The medicine in English course in La Sapienza University ended up being one of my top choices to study medicine in Italy in English. La Sapienza Rome is one of two public Italian Medical Schools (the other being Tor Vergata) that offers medicine in English.
However when I first decided to study medicine in Italy I had a lot of trouble trying to choose the best medical school for me, as is the experience for a lot of other prospective students preparing for the IMAT Exam.
At first I felt that I didn’t have all the information I needed about each university to be able to make a good choice, so I asked medical students in different faculties, to get a bigger picture of every university. We don’t want anybody to feel as confused as we were picking the order of our universities, so have presented all of this information in “A brief look at Italian Medical Schools” series.
Academic Calendar and Structure
October-December: First Semester lessons
- End of December marks the beginning of Christmas holidays, up until early January where classes will restart for a brief period of time.
- Rest of January: Study Break
February: One month study break; Winter Exam Session
March-May: Second Semester classes interrupted by one week of Easter break in April.
June-July: Study break; Exam Session
August: University is closed so there are no classes or exams.
September: Study break; Fall Exam Session
1st Year Subjects in the International Medical Course
1st Semester
- Medical Physics
- Chemistry and Introduction to Biochemistry
- Biology and Genetics (I)
- Anatomy I
- Basic Medical Scientific Methods (BMSM) I
- History of Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Statistics
2nd Semester
- Biochemistry I
- Biology and Genetics (II)
- BMSM II
- Psychology
- Epidemiology
- Legal Medicine
- Histology and Embryology (including Cytology)
Class Timetables
As you can see from the class timetables above, classes usually start at 9am and end around 2pm. There are optional and additional anatomy labs on Monday evenings, whereas in semester 2 there are histology labs in the evenings once every few weeks. This general trend continues throughout all of the years except for in 5th year where you will have the mornings off to go to the hospital, and classes in the evenings from 2-7pm.
Are the professors fluent in English?
I’ve never had any problems following lectures. While the professors speak with accents (obviously), and have very small pronunciation errors (such as muscle as mus-kel) their coherence is never hindered by it. During an oral exam their comprehension of answers would never be doubted. Overall I’m very confident in the English level of the professors and have no complaints.
What are Exams like in La Sapienza IMS?
The exams in La Sapienza are pretty much up to standard with other Medical schools in Italy. While some subjects have a written part it’s usually only to gain access to the oral exam portion which will determine your final grade. However this is the standard practice in almost every public medical school in Italy.
La Sapienza Tuition Fees, and Rome Living Expenses
Living expenses in Rome are hard to estimate as it varies greatly from person to person depending on their lifestyle choices. The tuition fees are a maximum of €1100 Euro a year for international students (if you receive no deductions via a scholarship).
Accommodation
I pay €380 Euro a month for a private double bedroom a 35 minute walk from university (no bills included), close to all amenities that I can need including a central bus and train station. However a lot of students prefer to live closer to the university (10/15 minute walk) which can increase the rent up to €500 euro a month for a private room in shared house. Bills usually cost around €50 euro a month.
Like most other universities La Sapienza doesn’t have private dorms (However Laziodisco can provide free housing to students who qualify for a scholarship), but works with companies (such as Sturent.it) to help students find accommodation. However most students opt for finding housing privately via sites such as Easystanza or Spotahome.
Does Sapienza offer free Italian courses to it's medical students?
Yes, the course secretary organises Italian classes which are usually held twice a week completely free of charge for students enrolled in the programme.
Clinical Experience in La Sapienza IMS
Starting from 3rd year students start to officially spend time in the hospital as part of their learning experience. However in first year students are given badges to access the hospital and are more than welcome to follow around doctors if they request to do so.
6 thoughts on “A Brief Look at Medicine in La Sapienza University”
thank you so much for the wonderful detailed work. spot on . keep up the good work. I am very curious to find out what the student syiu interviewed ended up in which countries.
Also what are your plans after graduation?
The most popular options are staying in Italy or going to the UK. I’m currently working for Sapienza university, and considering a PhD.
Hello, please I have a question
So in my country students get paid when they start making clinical rotations in 3rd year and so on until 6th year….
Is it same in Italy?
No you do not get paid
Hey serra , so as per the indian NMC (national medical council) rule , if you study MBBS (bachelor in medicine bachelor in surgery) from abroad the academic duration should be at least 4.5 years + 1year internship to do PG back in India. ( NMC will not accept the internship included within 6 years as a clinical internship or a clinical training ). So does La Sapienza provides 1 year additional internship or is internship include within them 6 years ? Or do any of the italian IMS follow these guidelines ?
Please do reply thank you .
No there is no 1 year of internship you can do for any of the universities post-graduation. You can do 1 year of specialty training, but I’m not sure if the NMC will accept that.