University Of Salento

Unique Cycle Master's Degree in MEDICINE AND SURGERY

Degree course in italian: MEDICINA E CHIRURGIA
Degree course: MEDICINE AND SURGERY
Title: Unique Cycle Master's Degree
MIUR Class: Medicina e chirurgia - LM-41 R (DM270)
Length: 6 years
Credits: 360
Department: EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Website: https://medicinasperimentale.unisalento.it/offerta-formativa/percorsi-di-studio/-/dettaglio/corso/LM73R/medicina-e-chirurgia
Language: ITALIAN
Location: Lecce-
Academic year: 2025/2026
Type of access/Available places: Limited access course
Career opportunities: 2.4.1.1.0 - Medici di medicina generale

Course description
Course modules

Course description

The single-cycle Master's Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery will have the characteristic of enriching the professionalism of the surgeon with specific technological and methodological skills in the field of Biomedical Engineering.

To achieve this goal, the training course will integrate training activities typically necessary for the training of a surgeon, with training activities typical of biotechnological and biomedical engineering training, with a view to training a professional figure who, in addition to being able to practice the medical surgical profession, is able to apply or develop technological solutions in the direction of prevention and treatment of diseases, support for aging and health emergencies.

The training course provides for the provision, in the first 2 years, mainly of contents typical of basic medical sciences accompanied, synergistically, by the essential foundations of bio-engineering sciences. In the third year, to complete the basic training, preclinical and bio-engineering subjects are covered. From the fourth year, clinical teachings are introduced, accompanied by applications of engineering methodologies to clinical problems.

Already starting from the second year, the student will be introduced to professionalizing paths that, initially carried out in research and development laboratories that operate in the biological, medical and bio-engineering fields, will intensify over the semesters and will be increasingly oriented towards clinical practice, with an enhancement of the knowledge and skills acquired during the preclinical training path.
To this end, it is expected that in the first three years the students will be guided by two tutors, the first from the biological/medical field, the second from the engineering field. Similarly, in the second three-year period, an engineering tutor will work alongside a clinical tutor.
The training program also includes short internship periods (summer student) at highly qualified research laboratories operating in Italy and abroad.

The degree thesis includes the development of a project that applies, even in a transdisciplinary manner, the skills acquired to a specific topic chosen by the student.

The internationalization of the new Degree Course will be supported by the Erasmus exchange program and other international programs active at the University of Salento and favored both by the delivery of some courses of the training program in English and by internship periods abroad.

The graduate in Medicine and Surgery will be able to continue his cultural and professional training by enrolling in PhD courses or Specialization courses.
Decree no. 8 of 2 April 2020 of the MIUR containing the adaptation of the system didactic of the class LM41 - Medicine and Surgery referred to in the Ministerial Decree of 16 March 2007, pursuant to art. 102, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree no. 18/2020, has consequently established that the final exam of the single-cycle master's degree courses pertaining to the class LM-41 in medicine and surgery has the value of a state exam qualifying for the practice of the profession of medical surgeon, subject to passing the practical-evaluative internship as regulated by the decree of the Minister of Education, University and Research of 9 May 2018, no. 58.

The course of study has a limited number of places according to national planning.

To be admitted to the course of study, a secondary school diploma or other qualification obtained abroad and recognized as suitable is required. The knowledge required for admission is defined by the subjects included in the planned national written admission test.

In each academic year, the MUR issues a specific decree that establishes the contents of the admission notice issued by the University. The subjects covered by the exam are: general culture and logical reasoning, physics and mathematics, chemistry, biology.

Possession of the knowledge required to access the course of study is verified by passing the admission test.

The results of the admission test will be used to verify the need to assign Additional Learning Obligations (OFA) in the basic disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics) to be satisfied within the first year of the course.

Failure to satisfy any OFA in one or more basic disciplines precludes taking the exams of the courses in the same disciplinary area.

Profile

Medical Surgeon

Functions

The aim is to train a professional figure who will perform the following functions in a working context: i.) will collaborate in promoting health through the identification and correction of risky lifestyles, and the use of prevention and early diagnosis strategies for pathological situations, also using technologically advanced tools: ii.) will recognize pathological situations, to best identify the most suitable diagnostic pathways and the most effective technological tools, and to collaborate in order to improve them, thus enhancing their knowledge and skills acquired also in the field of computer science and biomedical electronics for biomedical instruments and systems, and artificial intelligence; iii.) will evaluate, identify and implement therapeutic measures for the most common pathological situations, also using technological tools based on omic technologies and computational sciences to support increasingly personalized medicine; iv.) will carry out communication activities with the patient, based on a relationship of trust and mutual esteem and with the necessary moral and psychological support, making the most of technological resources, including those in the field of robotics, to support care management and promoting communication in the patient-doctor-caregiver triad; v.) will apply typical engineering tools and methodologies to medical-biological problems: will measure, analytically describe, analyze and develop numerical models for the simulation and solution of problems of medical-biological interest; vi.) will evaluate and identify, among the new biological, medical or bioengineering technologies, including those in the field of regenerative medicine, those most suitable for clinical application, and will supervise their experimentation; vii.) will collaborate in the design and experimentation of innovative medical devices suited to clinical and market needs by applying his/her knowledge and skills in the medical and bioengineering field.

Skills

The professional figure will be characterized by the following knowledge and skills associated with the function:
i.) theoretical knowledge in basic sciences and ability to apply them in diversified professional fields; ii.) knowledge of the historical, ethical and bioethical, medico-legal and sociological aspects of medical and health sciences; iii.) knowledge, skills and abilities in the various disciplinary fields of biology relating to the preclinical area which are fundamental for medical sciences and its technological applications; iv.) knowledge and skills in the various disciplinary fields of medical and surgical sciences relating to the clinical area, in an interdisciplinary vision, such as to allow a critical interpretation of data relating to the state of health or disease of the individual; v.) knowledge, skills and abilities to responsibly and effectively address and resolve health problems from a preventive, diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative point of view, also using interdisciplinary approaches with the use of information technology, electronics, robotics, tissue engineering, computational biology and artificial intelligence; vi.) knowledge and skills in the field of epidemiology, preventive medicine, territory and work, with particular attention to the process of globalization and socio-cultural aspects, and their repercussions on medical practice and health emergencies; vii.) knowledge, skills and abilities to communicate clearly and humanely with the patient and his/her family members, and to relate in a collaborative and effective manner with the various professional figures of the work context in which he/she will operate; viii.) knowledge, skills and abilities necessary not only to practice the profession of medical surgeon, but also, upon completion of an optional training course in the engineering field, of biomedical engineer; ix.) ability to critically analyze data and interpret them by developing deductions and reasoning, and to work in a team, all of which are necessary conditions for participation in interdisciplinary research groups and clinical trials; xii.) ability to use training in engineering methodologies and technologies to solve and understand medical-biological problems; xiii.) ability to apply the experimental scientific method, to achieve an objective, reliable, verifiable and shareable knowledge of reality; xiv.) ability to develop experimental models and paradigms, analytically describe measurements, select and calibrate biomedical instrumentation to analytically describe, simulate, analyze and solve problems of medical-biological interest; xv.) ability to identify the requirements and technical specifications for the design of medical devices suited to clinical, safety and market needs.

Purpose

The trained professional figure will have job opportunities in the following fields: i.) Community medicine both as a General Practitioner and in public or private specialist diagnostic clinics and laboratories, and facilities dedicated to the management of chronic conditions, including through Telemedicine; ii.) Hospitals and specialist centers; iii.) Healthcare facilities for patients with chronic and/or progressive diseases; iv.) Universities and Research Centers; v.) National and international healthcare organizations; vi.) Companies in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sector; vii.) Public and private bodies managing health services.

The final exam consists of the discussion of a thesis originally developed by the student under the supervision of one or more supervisors and is intended to verify the scientific maturity of the graduate at the end of the course of study through the specific activity carried out on the topic of the thesis work.

The student is given the option of writing the thesis in English.

The type of activity connected to the thesis, the methods of carrying out the final exam and obtaining the qualification are governed by the Regulations for obtaining the qualification, as provided for by the University Teaching Regulations. The Regulations for obtaining the qualification are made available not only on the course website but also on Universitaly, in the specific section of Table A5, by the beginning of the second year of the 2021/22 cohort.