Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

Profile: Surgeon
Roles: The surgeon exercises his/her profession in accordance with the EU regulations, and the national and regional regulations, within the National Health Service and in private structures. His/her purpose is to maintain, or help to achieve, the complete health state (a complete psycho-physical and social wellbeing) of persons and of society. In the execution of his/her professional activities, he/she cooperates, in a team, with other health professionals, keeping high his/her ability to interact and to coordinate the work of the interprofessional group (with other health professionals) and the intraprofessional one (with other physicians) where he/she is operating. 
In order to fulfil this role, he/she should have a strong identity of his/her professional role. This includes a clinical competence, that is the usual and proper use of knowledge, communication skills, technical abilities, clinical reasoning, emotions, and values to repeatedly think of in his/her daily work activities for the wellbeing of the individual or the community he/she is taking care of, the commitment to pursue an accurate professional update, health promotion, adherence to ethical principles specific of the profession and to values, such as personal integrity, honesty, altruism, humility, the respect for diversity, frankness, and the respect for conflicts of interest. 
Therefore, the physician has to keep a constant commitment towards his/her patients, being able to apply the best clinical practices in respect of a high ethical profile; towards society, being able to understand and meet its expectations on the theme of healthcare assistance; towards the profession's duties, respecting its rules and the codes of professional conduct; and the commitment to keep his/her psychophysical wellbeing state, with the purpose to improve his/her ability to take care of patients' health.
Higher responsibility levels and levels of coordination of the interprofessional and intraprofessional work groups, where he/she will operate, can be achieved by acquiring other competences by means of further training paths, such as Specialisation Programmes, Regional Schools of Training for General Practitioners, PhDs, and Second Level Professional Master Courses.

Competences: The competences connected to the roles of a physician have been decided in accordance with the international criteria established by "CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework," that is the current international reference point. According to the idea of "continuum" outlined in CanMEDS, the following competences will be acquired at an initial level, as above-mentioned.
The competences should be the ones of an expert physician, able to put the patient in the middle of a high quality treatment, that is safe for the very patient, on the basis of his/her updated knowledge, clinical abilities, and professional values. Then, he/she should be able to collect the information from the patient and interpret them, as well as make clinical decisions leading to the right diagnosis and the specific therapeutic interventions. He/she should know well the limits of his/her profession. His/her decisions must be based on the best clinical practices and scientific evidences, taking into account patient's wills and the economic resources of the health service of the country where he/she is operating. His/her clinical practice should then be extremely update, ethical, and able to guarantee an effective use of the resources, and it should be performed in close cooperation with the patient and his/her family, the other members of the intraprofessional and interprofessional work groups, and the whole community. Degree Course's essential task is to supply the update technical competences and to inform on their constant future update, as well as to verify their acquisition by means of the usual evaluative procedures.
In order to exercise the profession, it is essential to be an expert physician, and this leads to other competences intrinsically connected among them, as follows:
A capable communicator

He/she should be able to establish a relationship with the patient and his/her family, so to facilitate the collection and the sharing of the information needed for an effective treatment. Therefore, he/she will be able to examine the symptoms related to the pathology, listening to what the patient tells about his/her illness. He/she should be able to explore patient's viewpoint on his/her idea of illness, his/her fears and health expectations, taking into account the gender differences. The physician should be able to put his/her scientific knowledge in the specific patient's context, his/her socio-economic situation, past and present life, job, scholastic and cultural level, being able to detect special states connected to the social and psychological sphere. In order to put the patient in the middle of the treatment, it is very important to share one's decisions, so to align the health need with the patient's wills, values, and preferences. The development of communication skills is an integral part of the courses' core curriculum and is evaluated in the related exams.
A good collaborator

The physician should be able to efficiently and effectively work with the other members of the intraprofessional and interprofessional groups, with the purpose to supply a safe, high quality, and patient-centred assistance. The proper collaboration requires relations based on confidence, respect, and sharing, able to ensure continuity to the treatment. This requires the sharing of knowledge, points of view, and responsibilities, and the willingness to learn one from the other. 
A leader

The physician will be able to work with the other members of the group to contribute to a view focused on the treatment's high quality, taking on himself/herself the responsibility of its proper supply to patients. Therefore, the physician will be able to effectively contribute to the development of an ever-improving healthcare activity, by searching for an efficient cooperation with the other players of the health service, at local, regional, and national levels, and with a view to globalisation. 
A health defender

In this role, the physician should put his/her experience and influence at the service of community in order to improve its general state of health and wellbeing. For this purpose, health improvement must not be limited to the treatment of the disease, but it necessarily include the prevention of the disease, in health promotion and protection. This also implies equity in health promotion, in that individuals and community should not be disadvantaged on the basis of ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, economic status, and education. Physicians will supply support to patients, in order for them to be able to know and benefit from the National Health Service and to receive assistance in the proper ways and times. The courses of Medical-Scientific Methodology are the best way to acquire the Medical Deontology, that is essential for the student to develop his/her social role.
A scholar

The physician should work hard to achieve and maintain the excellence in the clinical practice by means of a lifelong education, and should be able to teach to his/her colleagues, making evidence-based scientific decisions and actively contributing to clinical renovation by using, too, the translational scientific research. Physicians will pursue excellence in their daily work by actively interacting with other colleagues too, and by looking for confirmations in patients' satisfaction and safety. They will be able to correctly integrate the international scientific evidences with the clinical practice applied to the single patient, including into the decision patient's preferences and values.
A professional

The physician should take on himself/herself the commitment to the care of health and wellbeing of single patients and community, by means of a proper ethical conduct, high standards of professional conduct, and responsibilities towards profession and society, keeping a lifestyle that does not discredit the medical profession. In this role it is very important to be aware of one's professional identity, and it is required a perfect mastery of medicine's art, science, and practice. He/she should be aware that the professional role should completely reflect what the modern society expects from him/her, that is clinical competence, responsibility towards the professional updating, health promotion, and the complete adherence to ethical standards and values, such as personal integrity, altruism, humility, the respect for others and for diversity, frankness, and the respect for possible conflicts of interest.

Professional Opportunities: The physician, after passing the state qualifying examination and the registration into the Professional Register of Surgeons and Odontologists, will be able to work in public and private hospitals. He/she can also work in other local ASL structures, such as day hospitals, hospices, Residential Care Homes (RSA), services for drug addicts (SerT), services for pathological addicts (SerD), psychiatric institutions, centres for disabled people, and long-term care structures. He/she can operates in Institutions of Scientific Recovery and Care (IRCCS) and universities, or can be a freelance professional. 
Graduates can pursue an academic career or a research one, in universities, in public institutions, or in private organisations.
In order to operate in the National Health Service, it is necessary to get the Specialisation degree, that can be obtained by enrolling in and attending the courses of the Specialisation Schools; in order to be shortlisted as general practitioners, it is necessary to attend the Regional Schools of Training for General Practitioners.
In order to access the Specialisation Schools, it is necessary to pass a national examination, and in order to access the Regional Schools, it is necessary to pass a regional examination.