This article was written by our guest writer Marina.
Congratulations, you are now approaching your final year of medical school or are about to graduate! Crazily enough, med school eventually comes to an end as well. It might feel like a never-ending period of your life and yet one day you wake up and you are suddenly done.
So with this article we want to help you if you are considering staying in Italy for your specialisation. We’ve also included an interview with a current doctor completing his residency training in Florence, after graduating from the English programme of La Sapienza University as a non-EU student.
How Do You Apply to Residency Training in Italy?
The first thing to consider regarding residency in Italy is the admission test, otherwise called Concorso SSM (Scuole di Specializzazione in Medicina), which takes place once a year (usually at the end of July) and is standardized and identical for all candidates all over Italy.
We know, we know… another test? Even after graduation?? You are probably sighing and rolling your eyes at the idea of taking another multiple choice test that might define your future (or more realistically what you’re going to be doing in the next few months). However, it is not an unachievable goal and the SSM test may seem a lot more doable compared to some of the things you went through in the past 6 years.
Let’s start with some details. First of all, the current SSM concorso has been established in 2014 and since then it has regulated residency admission for every single Specialization School in Italy (both private and public). The test closely resembles (or should we say it was freely copied from) the Spanish residency test, or MIR (Medico Interno Residente) test.
How Does the SSM Concorso Work?
The SSM includes 140 multiple choice questions, which each candidate will be able to answer on a computer screen provided by the test-administering facility. Similar to the IMAT, each correct answer is worth 1 point, unanswered questions are worth 0 points, and a wrong answer results in a loss of 0.25 points.
Your final score for the SSM is calculated by adding up the score you achieved in the test with a few extra points, called “punti curriculum”.
Here’s how punti curriculum work (updated to 2022):
You can get a total of 7 points (max) as punti curriculum. They are assigned to you based on your graduation score and your exam average. The points you can get from your graduation score are:
- 110 con lode = 2 points
- 110 = 1,5 points
- 108-109 = 1 point
- 105-107 = 0,5 points
Also, if you graduated with a research thesis you will get 0,5 points more but only if you upload your frontispiece (signed by your supervisor) while signing up for the SSM exam.
About the final exam average the punti curriculum work like this:
- from 29,5 up = 3 points
- from 29 to 29,4 = 2,5 points
- from 28,5 to 28,9 = 2 points
- from 28 to 28,4 = 1,5 points
- from 27,5 to 27,9 = 1 point
- from 27 to 27,4 = 0,5 points
So, let’s say for example, that you graduated with 110 con lode (good job, doc!) and your exam average was 29,2. That means that your final score in the Concorso SSM will be the score you achieved in the actual test + 2 points + 2,5 points (with half a point more if you uploaded your research thesis).
Hence, your final score is predominantly influenced by the score you get on the test. Yet, we all know how even 0.5 points more may make a huge difference when it comes to rankings and getting some extra points in recognition for all the hard work you may have done during med school is quite nice.
What's on the SSM Concorso?
The contents of the SSM test are quite broad, ranging from preclinical (even biochemistry topics) to strictly clinical questions, and most importantly clinically applied knowledge. Thus you may find questions about hormone receptors, genetic practical problems, but also ECGs to interpret and clinical cases to consider (e.g. picking the right procedure to perform on the patient or the right drug to administer).
AMBOSS a medical education company has created a “study guide” that outlines all of the topics that can possibly be included in the exam, which you can download as a PDF here.
In Conclusion
After this general overview of the SSM test, you need to remember that you are about to graduate med school or have just become a medical doctor, thus you have been preparing for this test for the past 6 years. And even though it all seems impossible at first, you have already gained all the skills you need to deal with the Concorso SSM.
So, do not panic unnecessarily or do not throw in the towel before giving it a chance. Take your time going through past SSM test questions and to review/study from zero the high yield topics, without losing yourself over the tiniest details.
Good luck and we hope to see you soon in the wards all over Italy!
28 thoughts on “Medical Specialty Training in Italy: A Quick Overview for Graduates”
How does the choice of specialization work? Do we choose our desired speciality via the score from the exam or is it randomly assigned?
Is this peocedure dependent on the CV like germany?
You make a ranking of your choices for SPECIALTY and CITY and then based on your score will be offered a place from your ranking (if high enough). There is no real “random assignment”. It’s not dependent on the CV, it’s one exam called the SSN CONCORSO.
Is SSM exam in English?
It is in Italian, and all of the training is in Italian 🙂
Hi, i completed the SSM application, but i still dont know where can you do the rankings for cities and schools.
Was it in the SSM application?
Thanks
Hey you do this in September, after all the results are out 🙂
Hello:) is is also possible to do residency in english or it is just in italian language. If it is what level in Italian is required? Thank you
Hi 🙂 it is only in Italian. You are required a C1 level, but if you graduated from an Italian university, they usually don’t check, even if the course was in English.
Thank you for explaining the process but I have a few questions
-is the test like the imat in the sense that you can repeat it each year? (as i you take the IMAT in 2022 you go to med school in 2022 you go to IMAT in 2023 you go to med school in 2023)
-is there a list for min. score for admission into each specialty at each school?
-are all specialties in Italian?
Hello, yes, you can take the IMAT multiple years, but the score is only valid for that particular year. Admission into a medical specialty is based on scrolling, similar to the IMAT. Yes, all specialties are conducted in Italian!
What are the requirements for eu students studying/graduating from an eu medical school?
Also, what are the requirements in terms of language and proficiency exams? Is English enough or are we required to have a certain level of proficiency in Italian?
The exam and all of the training is completely in Italian. You will need to have as a minimum C1 PLIDA certificate. The application is completed through universitaly → SSM Concorso
How a Non-EU graduate can go for Specialization in Italy as a resident?
It depends if you are graduating from an Italian Medsical School. If you are, you just need to signup for the SSM concorso exam. If you are not, the process is a lot more complicated and you’ll at least need a C1 PLIDA Certificate.
i’m in the same situation , non EU graduated from italy .
but i took a year gab in my home country, so i don’t have a valide resident permit anymore .
do you think i can come back and gice the SSM exam ?
thank you in dvance
Yes you should still be able to easily.
whats the minimum required grade for passing? the curiculum thing is very strange
Hello, an 18 out of 30 is the minimum passing grade at Italian universities!
Hi,
are the SSM concorso exam results better for some unies compared to others?
After graduating from an “English” Italian Medical School, do you have chances to get into a medium competitive specialty?
It really depends on how high you score; you can get into any course that you would like.
Hello if I failed the SSM once, can I retake it ?
Yes!
Hey serra,I saw your video that you got job at sapienza.I want to ask whether you got the job after passing SSM concorso or you followed some other procedure?What was the other process then?
I got the job way before the concorso
This website is a lifesaver. We would appreciate it if you could make a guide for non-EU students.
My question is, does my nationality as a non-EU student affect my chances of getting into residency?
No only your exam results do, but it is harder to register with the “ordine dei medici” and get approved for a visa from what I understand.
Hi, is it absulutely neccesary to have c1 language exam even if you are a european union citizen?
Is there any chance that you can start specializing and you do the language exam later somehow?
I would.really appreciate some help
Thank you
If you did not graduate in a medical school in Italy, as far as I know proving language is a part of the approval process.