A rewarding and joyful afternoon for the 42 new graduates in Medicine and Surgery - the degree programme entirely in English activated in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Università Cattolica in the academic year 2013/2014 - at the Graduation Day celebrated on Friday 8 July in the Auditorium of the Rome campus of the University.
The Graduation Day was opened by the institutional greetings of the Rector of Università Cattolica, Professor Franco Anelli: "We are proud to celebrate, with this ceremony, the milestone reached by the new graduates in Medicine and Surgery. On behalf of the entire university community, I offer my heartfelt congratulations, with the wish - concluded the Rector addressing the new graduates - that in the pursuit of your studies and in the practice of medicine you will always remain faithful to the mission that our University entrusts to every graduate, and that for graduates in Medicine and Surgery takes on a particular connotation: taking care of others and, with them, of society as a whole”.
"This is a very important moment in the history of our University, which today is graduating the best young professionals of the future who have taken up the challenge to be caring physicians, scientists and future leaders in the world of medicine," said Professor Giovanni Gambassi, President of the Degree Programme in Medicine and Surgery, addressing the new doctors. "Today is one of the best days of your lives, full of satisfaction and confidence-building for the future.”
The inaugural address was delivered by Professor Roy C. Ziegelstein, Sarah Miller Coulson and Frank L. Coulson, Jr, Professor of Medicine, and Mary Wallace Stanton, Professor of Education and Vice Dean for Education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Surgery, Baltimore: "Congratulations to all the new graduates and their families, to the faculty, and to all the people here today without whom the completion of this journey would not have been possible," began Professor Ziegelstein in the Keynote Speech. "Today I am passing on to you a gift that I myself received when I was a medical student: the importance of caring.”
"I want every new graduate," Ziegelstein continued, "to promise themselves and the world that they will take care, because every patient you care for needs it, because their family and the world needs you to do it. As doctors you have an extraordinary opportunity that no one else has: you get to know your patients as people, as unique human beings, with their own worth and dignity. You must get to know your patients as persons if you want to offer them, each and every one of them, the best possible medical care and assistance”.
After the speeches and the proclamations of each new graduate by the Rector, there was a grand final celebration with the traditional graduation cap toss and the best wishes of the entire university community to the 42 new doctors in Medicine and Surgery.
Facts and figures of our degree programme in Medicine and Surgery
To date, 335 students are enrolled in the integrated degree programme in Medicine and Surgery, which was established in the 2013/2014 academic year. There are 199 foreign students from EU and non-EU countries and 136 Italian students. All training activities are conducted in English. The educational pathway prepares graduates to find employment and thus work not only in Italy, but also in other countries, including developing countries. Over the course of the six years, various optional projects are planned and students can choose from a wide range of elective activities and in-depth studies that also include ethical and bioethical aspects. The study plan also includes practical assessment training activities that are valid for the State examination for qualification as surgeon.
The numbers of the 'Agostino Gemelli' Faculty of Medicine and Surgery
The English language course has been enriching the educational offer of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Università Cattolica for eight years. The total number of students enrolled in the 36 degree programmes of the Faculty (4 integrated degree programmes, 28 undergraduate programmes, 27 of which are Health Professional programmes in Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Molise, Basilicata and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, and 4 graduate programmes, 3 of which are Health Professional programmes in Lazio and Piedmont) is as follows. There are 47 Postgraduate Specialisation Schools, 76 Specializing Master Courses and 7 Doctoral Programmes.
The Double Degree agreement with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia
Within the framework of the integrated degree programme in Medicine and Surgery, a Double Degree agreement was signed in November 2018 between the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Università Cattolica and Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia. The aim of the integrated, double-degree programme is to offer training that combines Italian preclinical training with US clinical skills and to enable the acquisition of additional qualifications that will allow graduates to continue their postgraduate training in the United States and to enter healthcare systems other than the Italian and European ones. The training pathway is characterised by the attendance in two Summer Schools at Thomas Jefferson University (at the end of the first and second year of the programme), during which the student starts the pathway for enrolling in Medicine in the USA and acquires ECTS credits useful for obtaining a Master of Science at the College of Population Health at the Thomas Jefferson University. At the end of the third year at Università Cattolica, the most deserving students will be enrolled in the Medicine course at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University where they will obtain a Medical Degree after just over three years. The programme concludes with the discussion of a thesis in English at Università Cattolica and the award of an Italian degree.
