Young Internists group in Italy
The young internists group (GIS) of Italian society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) was born in 2010 by an initiative of Prof. Maria Domenica Cappellini and Prof. Nicola Montano.
The Italian group is well structured and organized. The activities are organized at regional level as well as at national levels. All the members of SIMI under 40 y.o. elect 2 regional delegate at the national board of GIS group. Several events are organized in each region, mainly educational such as: focus on specific disease, Ultrasound workshop, lung function tests, etc.
At national level the group is organized in 5 subcommittee:
The educational subcommittee take care of all the educational initiative. The on-going educational initiatives are: 1) 4 EKG courses (3 basic levels and 1 advanced per years) 2) Ultrasound workshop during national annual congress of SIMI 3) drafting of a EKG syllabus that should be ready in 2016.
The research subcommittee is involved in all research project of SIMI and moreover it foster independent research project under the umbrella of SIMI. In the last year two papers were accepted for publication in two peer-reviewed journals:
- Raparelli V. et al. Medication prescription and adherence disparities in non valvular atrial fibrillation patients: an Italian portrait from the ARAPACIS study. Intern Emerg Med. 2014 Dec;9(8):861-70.
- Proietti M. et al. Frequency of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 2015 Sep 15;116(6):877-82.
The communication subcommittee is taking care of the three-monthly review of literature and of the facebook page which accounts for almost 1200 members:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/557527354272052/?fref=ts
Moreover this subcommittee handle and EKG blog:
https://gisekgcases.wordpress.com
Last but not least there is a specific group that have the duty to organize all the rules and to solve controversies.
The official web-site of the GIS group where is also possible to find all the regional delegates is
http://www.simi.it/giovani-internisti-simi/
Training in Internal Medicine in Italy
In Italy after graduation from university young doctors have to pass a licensing exam (so-called "Esame di Stato") as a precondition for the enrolment in locally based professional registers hold by the medical professional association (Ordine dei Medici). Immediately after they can apply for specialist training. At present time, to gain access to the Internal Medicine training, as well as all other medical or surgical residency, young doctors have to pass a National exam that takes place every year, according to a calendar published well in advance. The exam consists of multi-choice test of 110 items. The whole evaluation procedure leads to a ranking of all candidates nationwide: according to the given score the candidate can choose the speciality and hospital. The Internal Medicine training lasts 5 years and during the specialization all learning and care activities of specialist medical students are performed under the supervision of tutors appointed by the school board. The methods of performance of the theoretical and practical activities, including rotation in the facilities included in the training network, the minimum number and type of practical activities that must be performed personally in order to be able to sit the final annual exam, are laid down in advance by the School Board. Specialist medical training implies the participation in all medical activities in the ward/unit to which the student is assigned by the School Board, as well as the gradual undertaking of care activities and the performance of interventions autonomously, bound to the instructions received by the tutor, in agreement with the management of the health board and the managers in charge of the health facilities where the training is performed.
In Italy we do not have subspecialties as each medical speciality has a separate training. Since this year the Ministry of University has reduced the length of traineeships to 4 years for most the other medical specialties. However, the length of the training in Internal Medicine is still 5 years.
Moving to Italy to train or work in Internal Medicine
The procedure for approval of the educational titles in the healthcare system is different depending on whether the holder of the title is a EU or non-EU citizen. Generally EU legislation has established common rules for the harmonization between EU countries, according to which the recognition procedure consists of a verification of the validity of the documentation presented. As a result, the recognition procedure is more straightforward for EEA/Swiss doctors with an EEA/Swiss medical degree and/or specialist qualification, as they normally benefit from automatic recognition under the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
Doctors from non-EU countries have to pass additional tests and tackle bureaucratic hurdles to get permission to practice medicine.
Once you have your academic qualification recognized, if you need to get a specialization degree, you can apply for National exam and enter the Residency program. Conversely, if you have completed the training abroad you must obtain the recognition of the professional title.
The national Ministry of Health (Ministero della Salute) as the competent authority should be contacted to get your foreign diplomas recognized. The Ministry of Health takes into account any additional training and professional activities carried out in other EU country.
The Ministry of Health may determine that the recognition of the health professional title is subject to passing compensatory exams to be carried out in an Italian University or training centre.
Once the foreing doctor has overcome this problem he is authorized to apply for membership in the National Federation of Medical Association (Ordine dei medici) through the corresponding local branch, subject to the evaluation of the Italian language skills. This license enables him to practice the medical profession throughout the country.
Each medical doctor needs to be registered with the local medical order (Ordine dei Medici). Furthermore, a work permit (permesso di lavoro) may be required for foreigners.
Useful links:
http://www.salute.gov.it/indexEnglish.jsp
https://portale.fnomceo.it/fnomceo/home.2puntOT
This page has been prepared by Paolo Di Giosia, Italian Representative at the Young Internists’ Assembly, and Alberto M. Marra, Young Internists’ Subcommittee member, December 2015.