There are two important Medical Universities in Napoli that offer Medicine in English Programmes. One being Federico II first established in 1224, and the other Luigi Vanvitelli which is much newer. There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these Italian medical schools, and in this article I’m going to go over some of the differences so that you can understand the strengths and weaknesses of both universities in hopes that it will help you choose your future medical school.
Score Comparison
It is important to note that the EU scores for both these universities are the final cut off scores, and not the 1st round. If you don’t quite understand what this means, we really recommend you read this article on understanding EU IMAT Scrolling & Ranking.
Federico II
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
EU |
37.8 |
37.6 |
41.8 |
|
Non-EU |
37.6 |
33.1 |
31.7 |
Luigi Vanvitelli
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
EU |
35.9 |
35.2 |
38.8 |
|
Non-EU |
18.7 |
30.4 |
30.8 |
Available Seats
Both of the Napoli Universities are unique in the number of seats they offer compared to other Medical Schools in Italy that offer medicine in English, as Luigi Vanvitelli offers an equal number of seats to both EU & Non-EU students, whereas Federico II is the only Medical school in Italy that offers more spaces to Non-EU students than EU candidates.
Federico II
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
EU |
15 |
15 |
15 |
|
Non-EU |
10 |
10 |
25 |
2021: 15 (EU) & 25 (Non-EU)
Luigi Vanvitelli
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
EU |
40 |
40 |
40 |
|
Non-EU |
40 |
40 |
40 |
2021: 40 (EU) & 40 (Non-EU)
Course Structure
Since both universities are located in Napoli they try to follow an almost identical structure and study plan, also in comparison to other medical schools in Italy. However there are some differences that I think might be worth mentioning since it might effect your exams and even your scholarship from first year onwards.
Minimum Scores for Exams
Starting from first year in Luigi Vanvitelli there are some exams that might be challenging for you, for example, at the time of writing this article the minimum grade for passing the written portion of the embryology exam is 24 instead of 18 in order to participate in the oral examination. Considering the possible challenges of first year challenges like finding housing, and getting the permesso di soggiorno students can possibly find balancing studies quite difficult. Meanwhile in Federico II there is no minimum score requirement that exceeds 18, which is the normal passing mark in Italian universities.
If these numbers seem strange to you, we recommend that you read our article on the grading system in Italian Universities.
Subject Divisions
Most Italian Medical schools divide larger subjects like Anatomy or Pathology into multiple parts, both for teaching during the semester, and for completing exams (There are generally two approaches to curriculum in Italian medical degrees which is systems based or subject based, which can be an important consideration for those transferring to Italian medical schools.)
For example in Luigi Vanvitelli the subject Anatomy is split into Anatomy 1 during the 2nd semester of 1st year, and Anatomy 2 in the 1st semester of 2nd year (so Semester 2 & 3 respectively). However the anatomy exam can only be completed after the 3rd semester as one giant exam instead of split into parts which makes it quite a challenging exam. The same goes for the pathology exam in that lectures start in “Semester 4” and finish at the end of “Semester 5”, but you complete one big exam known as “General Pathology.
Whereas in Federico II both these subjects are held in two parts each, which considering the CFUs (credits per hour studied for the subjects) of these two subjects, they are incredibly important to complete on time and with a decent score to keep your scholarship.
Exam Prerequisites
Understanding the flexible exam calendars of Italian universities can be difficult, but in general you can proceed to the following year before you complete all of the exams of the previous year. Sometimes however there are certain subjects that must be passed to complete a different exam in a successive year, which can also affect your scholarship.
For example in Luigi Vanvitelli there are prerequisite exams such as chemistry for biochemistry which you can see in the attached image and table.
Whereas in Federico II you are allowed to take any exam you want without prerequisite exams. For instance students can take radiology (5th year) or pathology (3rd year) without first passing Anatomy II exam.
Main Campus
Federico II
Federico II has a much bigger campus compared to LV, and has many departments also mixed with the biggest hospital in Napoli (Nuovo Policlinico). Federico II doesn’t have a specific location for its English program and courses are held in different departments based on the subject in question, so students get to move around (which personally I think is very cool!). The campus is also conveniently located near the “Policlinico” metro station on line 1.
Luigi Vanvitelli
The campus for the English medical program of Luigi Vanvitelli is located in two buildings in two different locations. One at the address of “Via Luciano Armani 5” and the other at “Via Sant Andrea delle Dame 9”, however both buildings are near the “Museo” Metro station on line 1.
Classes up until third year are usually held in Sant Andrea, and after third year the English course mainly completes classes in the Luiciano Armani building. Of course this was mainly before the Covid-19 situation so there might be some changes.
Hospitals
Federico II
Federico ll hospitals are all concentrated in the “Policlinico” area which has it’s own metro stop, and students do rotations in different departments depending on their lectures.
Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli has two main hospitals, one which is called “Luigi Vanvitelli policlinico” (yellow in the pictures) located near the LV university campus in “Via Sant Andrea” or also called “the old policlinico” by Napoli locals. This hospital is mainly used for surgical lectures in 3rd year or for students who wish to attend additional observations of surgeries. Patient history taking can be done here too depending on the professor.
The other hospital is “Ospedale Monaldi” located near the “Policlinico” metro station, and is where internal medicine rotations are done as well as some clinical examinations required in 3rd year. Since my 4th year was spent with long distance learning, we have not yet had clinical activities in person, but activities are usually held across both depending on the professor.
Mensa & Restaurants
While there are no huge differences between these two faculties as I mentioned before, there are minor differences that might be useful to know:
There is no Mensa (canteen) near the Luigi Vanvitelli medicine faculties where the English program is located, but there are many cheap and delicious restaurants as well as sandwich stores nearby, as the university is located near “Via Tiribunali” which is the heart of the historical centre and where you can find many different food types and even different pastries. Although if you would prefer to eat from Mensa contracted restaurants (if for example you have a scholarship) you can find the nearest one in “Piazza Universita” which is about 15 minutes on foot from the university.
Federico II has two main restaurants in the campus that belong to the hospital, and in one of them you can eat with the Mensa card. Even without the Mensa card students can eat a “first dish” which is usually pasta or risotto and a “second dish” which is usually meat or fish with dessert/fruit for about €5.50-6.00 Euro. If hospital food isn’t your scene there are many cafeterias with toast and snacks in the campus, but there is a little less variety easily found as the area is more residential instead of touristic like “Via Tribunali”. Needless to say students mostly bring food from home in both universities because of short periods of lunch breaks and we all want a healthy lifestyle right?
Libraries & Study Rooms
Luigi Vanvitelli has many little rooms known as “study rooms” that you can bring your books & laptop, and study until the university closes in the afternoon. There is Wi-Fi provided as well as comfortable desks to study for long hours, and even rooms for “group studying” that you are allowed to talk and have conversations in, which is very handy for exam preparation since at the end of the day all of our exams are oral!
In Federico II there are many study rooms in different faculties and buildings, some of which are open until 14:00 and some are open until 19:00. They can be much bigger than the LV study rooms which gives you the opportunity to choose your preferred study room. For instance some students prefer crowded study rooms like 100+ people and some prefer less crowded ones with less noise (like me!).
The nice part about the study rooms and libraries in both universities is that you don’t need to be an LV student or Federico II student to use them. There have been many times I used the study rooms in Federico II, or my friends from Federico II came to study with me in the LV library. The pharmacy faculty study rooms in Federico II are very clean and cozy, so I suggest that you try them at least once!
Sports Facilities
Both universities unfortunately lack sports facilities, however in Federico II they have a swimming and football area in the city, but not inside the campus. In Luigi Vanvitelli there are no sports facilities inside the city, even though they are planning to build some facilities inside Caserta which is where the main campus of LV is located.
Is World Ranking Important?
The answer to this question mainly depends on the student. For example if they are planning to return to their home country after graduation or even to transfer to another medical school in that country, it might be important to find out if this is a consideration. Some countries qualify universities as valid or not, according to their world ranking so its advisable before choosing your university to think about that, and if it might impact your future choices, however most countries do not care about world ranking.
As a matter of quality of education, however, rankings are not a good measure for this as first of all they are based on the Italian program and not the English medical course. So my personal suggestion is that you consider two things:
How long the university has been involved in teaching medicine in English, as this translates to more experience gained (Although this is not a rule)
The type of future career you would like in medicine, as some universities have a better future in research programs, with better laboratories, and others have very strong surgical opportunities. For Example:
Luigi Vanvitelli has very strong laboratory facilities that allow medical students in their final years of medical school or after graduation to participate in ongoing research. In the last two years LV has published two important articles, one which was on new receptors on hemoglobin and the other about one of the Cov-19 receptor pathways.
Federico II has one of the best cardio-surgery residencies in Italy as well as a great plastic surgery programme, if you are considering a future in surgery. However they are both very competitive.
Summary
While both universities offer an English medicine program with high standards and acceptable qualifications, there are minor differences that might be useful to know before you choose which medical school in Napoli you want to put as your first choice. We hope that by knowing a little bit more about them, it may help you in your decision or make it easier in order to achieve your academic goals. Alternatively there are also many other medical schools in Italy that offer medicine in English if you would like to learn more about them.