TRENTO. After Trento, where the courses already started last year, also Bolzano now wants its Faculty of Medicine.
And the hope of the South Tyrolean Province is to be able to kick off the project as early as 2022.
The process for the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine, through an agreement with the Catholic University which will provide the teachers, started with the approval of the resolution by the provincial council. The lessons will be held in English; internships in Italian and German.
About fifty students will be admitted.
«We absolutely need to train – explains the South Tyrolean health councilor Thomas Widmann – a new medical class, to face the shortages of professionals who, in the coming years, will become increasingly heavy. I am optimistic about the possibility of setting up a degree course in Bolzano, but I would like it to be clear that this is only the beginning of the process ».
The Province of Bolzano, after evaluating the possibility of collaborating with various universities, in the end chose the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, whose headquarters of Medicine is in Rome.
The resolution explains that the choice of a private university is motivated by the offer of a curriculum in English; a research network and networks of high quality teachers; multi-year experience of collaboration with the Claudiana School of Health; willingness to collaborate with universities in countries in the German area.
The Claudiana School of Health in Bolzano was identified as the natural location for the establishment of the single-cycle master’s degree course in Medicine and Surgery.
On 30 September the Provincial University Coordination Committee had also expressed a positive opinion on the project with some recommendations: in the entrance test, knowledge of the Italian and German languages should be valued; the level of knowledge of the three languages is increased during the degree course; a joint advisory commission periodically monitors the level of learning.
The total costs (teaching and administrative staff, administration services) to be borne by the Province are estimated at 723,070 euros for the year of activation of the 2022 course and of 2 million and 203,981 euros for the year of activation of the 2023 course.
Since the Catholic University is a private university, it will be necessary to understand what the enrollment fee will be paid by the students.
The University of Bolzano, on the other hand, is not involved in any way in the project, as are the neighbors of the University of Trento, who have just set up a School of Medicine and who, although so far snubbed by the South Tyroleans, still hope that it can be found. the way of collaborating as explained by the rector of the Trentino university Flavio Deflorian.
«From what we understand – explains Deflorian – the intention of Bolzano is to establish a training course in the field of medicine through an agreement with the Catholic University that would make a branch in Bolzano.
There was also the hypothesis of being able to collaborate and also involving the University of Salzburg. We had meetings to evaluate our participation as well. There was an opening on the part of Bolzano, now let’s see if there will be the will or not.
We are available because we believe that the geographical proximity and the existing collaborations between the two territories in the health field are the right substratum ».
But does it make sense to have two medical schools in such a small region?
«We are not worried about territorial competition – underlines the rector Deflorian – because this year we had about 600 applications for 60 positions in Medicine, but experts tell us that it takes at least about one million inhabitants to have an adequate catchment area. So two medical schools in the two provinces of Trento and Bolzano are a bit too many, even if it is clear that Bolzano has particular needs in terms of bilingualism..
However, I would like to be able to do something together in the ways that the Province of Bolzano deems most appropriate.
Two initiatives that do not speak to each other – concludes the rector of the University of Trento – would be, in my opinion, a mistake.
But there is still time to discuss it ».
The president of the Province of Trento and president of the Region, Maurizio Fugatti, does not see any criticality in the fact that two medical faculties could be born in such a small area given the serious shortage of doctors.
“I see nothing wrong – comments the governor of Trentino – it means that the path that we have opened with our Faculty of Medicine has also been shared by Bolzano and there will certainly be spaces for collaboration on the various specializations”.