MBBS in University of Catania Faculty of Medicine and Surgery

This is Sicily's oldest university, the University of Catania. It was started by Frederick II of Aragon in 1434, making it one of the oldest universities in Italy that has still been in use. From that long history came the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, which is now part of the Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G. F. Ingrassia" with a number of other departments. The single-cycle Medicine and Surgery degree, which is like an MBBS in English, is taught by the teachers over six years.

Before you apply, you should know how medical school works in Italy. In Italy, you don't get a bachelor's degree in medicine and then a graduate medical degree. Instead, you start right away after high school and don't take a break for six years. This is the Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico in Medicine and Surgery prize. This degree has 360 ECTS credits and a qualifying practical period. This means that you take the state licensing exam while you are in the program, not after.

The main Medicine and Surgery program at Catania is taught in Italian. The school doesn't have a medicine track that is taught in English. You have to show that you can speak Italian (usually at the B2 level) before you can enrolll if you are not from Italy. You also have to take the national admissions test in Italian. If you don't already know Italian at that level, plan to take a year to get ready. Most of the time, students lose a year if they skip this step.

The Italian Ministry of University and Research is in charge of the national system for admission. Applicants from Italy and the EU have to take the national health test. Non-EU applicants who live outside of Italy have to fight for a small number of spots at each Italian public university that are set aside for international students. Every spring, Catania puts out a call for bids for its quota. You apply through the Universitaly site, get pre-approval for enrollment, and then go to the Italian consulate in your home country to get a study visa.

This is taught at two main clinical sites. The Policlinico Ospedaliero-Universitaria "G. Rodolico - San Marco" is the main teaching hospital. It has emergency medicine, heart surgery, neurosurgery, transplant medicine, oncology, and neonatal intensive care. It is the biggest hospital center in eastern Sicily. A lot of people come to the San Marco site for general medicine and surgery. There is a wide range of cases between the two sites. Some of them are conditions that are common in southern Italy and around the Mediterranean, like thalassemia, beta thalassemia trait screening, and Mediterranean fever presentations.

Student life is shaped by the city in more ways than most think. Sicily's Catania is on the east coast, under Mount Etna. That number goes up to about a million people living in the metropolitan area around the city. There are about 40,000 students at the university, so student life takes over many neighborhoods. Catania has much lower rent than Milan, Rome, or Bologna, and food stays cheap. Catania is always the least expensive place to live in Italy when you look at the total cost of living.

There are anatomy labs with cadavers, histology and pathology labs, a simulation center for basic and advanced life support, and clinical skills rooms where you can practice procedures like IV placement, catheterization, suturing, and managing airways before you touch a real patient. The university library system has a Biomedical Library that has books about medicine. You can also use the university network to get to other electronic sources.

Catania does most of its research in a few clear areas. There is a lot of research in neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases. For example, people from Sicily have been studying Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis for a long time. Cancer research includes thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and blood cancer. The staff also does work in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolic diseases, which shows how common these diseases are in the area. The Ingrassia department does research on public health and hygiene that looks at things like vaccination rates, environmental exposure, and epidemiology. If you talk to your supervisor personally, you can join a research group around the third year. Many students write their final thesis in one of these groups.

The school year lasts from October to July, and there are two big exam periods and a retake window in September. It's important to show up in Italy. Before you can take the final test for most classes, you have to go to at least 70% of the scheduled classes. A lot of tests have both written and spoken parts, and the spoken part is important. You explain your answers in front of one or two examiners. Scores are given on a range from 18 to 30, with 30 e lode being the best score. Your final grade for the degree is less than 110, which is the highest possible score based on your average on the tests and how well you did on your thesis.

The amount of clinical contact rises slowly. Structure and purpose are important in the early years. After the third year, you move into the wards to be observed and learn structured skills. Most of the clinical courses happen in the fourth and fifth years. These include internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, psychiatry, to name a few. In the sixth year, there is an evaluated practical internship worth at least 15 credits that can be split between general practice, internal medicine, and surgery. You have to pass that internship in order to graduate, and passing it also meets the license requirement, so you sign up with the Ordine dei Medici soon after receiving your degree.

What you can do after college depends on where you are from and what you want to do. If you are an EU citizen then your degree is automatically recognized as a professional degree within the EU and EEA as per directive 2005/36/EC. You can then register in Italy and then move to another EU country if you want. If you are an Indian national then you have to follow the procedures laid down by the National Medical Commission to get a license. You have to attend school for a minimum of 54 months and complete an internship for 12 months to be eligible to get the degree. The language of teaching must be mentioned in the records and you must pass the screening test in India. Check the latest NMC gazette rules before you make any decision. These rules about medical degrees from other countries changed in 2021 and are still being changed. For the degree to count, you also had to have done well on the NEET test before you left India.

When you graduate in Italy, you have to compete in a separate national competition to get specialty training. Places in residency pay well. International graduates can join that competition, but there are only a few spots available for them. As a result, most of them go back to their home country or move to another country to get postgraduate training.

Barcelona has one of the lowest costs of living in Italy. If you share a room, set aside about 550 to 800 USD a month for rent, food, transportation, and personal costs. University halls are run by ERSU Catania, the regional agency for the right to study. They are much cheaper than private housing, but spots are limited and are given out based on income and academic performance. Apply early and get your proof of income translated and legalized.