Medical education in Italy: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Italy is a country of 60 million citizens with a high life expectancy, an increasing prevalence of chronic multi-morbidity and a public healthcare system. There are 61 medical schools and more than one thousand postgraduate programs for 50 different specialisations. In this article, we describe the Italian medical educational system and its most recent evolution towards a process of internationalization, alongside pedagogical and cultural changes. The main challenges are in the process of students’ selection, which is still only based on the assessment of basic knowledge, and in the reform of the post-graduate education, which lacks an official, formal definition of the learning outcomes and the aligned methods of assessment. The opportunities come from the increasing awareness of the importance of faculty development programs. The pandemic itself acted as a catalyst of innovation, pushing toward more student-centered teaching-learning activities. Finally, an increase in international collaborations in medical education research could be effective to foster the development of medical education in the country.

Keywords:

• International medical education
• general
• undergraduate
• postgraduate
• continuing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fabrizio Consorti

Fabrizio Consorti, degree in Medicine, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Giuseppe Familiari

Giuseppe Familiari, degree in Medicine, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Antonella Lotti

Antonella Lotti, degree in Phylosophy, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy.

Dario Torre

Dario Torre, degree in Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.