MILAN. We need “to definitively close the cutting season and open a great season of investments for the National Health Service (NHS)”. This is said by the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the 2021-2022 academic year of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, adding that «Together with the resources, we must implement reforms. It is a great opportunity ». To put a stronger national health system on the ground, “a great” country pact “is needed: together we will be able to win this challenge” explains Speranza, after specifying that the contagion curve is decreasing above all thanks to “132 million doses of vaccine in 13 and a half months “.
The president of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, in her speech at the ceremony, underlines the importance of collaboration between universities and hospitals: “With respect to this common challenge, the solution that has been outlined here at San Raffaele and which sees the IRCCS Hospital operating as a teaching-assistance center of the University represents a very interesting prospect ».
The 2021-2022 academic year of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University marks the start of the Campus UniSr project in Sesto San Giovanni: an interdisciplinary laboratory that will extend over 100,000 square meters, of which 20,000 will be reserved for research centers. The space will welcome 5 thousand students with places dedicated not only to training but also to culture, sport and volunteering. There will also be facilities dedicated to innovative technological infrastructures, as well as a Data Science Center for the development of research in the fields of life sciences, health and social sciences. “The Sesto campus is based on the American model and adds to the spaces we currently have” explains the rector Enrico Gherlone on the sidelines. In fact, the approximately 11 thousand square meters inside the Milan 2 business center complex, acquired by the university in 2020, intended for classrooms and administrative offices, are added to the future construction project. For a more efficient management, about 13 thousand square meters have also been identified for classrooms and spaces for the Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology. During the ceremony, the president of the University Paolo Rotelli recalls how long-term planning is essential to train doctors and the management class of the future: “Our ambition has always been to train the leaders of tomorrow”.
The president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, thanks the government “which has given a sharp turn to the approach and the resources made available for health care” and underlines how “expenditure in health should not be considered expenses but an investment for the future of this Pass ». The mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala reiterates how the university system is a value for the city: «The appreciation for our universities is constantly growing and we see it from how many foreign students come to study and live with us. Before the pandemic they grew by 11% during Covid by + 5% and it is a miracle “. The expansion of the University will guarantee the continuation of the didactic activity and the expansion in terms of accommodation capacity and didactic offer. In fact, the current academic year marks a new increase in the number of places available for students in the medical area. In fact, those for the master’s course in medicine and surgery rose to 552, which in the academic year 2016-2017 had only 130. Among the specialization schools of the University, 30 are reserved for doctors, two are in the healthcare area and two in psychological area. The scholarships for school students are 295 for the current year. An increase of 300 per cent, if we consider that up to five years ago there were 73. The University’s commitment to gender balance in research is also important: last year 254 researchers signed the publications as first author compared to 287 researchers.