Postgraduate School of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care

Common training objectives (or common core)

Students must acquire the basics of clinical psychology, medical genetics, internal medicine, general surgery, neurology and paediatrics necessary for the completion of specialist training in the semiotics, diagnosis and treatment of pathologies pertaining to individual specialisations.
They must also acquire knowledge of the main laboratory tests on blood and tissues, radiology and neuroradiology imaging and their purpose and use in clinical and diagnostic assessment, prevention and monitoring of the structures and systems involved in anaesthesia and rehabilitation practices and in patients undergoing intensive, resuscitation and rehabilitation therapies

Core training objectives

Students must acquire specific knowledge of the physical, biochemical and pathophysiological phenomena necessary to correctly apply anaesthesia and perioperative medical techniques, to treat patients in pain, to manage the clinical criticality of both elective and emergency surgery, and to assist frail patients with appropriate care intensity, also outside the intensive care unit and within the field of hyperbaric medicine.
They must therefore develop the ability to assess risk and prepare candidate patients for surgery in elective or urgent/emergency situations, and/or for non-surgical diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Students must also learn basic pathophysiological conditions, identifying methods to correct disorders that may influence the conduct of anaesthesia, the response to surgical, diagnostic and/or therapeutic manoeuvres and perioperative progress. They must be able to safely manage anaesthetic medication, airways and ventilation, and clinical risk during the different phases of induction, maintenance and awakening, including useful techniques for adequate pain management.
Students must be able to make choices based on risk assessment and know how to adopt different sedation techniques, general and/or locoregional anaesthesia, as well as the most appropriate monitoring procedure for patients' clinical conditions, in elective and in urgent/emergency situations, with both adult and paediatric patients.
They must acquire the theoretical knowledge and the practical ability to diagnose and treat all clinical conditions linked to perioperative medicine, polyvalent intensive care and specialised therapy, in accordance with national and European standards. They must learn and be able to use monitoring systems and prosthetic technologies capable of supporting vital functions in the operating room and in the post-operative recovery room, as well as in intensive care and during intra- and extra-hospital emergencies, including management of trauma, acute burn injuries and toxicological emergencies.
They must also learn to deal adequately with clinical situations related to acute and chronic pain, also in a multidisciplinary and hospice settings.
They must manage patient relationships appropriately, in order to prepare them accordingly for the intended procedure, as well as with the relatives of patients in critical conditions.
They must also learn to manage the organisational aspects regarding the safe transportation of critically ill patients in pre-intrahospital settings, as well as disaster medicine.
Lastly, they must obtain valid theoretical understanding of juridical and legal matters along with the bioethical implications associated with professional practice.

Related or additional objectives

Students must be familiar with the administrative and managerial procedures of the discipline, including related medical-legal bioethical implications, in compliance with the safety standards, quality and pertinence of the care provided, and with particular reference to interdisciplinary interaction in the areas of perioperative medicine, pain therapy and palliative care networks, transplants, intensive care, emergency, disaster medicine, and underwater and hyperbaric medicine.