relevance of each objective in the framework of human biology;
2. topics of relevance such as humanistic culture of medical interest, community-oriented education and local medicine, health promotion understood not only as a cure for illness but also as a psychic well-being of the individual and intercultural mediation;
3. a solid organization of the practical internship that begins during the third year but will be preceded by attendance in the virtual hospital so that the students, at the time of entry into the hospital and the approach to the clinic, already have a solid foundation in semiotics;
4. in addition to institutional credits, the course of study also includes elective teaching activities that allow the student to deepen some topics and to play an active role such as laboratories, exercises, small group teaching, interdisciplinary seminars, Problem-Based Learning, Problem Solving, discussion of clinical cases, e-learning; Some activities that integrate and deepen the institutional offer are also offered by the colleges;
5. The course of study is carried out entirely in English. English promotes the mastery of international medical terminologies, it is useful for consulting publications and databases for interaction with foreign colleagues for both care and research purposes, and for interaction with foreign patients. The course of study in English attracts students from abroad, creating a multicultural environment in the student community that fosters the development of communication skills essential for the Doctor. Knowledge of the English language promotes the mobility of students and teachers to and from foreign universities, helping to train professionals accustomed to operating in an international context. Student mobility to and from countries of the European Community and non-EU countries is facilitated by the Erasmus program, which is highly developed at our university and which sees the course of study in medicine in English in first place.

The qualifying characteristics of the doctor to be trained include:

• Good human contact skills (communication skills);
• Self-learning and self-assessment skills (continuing education);
• Ability to analyse and solve problems related to medical practice together with good clinical practice based on scientific evidence (evidence-based medicine);
• Habit of constant updating of knowledge and skills, and possession of the methodological and cultural bases suitable for the autonomous acquisition and critical evaluation of new knowledge and skills (continuing professional development);
• Good practice of interprofessional and interprofessional education;
• In-depth knowledge of the methodological foundations necessary for a correct approach to scientific research in the medical field, together with the autonomous use of information technologies indispensable in clinical practice.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned educational objectives, the course of study is divided into 6 years and includes a total of 360 credits, of which at least 60 are to be acquired in training activities aimed at developing specific professional skills.

The first year provides the student with the introduction of the basic concepts of the medical profession (Basic Sciences) and the acquisition of basic knowledge of biochemistry and physics and of the tissue, molecular and structural organization of organs.

The second year leads to the knowledge of the normal functioning of the organs, through the integration of the knowledge of anatomy acquired during the first year with the physiology and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying tissue damage and the main microorganisms responsible for diseases. The knowledge is integrated with the ethical values that underpin the medical profession.

From the third to the fifth year, the preparation aimed at the acquisition of clinical skills, through integrated courses in which diagnostics, clinical, surgery, pathological anatomy and pharmacology are treated in an integrated way, and through the corresponding clinical practices.

The sixth year focuses on the student's clinical reasoning skills, applying the knowledge and scientific method previously learned to the examination of clinical and surgical cases and to territorial medicine.

The sixth year is planned to allow the student to complete the practical internship in view of entering the world of work but also to complete the training by finalizing the original speculative skills based on the scientific method.

In summary, the six-year training course includes activities related to basic sciences, preclinical sciences, clinical medical-surgical sciences, communication, health promotion and medical ethics.

The key words of the teaching method adopted, useful for the achievement of the expected qualifying characteristics, include the horizontal and vertical integration of knowledge, a teaching method based on a solid cultural and methodological basis achieved in the study of pre-clinical disciplines and subsequently mainly cantered on the ability to deal with problems (problem-oriented learning), early contact with the patient. A good acquisition of clinical skills together with a good acquisition of human contact skills. A highly integrated, flexible and modifiable teaching organization has therefore been planned, a real laboratory of scientific experimentation, with the intention of promoting in students the ability to acquire knowledge not in a fragmented but integrated way, and to keep it alive not only in the short but also in the longer term. The student is therefore considered the pivot of the training process, both in the didactic design and in the improvement of the entire curriculum, in order to enhance the autonomy of initiative.

A solid foundation of clinical knowledge is also ensured to the student through the organization of certified internships based on tutorial teaching, together with a strong understanding of the medical-scientific method and the humanities. In our opinion, true professional competence can only be achieved after a long period of contact with patients.

In the didactic project of our master's degree course, the right balance of integration is proposed between: 1) basic sciences, which must be broad and provide for the knowledge of evolutionary biology and biological complexity aimed at the knowledge of the structure and function of the human organism under normal conditions, for the purpose of maintaining health conditions, 2) clinical and methodological medical practice, which must be particularly solid, through a wide use of tutorial teaching capable of transforming theoretical knowledge into personal experience and building one's own scale of values and interests, 3) human sciences, which must constitute a useful background to achieve the awareness of being a doctor and the ability to practice the profession in the socio-economic context to which they belong.

Many of the essential contents of our Didactic Project, already activated in this way since the academic year 1999-2000, anticipate and integrate the European specifications for global standards in medical education of the World Federation on Medical Education on the subject of basic international standards and quality development in the field of biomedical education (WFME Office, University of Copenhagen, 2007).

The peculiar characteristics of the Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery aimed at achieving the specific objectives are summarized as follows:

Within the framework of the provisions of current legislation, the programming of objectives, programs, and teaching is multidisciplinary.

The teaching method implemented is interactive and multidisciplinary, with the daily integration of basic sciences and clinical disciplines and an early clinical involvement of the students, who are immediately oriented to a correct approach with the patient.

The problems of the basic sciences and those of the clinical field are therefore addressed in all the years of the course (total integration model), although in different proportions, but with a unitary and strongly integrated vision, also through the use of multi-voice teaching.

Choice of the specific objectives of the basic courses made primarily on the relevance of each objective in the framework of human biology, and on the prerequisites with respect to current or foreseeable clinical issues, with particular attention to the component concerning scientific methodology.

Choice of the specific objectives of the characterizing courses made primarily on the basis of epidemiological prevalence, urgency of intervention, possibility of intervention, severity and exemplary teaching. It is also planned to enhance the frequency in hospital wards and outpatient clinics of local structures and to enhance the relationship with the patient, also from a psychological point of view.

The teaching process makes use of modern teaching tools, consisting of a tutorial system, clinical trigger, problem-oriented learning, experiential learning, problem solving, decision making and extensive use of seminars and conferences. An educational laboratory has been set up that can be used by teachers for the disciplines of the preclinical three-year period, where students can, in small groups, gain practical laboratory experience. The practical activity of the Anatomy course has been made accessible to all students through the adoption of the "Anatomage" anatomical simulation table. All the classrooms used for the lessons of the Course of Study have been equipped with equipment for recording the lessons and remote connection, including the classrooms used for the graduation sessions. Finally, the clinical practice activity has been rescheduled in order to include more hospitals and more operational units in the educational offer and, in this way, allow small groups of students to carry out, without overcrowding, practical hospital internships throughout the year.

Tutors are predominantly used who collaborate in the student's educational process with teaching (area tutors) and support (personal tutors) functions to students.

Particular attention is paid to the acquisition of practical skills, through: 1) involvement in the planning of basic research in the first three years of the course, 2) learning of the semeiological bases of clinical sciences at the bedside and in the laboratories in the intermediate period (professional internship organized as a guided tutorial activity with certification of the level of ability, in the third year of the course), 3) attendance of university wards and clinics (clinical clerkship - with certification by the tutor of the skills achieved from the fourth to the sixth year of the course) and territorial, such as those of General Practitioners (optional from the fourth year of the course, compulsory in the fifth and sixth years), for the completion of the clinical internship in the last years of the course and the internship period for the purpose of preparing the thesis 4) participation in research programs during the internship period for the purpose of preparing the degree thesis.

Particular attention is given to computer and multimedia methodologies also through e-learning, e-learning and telemedicine experiences, and to the correct use of bibliographic sources.

Establishment of the integrated course of SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF MEDICINE which includes epidemiology, statistics and history of medicine, and the teaching of DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, necessary for the knowledge of medical methodology and its rules according to the principles of evidence-based medicine, and for the clinical methodology applied to the individual patient. These courses immediately orient students towards a humanistic education, which will accompany them in the scientific-professional training process. This training will allow them to refine their skills and acquire the correct and innovative means of clinical reasoning. This will be done through the applications of 'evidence-based medicine', evidence-based teaching through the use of 'guidelines', 'concept maps' and 'algorithms'. Topics related to interdisciplinarity and interprofessionalism, health economics, medical professionalism, social and legal responsibility of doctors, social and gender perspectives, relations with so-called complementary and alternative medicines, prevention, education of chronic patients, addiction pathologies and palliative care for the terminally ill will also have to be addressed. The gradual acquisition of the method is accompanied by the humanistic training of the students. In this way, they can grow from a scientific point of view and also develop a greater sensitivity to ethical and socio-economic problems, which allows them to interact with the patient in his entirety as a sick man, according to the conception of whole person medicine. In this way, we respond to the growing need for a rapprochement between the figure of the doctor and that of the sick man, who are increasingly distancing themselves from a uniquely technological medical practice. In this context, we also tried to use the so-called narrative medicine, together with reflection grids, and the technique of role-playing as important tools in the acquisition of true emotional and professional competence by the student. A course on sustainability has been included in the curriculum for both the medical and surgical paths in consideration of the importance of the problem of economic-environmental sustainability in modern society. This course allows the Harvey Course of Medicine and Surgery to align itself with the major European medical schools.

Student evaluation also takes place through ongoing assessments (self-assessment tests and mid-term interviews), written reports by students on assigned topics, and through the evaluation of the overall profile developed on the basis of predefined criteria. The exams can be articulated - in addition to the traditional oral or written exam - also in a sequence of items useful for verifying the acquired knowledge (knows and knows how) such as multiple-choice tests or short written answers organized on problems or clinical cases of an interdisciplinary nature, followed by exams useful to ascertain the clinical skills acquired. As a general rule valid for all integrated courses, formal assessments will be based on written tests possibly followed by oral tests.

The transition to the next year of the course is established by the achievement of a number of credits, predetermined by the Teaching Council of the course, and reported in the Textual Teaching Regulations.

Students who do not reach the established credits are enrolled as repeaters. This rule allows students to make up for credits and exams not taken and to realign with class courses in the following year. Therefore, there are no students who are out of course as in other degree courses. Students who experience difficulties are guided and advised by student tutors and a committee made up of teachers who identify problems and help students overcome them.