WELCOME TO
UNIPV
Dear medical students,
First things first: congratulations for your admission to the Erasmus programme! After an exhausting struggle through the jungle of deadlines, documents and bureaucracy – which is not over yet, mind you! – here you are: Pavia, your Erasmus destination.
We know the place might seem hostile at the first glance: almost no cabs, but wild flocks of bicycles; mist during winter, mosquitoes in summer; an unnecessary number of pharmacies but apparently only one club; the schedule is full of lectures, the hospital is a maze, and most people seem to prefer a northern Italian dialect to English. But there’s no need to panic. We can guarantee that Pavia’s spirit will get to you and you will soon start to get into the rhythms and habits of our beautiful, student-sized city.
In fact, Pavia’s local population is overwhelmed by students coming from all over Italy and also from abroad. There are 18 student residences (“Collegi”) in the city, which are not just simple dormitories but very active centers on both the academic and social side. Student parties light up the city center every night (but especially on Wednesdays!), and many pubs and restaurants keep their prices low to students’ reach. Also, the University sports center (CUS) has many opportunities to offer, from athletics to fencing and canoeing.
But we are all here to study, right? Then you shall not forget that Pavia has been an important center for medical studies in the past centuries and some very important discoveries have been made here. Our number-one superhero is Camillo Golgi, who is famous not only for the discovery of the intracellular Golgi apparatus, but also for his groundbreaking studies in nervous system cytology and malaria. On the surgical side, Edoardo Porro, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, was the first to perform a successful C-section to which both the mother and the baby survived.
Nowadays, our University still keeps up to the old pace. The Department of Molecular Medicine, for example, has been awarded the title of “Department of Excellence” (and quite some extraordinary funds) from the Ministry of Education, University and Research for its high-quality research projects. As for our medical school, which is probably what concerns you the most, the national rankings of 2018 put the Medical Faculty of Pavia on the very top of the list before all the other Italian Universities.
We hope this introduction has brightened your curiosity, for more information is waiting for you in the pages to follow. We’ll try to give you a hint of what expects you in our medical school, and who you can turn to in case of need. Thank you for your time, and good luck!
Harvey MedSoc
Gruppo Kos
Medical School in Pavia: A Summary
The first thing you need to know about our Medical Faculty is that we actually have two: one is taught in Italian (the so-called Golgi course) and the other one is in English (Harvey course). The two courses have different lecture and exam schedules, but they often share lecture rooms and hospital wards for traineeships.
Every academic year has an appointed course coordinator and a traineeship coordinator, that you can reach out to in case you have any issue that can be solved neither by the course professors nor the Erasmus coordinator office.
MAP TO THE
MAP TO THE
III Year Harvey Lecture Hall
Check out the step-by-step guide, provided by the faculty, here
IV Year Harvey Lecture Hall
Maugeri, 1st Floor and 2nd floor of the conference centre
V Year Harvey Lecture Hall
Aula Campani, Surgical Clinic, first floor, old San Matteo Building
VI Year Harvey Lecture Hall
Aula Campani, Surgical Clinic, first floor, old San Matteo Building
Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri
Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo
DEA
Istituto di Cura Santa Margherita
Biblioteca Tamburo
Biblioteca Botta 2
Biblioteca Universitaria di Pavia
Biblioteca Policlinico
Biblioteca di Economia/Chiesetta
Biblioteca Francesco Petrarca/San Tommaso
Study Material
In order to receive all the help you will need with your courses and exams, we recommend that you join the facebook groups that each year of students usually has. Some of them might be easy to find, but quite often they are hidden. You can write to us (see “Contacts” later in this file) and we’ll get you added in the groups you need.
Apart from this, other facebook groups you might find useful are the following:
- Medicine & surgery made in italy – harvey course
- Facolta di Medicina e Chirurgia – Universita degli Studi di Pavia
- Cosa ti hanno chiesto? Medicina e chirurgia Pavia
The last one is a particularly good one: students write in there all the questions they are asked at exams, in order to provide a pool for the other students to know how the exams usually work out. Most of it is in Italian, but it may still turn out useful.
Every class usually stores their study materials altogether in Google Drive or Dropbox folders. Don’t be shy and ask your classmates to share them with you! Should you have any problem with it, write to us – we’ll be happy to help you out.
Last but not least, Gruppo Kos (one of the authors of this short handbook) is working on a Guide to Courses, where the programs of all exams are written down together with useful sources to study from and some more tips. Follow them in order to be updated and receive the Guide when it is published.
Associations and events
Gruppo Kos is an association of students from the faculties of Medicine and Surgery, Nursery and Sport Sciences. Their mission is to provide Unipv students of health-related areas with the best education possible, and in order to do so, they act both in their own University and through relationships with external partners and associations.
Gruppo Kos is the most consistent association of medical students representatives in the University politics. They are active in the Didactic Councils and the Department Councils of the pertaining courses, in the Joint Committee and in the Student Council. Moreover, one of Gruppo Kos students is currently a member of the Academic Senate.
Thanks to the support and funding provided by the Permanent Student Commission of the University, Gruppo Kos organises several conferences every year on relevant topics, such as the ethical issues related with the end of life and the opportunities that the medical field can offer to transgender people today.
The group cooperates with other associations, both on the local and the international level. In Pavia, the main partner of Gruppo Kos is the Coordinamento per il Diritto allo Studio, an association of representatives of every other field of study in Unipv. On a European level, Gruppo Kos is an active member of EMSA – the European Medical Students Association, a network that allows for connections and exchanges with Medical Faculties all over Europe. Under the name EMSA – Pavia, the group has taken part to several General Assemblies and is now engaged in Twinning programs with partner Universities.
You can turn to Gruppo Kos in case you need any help on the official grounds: issues with your exams, Professors, course structure, irregularities that damage your right to study as an Erasmus student. You will find the useful contacts at the end.
Moreover, the group also organizes social activities throughout the year: follow them on facebook to be updated on their “aperitivi”, presentation events and the soccer tournament that takes place every spring!
Harvey MedSoc is an organization of students from Harvey course in the Faculty of Medicine. Harvey MedSoc first started its work in the academic year of 2015-16. Harvey Medsoc represents Harvey Medical Students of the University of Pavia in areas that are not previously addressed by the faculty and other organizations, including social and extracurricular activities, workshops pertinent to medical studies and interests, in English.
In fact, all events, committee meetings, and communications are held in English. The goal of our society is to strengthen the course identity, and to increase communication between students of various years and the lecturers and course coordinators.
MedSoc is apolitical and does not support or oppose any political parties or movements both within the university and without. It is also worth mentioning that MedSoc has no place in the formal structure of the student government of the University of Pavia.
With all the aforementioned points in mind, MedSoc’s mission is to unify the students of the Harvey Course of Molecular Medicine of the University of Pavia, Italy, through regular common activities and opportunities.
MedSoc hold regular annual (and a few biannual) events both in academic and non-academic fields. Note that a timeline of the future events will be published here at the start of 2018-19 academic year. You can refer to our facebook page to learn more about our previous events.
Additionally, Harvey Medsoc provides a platform for students of all 6 years to come together informally, both with and without professors to provide free information by the students, for the students. This includes knowledge of events in Pavia, within the university and the colleges, and updates on information pertinent to the Harvey course. An example of this, is our Mentorship Program.
Finally, MedSoc’s ultimate goal is to seek out research and internship positions in English both within and outside the University of Pavia and to provide medically relevant extracurricular activities in addition to the lessons and courses provided by the university curriculum and the colleges.