When I Met IMAT – A Letter to IMAT Beginners

Dear IMAT Prospects,

My name’s Joel, I love to read books and write poetry; but most of all I love to learn. I was recently hired as lead editor and writer for AcadIMAT; which may seem odd, as the only thing books and a medical career have in common is the spine. No more than 3 months ago I knew literally nothing about the IMAT; at best I might have guessed that the ‘M’ was for Medical. Naturally, with little to no experience or knowledge about the task before me, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and choices provided; just as you may be now – but fortunately for you I love a bit of reading and I was paid to do all the hard work and research for you.

When starting your journey into taking IMAT to study in Italy, choosing a university seems like an obvious place to start. However, picking your university is rather a complex first step, as there are a multitude of different things to consider. Choosing a university is more like choosing the next childhood sized period of your life. It’s a big, big decision. I’m not even really making the decision, but I’m stressed for you. So let’s get to solving this, once and for all.

You will be in the city or province of your choosing, for a long time. You’ll be living there, and working there, and walking around there, eating there, sleeping there… Get the idea?

The first thing you really want to think about is where you want to go. I know, surprisingly the most important thing isn’t the quality rating of the course, or whether or not you get to conduct dissections. You will be in the city or province of your choosing, for a long time. You’ll be living there, and working there, and walking around there, eating there, sleeping there… Get the idea? It’s definitely in your best interest to think about choosing somewhere you’d be happy to live. Think about how the city might be, the kind of a lifestyle you’d be living. The romantic, inner Emily Brontë reader in me, was hugely drawn to the dramatic and intense geography of Bologna. Gorgeous sunny horizons that plunge into the Po River Valley, Bologna offers plenty of chance to escape the city life if needed and what a way to do it. However, the extent to which I could realistically manage this ideal with the workload of a doctor had me second guessing myself. Travel to areas with better facilities for general study would eat up a lot of my time. I decided that the more urban surroundings of Milan, more specifically Bergamo, might be better suited; which would also provide more options and general facilities. Bergamo blends the appeal of the slow life with some of that raw urban edge that humans bring. Still hot and sunny, just like Bologna, but a fair bit more humid as of the naturally flat but artificially built up surroundings.

We also just touched on another integral factor; ‘facilities’. An aspect of university life that is often deemed entwined with professor quality, or general calibre. While some universities may have better facilities due to better economic and statistical turnout, there are a lot of other factors that affect the quality of a university’s facilities. You’ll want to know what you’re working with, rather literally. Most Italian universities can tout heritage or calibre of course. What’s more, you’re going to have to really read into modules; how they are run and set out. Course structures can vary massively, so there will be something out there that suits you. For example, Messina offers an exam structure that allows you to opt out at any point during examination. However, if you finish the exam, thus taking the grade, you have to accept it regardless. A rather clever system that also tests how well a student monitors themselves. If you know that this sort of system would work for you, and you could utilise this system effectively, looking into this beforehand could be the decision that defines your career. My ‘shout-out’ for course and facility development has to be Milano-Bicocca. The Monza campus is extremely well facilitated, with massive financial investments back in 2009 and further financial investment as part of ESFRI projects in late 2020. Milano-Bicocca pitches a focus on forming the “doctors of the future”, Bicocca students will study computer science and even work alongside and study robotics in practical medical environments. What better opportunity is there than to be at the cutting edge of medical practices? They even have robots around the campus in the basement.

… it seems like an obvious choice; so everyone might go for it, but you don’t want to end up being bumped out of every spot by the thousands of other applicants. Besides, with such expensive resources, Bicocca isn’t a cheap choice

So surely, the choices seem somewhat obvious. Milan-Bicocca offers the chance to get hands on with the future, while enjoying a relaxed, temperate, verdant yet emphatically urban life. That’s the drawback frankly, it seems like an obvious choice; so everyone might go for it. You don’t want to end up being bumped out of every spot by the thousands of other applicants. Besides, with such expensive resources, Bicocca isn’t a cheap choice; Bergamo living expenses are rather affordable, but tuition fees reflect the course quality. While Milano-Bicocca does cost scholarships around ISEE, generally scholarships are functioning meritocracies; you have to be at the top of your game to be given allowances. So you’d be taking a risk on just hoping to always rely on your results. The combined affordability and relaxed atmosphere of somewhere like Bari seem like a strong compromise; which though lacking in facilities still has a highly reputable course and currently still receiving renovations.

So what is the conclusion on this one? Well, it’s not clear cut. I couldn’t decide. The idealist in me fell in love with Milano-Bicocca and the promise of grasping a once in a lifetime opportunity. Whereas the realist in me figured, “I’m a writer who studied History at university, even in a dream world I wouldn’t try and rely that much on my ability as a doctor”. So think hard, read around for what suits you, and please… PLEASE start learning Italian before you pick an Italian university. I’d recommend setting yourself the target of at least a B1 language certificate for your first year. Universities do occasionally provide support for language development, but these tend to lack in later years of study; as focus will be on developing your skills as a doctor, not a linguist.

All information of the aforementioned universities can be found linked below; but I encourage you to make the most of all the other resources we provide.

Best of luck out there AcadiMATEs!

Joel Andermahr