Study programme of the Master of Medicine
The Master of Medicine programme runs over 6 semesters and counts for a total of 180 ECTS. It is organized as follows:
- 4 semesters of clinical training (1st-4th semester) – 120 ECTS;
- 1 semester for the Elective Term – 30 ECTS;
- 1 semester for the Master's thesis, final exams, and final training for the Federal exam – 30 ECTS.
Clinical training semesters
The 1st to the 4th semesters feature clinical training modules. The students rotate in 3 groups of just 20-25 participants. For small-group activities, such as practical work and discussion of individual cases, participants are further sub-divided into 2 groups. Each semester concludes with final exams. Further information on the clinical training semesters is available in the "Semesters Chart".
Optional courses
Monday afternoons will be dedicated to optional courses on specific topics. Each optional course is held in small groups and it will last 6 weeks (6 x 2h), with a few exceptions that will be 3 weeks (3 x 4h). Each student will be required to attend at least 2 optional courses per semester (total 4 per year).
Master Thesis
In the first four weeks of the 6th and last semesters, students complete their Master's thesis. The thesis completes the Master's programme and is therefore a prerequisite for admission to the federal examination.
Exams
The programme includes examinations at the conclusion of each of the clinical training semesters. These will concentrate on the main topics studied during the semester and will simulate the structure of the Federal exam in medicine. During the sixth semester, students will also sit their final examinations and a full simulation of the Federal exam in medicine.
Elective Term
The 5th semester is dedicated to practice (Elective Term). Students choose the clinical activities that most interest them and apply for clinical internships with hospitals or clinics, where they will be employed full time as medical candidates (CandMed) for at least 6 months.
Federal exam
The Federal exam in medicine takes place upon completion of the 3-year Master in Medicine programme, and only once the student has obtained the Master’s degree. It includes two separate exams:
- Multiple choice exam (MC), an interdisciplinary theory exam split in two parts;
- Clinical skills exam (CS), following the principles of an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination).
The Master in Medicine programme started in September 2020. The general organization of the Master programme, in terms of semesters and weeks’ training, is set forth in the following schedule. A more detailed study plan will be available in due course.
General study programme:
| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First semester | |||||||||||||||
| Group A | General introduction | Circulation | Homeostasis | Immune disorders | Exams | ||||||||||
| Group B | Immune disorders | Circulation | Homeostasis | ||||||||||||
| Group C | Homeostasis | Immune disorders | Circulation | ||||||||||||
| Second semester | |||||||||||||||
| Group A | Children and adolescents | Women | Bench to bedside | Circulating cells and signaling | Exams | ||||||||||
| Group B | Circulating cells and signaling | Children and adolescents | Women | ||||||||||||
| Group C | Women | Circulating cells and signaling | Children and adolescents | ||||||||||||
| Third semester | |||||||||||||||
| Group A | Pediatric practice | Critical care | Transversal practice | Skeleton | Abdominal organs | Exams | |||||||||
| Group B | Abdominal organs | Pediatric practice | Critical care | Transversal practice | Skeleton | ||||||||||
| Group C | Transversal practice | Skeleton | Abdominal organs | Pediatric practice | Critical care | ||||||||||
| Fourth semester | |||||||||||||||
| Group A | Family doctor practice | Nervous system | Head and neck organs | Personality and cognition | Exams | ||||||||||
| Group B | Personality and cognition | Family doctor practice | Nervous system | Head and neck organs | |||||||||||
| Group C | Head and neck organs | Personality and cognition | Family doctor practice | Nervous system | |||||||||||
| Fifth semester | |||||||||||||||
| Elective term (6 months) | |||||||||||||||
| Sixth semester | |||||||||||||||
| Master thesis | Complementary topics, repetition blocs | Exams | |||||||||||||
Clinical training semesters
Clinical training will be delivered during the first 4 semesters of the Master programme, structured as shown above. Each semester breaks down into 3 blocks (clinical training) and 2 special weeks. During the clinical training blocks, students are sub-divided into 3 groups of 20 to 25 participants. The groups rotate every 4 weeks. For such activities as practical work and discussion of individual cases, participants are further sub-divided into groups of 7 or 8. Each semester concludes with final exams, structured so as to simulate the Federal exam.
Typical week structure
A typical week consists of:
- Theoretical lessons
General lessons (frontal)
- 2 hours on transversal topics (not focused on semester themes), all the students;
- 2 hours on semester themes, all the students.
Group lessons
- 4 hours theory on the module theme, in 3 groups.
- Clinical activity
- 1.5 days of clinical activity at the hospital (2 students with a senior physician).
- Clinical / patient oriented teaching activity (groups of 7-8 students)
- 4 hours of clinical case discussions or practical exercises on the topic of the module: cases covering major diseases;
- Individual preparation and optional subjects
- 1 half-day individual preparation of own case portfolio;
- 2 half-day individual study (preparation for work in groups);
- 2 hours for optional courses / research seminars.
