Access to university courses medicine will change. “Surely the number of health workers will increase in the coming years, we need to understand whether or not to liberalize the entry system”, he tells ilfattoquotidiano.it Eugene Gaudiofull professor at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome, new president of the commission just established by decree of the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Berniniwhich will have the task of providing proposals by the spring, on the needs of doctors and the potential offer of the university system.
Among the hypotheses on the minister’s table is also that of abolish the numerus clausus which to date has prevented the gaps in the aisles from being filled but this case will first and foremost be addressed by the working group chaired by Gaudio and also made up of Massimiliano FedrigaPresident of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, Salvatore Cuzzo createsPresident of the Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities, Charles DellaRoccapresident of the Permanent Conference of the Faculties and Schools of Medicine and Surgery, Gianluca Cerracchiodirector of the general directorate of higher education regulations and the right to study of the ministry and by Rossana Ugenti of the Directorate-General and Human Resources Office of the National Health Service of the Ministry of Health.
Anna Maria Bernini gave the commission a task: “To examine and investigate the critical issues relating to the shortage of doctors and health professionals within the national health service, measure the extent of the phenomenon and identify the causes and possible solutions, with particular reference the need to ensure sustainable access to the health professions”.
Translated: it is possible to say stop to the limited number. Gaudio does not want to go too far but guarantees that with the data they have in hand they are able, in a short time, to give answers to Bernini: “We will carry out a prospective reconnaissance on the physicians’ needs and other health figures in order to have solid data. What changes today has repercussions in ten years to avoid finding ourselves in difficulty as happened with the pandemic. We also want to make an assessment at an international level, in Europe, by comparing ourselves with the systems used in the various countries, Spain, France, Belgium but also England”. The president poses some problems: “There will reasonably be an increase, but it will be necessary to decide whether to liberalize and how to also increase contracts for specializations as well as make the role of nurse more attractive”.
On the one hand there is the issue of the lack of doctors, of professionals who are needed above all when we find ourselves in a period like the pandemic, on the other there is the problem of not opening the university doors to everyone. “An age-old question, terribly complex and which requires equally complex answers”, specified the minister in a letter published in the Corriere della Sera: “The limited number – he explained – at the time of its establishment was a choice dictated by necessity but today the employment rate of medical graduates is higher than the’83%, while the dropout rate is very low: 2% of students drop out in the transition from the first to the second year. How is it then possible to overcome the apparent paradox that sees thousands of young people blocked from entering medical school with the need for new professionals?”. Meanwhile, this year there they will be online tests that will take place in two sessions: from 13 to 22 April and from 15 to 25 July 2023. With one novelty: the tests can be carried out from the fourth year of high school (with access clearly from 2024/25) and will be repeatable.
