Internal Medicine

The course is divided into 2 years, the 5th and 6th. It is proposed to provide diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis and therapeutic tools for the main diseases of interest in internal medicine. As an example: cardiovascular, pulmonary, hematologic, gastro-hepatological, endocrinological, nephrological, infectious diseases. The course also aims to provide the basis for the diagnosis and management of the elderly patient and the neoplastic patient. During the course the main pathophysiological mechanisms will be briefly recalled, with particular attention to polymorbidities that often coexist above all in elderly patients. The bases will be provided to carry out the most probable diagnosis and the most appropriate therapy of internal medical conditions and their complications, to highlight the complexity linked to polymorbidity.
The course will also cover the fundamentals of working as a general practitioner, with a focus on prescribing skills and the writing of medical certificates.
The teaching method involves the discussion of clinical cases, through which to discuss the various possible differential diagnoses and the appropriate therapy setting, according to the most updated guidelines.

At the end of the course the student must be able to recognize and manage the patient with internal disease, performing differential diagnostics and setting the most suitable therapy. The student must also be able to interpret the most common laboratory and instrumental exams and set up the follow-up of the main internist pathologies. Lastly,the student is expected to know how to write prescriptions and medical certificates. The exam will be done at the end of the 6th year of Internal Medicine course and will consist of a practical test that will take place in the Internal Medicine Units and an oral test with at least two examiners.