Questions about Medical School in Italy

[aleksandrammm]

Hi! I want to apply to medical school in Italy by next year. I have will have completed my Freshman year of college in June, and I am studying abroad in Roma for one year. Could someone please help to answer my questions below? Thanks

1. I was wondering if anyone knows of medical schools in Rome or Naples?
2. What is the admission process for an American student applying to any medical school in Italy (or more specifically one in Rome/Naples)?
3. What are the deadlines for applying to med school (rolling admission, regular admission, etc)
4. Are there any English-speaking/American medical schools; courses taught in English? (The consensus from the forums appears to be no)

Thank you so much!!!

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[alex9913]

Hi I'm a foreign student in English medical program in Italy.
To apply you will need to contact an Italian embacy. Moreover you will need to ask for a student visa if you don't happen to have an European citizenship. Then in semptember you will have to sit the admissions exam in the city of destination. The exam is in Italian, unless you are subscribed to one of the few English taught programs (Milan, Pavia, Rome) and then your test and studies are in English.
The deadline can slightly vary between the countries, I know that in Israel one needs to apply before the end of this month, but in any Italian embassy / counsulate they should be able to provide some more specific info
If you have more questions feel free to ask here. There is also plenty of info in the student website in my signature. Good luck!

 

[JohnSnow]

Alex,

How do I go about applying to English language medical schools in Italy?

 

[alex9913]

John,
in your case I think you can apply to the University directly.
For Pavia you can contact the "welcome point" for details:
http://www.unipv.eu/site/home/internazionalizzazione/attivita-internazionali/articolo3971.html
For Milan, unfortunately I can't help you much because I don't study there.
You can try to contact the embacy as well, go to this website for contact info (select USA from the list):
http://www.esteri.it/visti/rilascio_eng.asp

Let me know what you'll manage to find out

 

[rgk27]

What is residency matching like after studying abroad at a medical school?

 

[JohnSnow]

What is residency matching like after studying abroad at a medical school?

Statistically speaking US citizens who are IMGs (International Medical Graduates) experience a 50% success rate at matching into a residency program in the United States. The vast majority of the successful matches are in primary care (IM, FM, Pediatrics, & Psych).

Non-US citizen IMGs (aka FMGs) experience a 40% success rate at matching into a residency program in the United States.

The chances of matching into a competitive specialty are almost non-existent for IMGs & FMGs.

 

[VELOv]

@ JohnSnow, do you have any information on IMG match success rates relative to the country of origin? It seems like there would be a cavernous difference between graduates from Israel compared to the Caribbean, for example.

@ Alex9913, the Pavia website doesn't seem to have any information about accreditation, the degree conferred, post-graduate training, etc.. Would you tell me about these things?

 

[JohnSnow]

@ JohnSnow, do you have any information on IMG match success rates relative to the country of origin? It seems like there would be a cavernous difference between graduates from Israel compared to the Caribbean, for example.

@ Alex9913, the Pavia website doesn't seem to have any information about accreditation, the degree conferred, post-graduate training, etc.. Would you tell me about these things?

Good question. The NRMP does not provide information based on the country where an IMG graduates medical school, it would be nice if they did.

I know that graduates from the Irish schools have a very high match rate, probably over 90%. Australia must be high as well, and the UK.

Graduates from the Big Five Caribbean schools (the ones approved in all 50 states) (SGU, Saba, AUC, AUA, Ross) all have pretty good match rates as well hovering anywhere from 60-80% for a given year.

My guess is the students that come from the bad 20-or-so Caribbean schools that are out there are the ones that drive the number down to 50% for IMGs.

If you're going to medical school, and studying in the native language of that country your match rate is bound to be healthy. Israel is probably a safe bet.

 

[alex9913]

@ Alex9913, the Pavia website doesn't seem to have any information about accreditation, the degree conferred, post-graduate training, etc.. Would you tell me about these things?

The Medical degree in Italy is a 6 year long. You can get admitted without previous degrees (i.e without medical science degree) and start from the ground up with basic science classes (years 1-2) or if you have other scientific degree already you can get accredited for the scientific courses and jump right to 3rd year for example and start the medical part of the degree (years 3-6). During the clinical years you will be covering material of different departments (hematology, endocrinology etc) and do rounds there attached to an English speaking doctor/s.

I've personally checked that the degree is recognized in the US, but you will still need to pass the USMLE if you want to practice there. In Europe the degree is valid and you can start working right away in Germany, Italy or any other country or begin your Foundation Year training in the UK without additional medical exams.

After the graduation you are getting an Italian license number and you may start to do on-house calls for the local national health service (which is not that bad paid) and prepare the ground for entering a specialty in a local hospital. In that point (after 3-6 years of studies) you should be able to communicate in Italian freely to allow you to interact with the patients. Alternatively you can go to UK and practice there starting from "Foundation Year" training (although you might need to get a visa for that).

Hope I've addressed all your concerns, if not, let me know

 

[Gus18]

Hi,

I am a senior pre-med student and I am planning on taking a two years "off" between college and medical school. I am considering moving to Italy for a year (my boyfriend is Italian) and working in a lab/volunteering etc. I would take the MCAT the summer after I graduate just in case. My goal in this year would be to work and become fluent in the language. I took three years of Italian in college, so I would say my level is intermediate. Is it better to do an international program (Milan University- Humanitas) or try to perfect my Italian to enroll in the native program? Also, are there still pre-tests for the international programs? By going to medical school in Italy, my intention would be to live there and not return to the states. Am I at a disadvantage by getting my degree in Italy if I want to work privately or as a civilian doctor?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jojoflynmonky]

Are you a US citizen? Because you might save yourself a lot of headache by doing medical school in the US and then going to practice in Italy afterwards. Getting a residency in the US is very stressful and very expensive for IMGs

 

[alex9913]

Hi,

I am a senior pre-med student and I am planning on taking a two years "off" between college and medical school. I am considering moving to Italy for a year (my boyfriend is Italian) and working in a lab/volunteering etc. I would take the MCAT the summer after I graduate just in case. My goal in this year would be to work and become fluent in the language. I took three years of Italian in college, so I would say my level is intermediate. Is it better to do an international program (Milan University- Humanitas) or try to perfect my Italian to enroll in the native program? Also, are there still pre-tests for the international programs? By going to medical school in Italy, my intention would be to live there and not return to the states. Am I at a disadvantage by getting my degree in Italy if I want to work privately or as a civilian doctor?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

There are several universities in Milan (and not only) that offer English medicine degree and the one you've mentioned is a very expensive private program, but the return for that extra-cost is not worth it in my opinion - I'd say check out the public Universities program and you'll probably save 90% on tuition fees. Regarding Italian vs English I've posted an article about it here: http://pavia.medschool.it/university in one word I'd say English.

 

[Gus18]

Just to clarify, I am a US citizen (jojoflynmonky).

Thank you so much for the link! I'm still going through all of the information. While I didn't include it in my post, I am looking at public programs as well and Pavia is on my list. You mentioned in your previous post that an applicant can receive credit for some science courses. By the time I graduate, I will have taken: 1 semester of physiology of behavior, 1 semester of health behavior, 1 year of organic chemistry, 1 year of inorganic chemistry, calculus 1, statistics, 1 year of physics, 1 semester of biochemistry, 1 year of biology (Cells, Physiology, and Development + Genetics) and 1 year of specials studies in the biochemistry department. Would I receive credit for most if not all of these courses and would these courses cover the "basic sciences" that you mention?

 

[coralin]

Hi.
You mentioned you are a student in the english med program in Pavia. So what can you say about it? Are you satisfied? What can you tell me about the curriculum, the professors, the quality of teaching and the life there. I am interested to transfer to Italy since i'm starting my second year of med studies in my hometown. I have a CPE certificate and i'm also taking b1-b2 level italian classes but i would really prefer to study in english. If you know any other italian university that teaches med in english and accepts transfer students, i would really appreciate it if you could tell me. Thank you