Starting today, the new
test for access
to Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics and Veterinary Medicine, the so-called
Tolc Med
.
The new test, fully computerized, can be repeated twice, during this session, in April, until the 22nd, and during that of July, from the 15th to the 25th. Each candidate will have two attempts.
In each day there will be at least three shifts for the tests, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.
There are almost 80 thousand registered for the tests.
The places available - the data are however still provisional - are almost 15 thousand for Medicine, almost 14 thousand for Dentistry, 1,082 for Veterinary.
The novelty is that, in addition to high school graduates, students from the last two years of high school can also participate in the test.
Schillaci, "More places but no stop to the limited number in Medicine"
"There will be an enlargement of the number programmed for Medicine but not an overcoming of the limited number. Already this year the number of those who can register will increase by 20-30%".
Thus the Minister of Health
Orazio Schillaci on Tg1 Mattina.
However, he said, "the real shortage, which is not only Italian, is in nurses; we have a pension hump in doctors, but in reality there are not so many doctors missing. The number of medicine students will be increased but the results will be seen in 6-8 years".
Therefore, "we must act to bring doctors back into the public by making the NHS more attractive. We are looking for solutions with nurses".
The reactions
The students of Udu, the University Union, will be in front of the Ministry of Education and, until 22 April, at the entrances of various Italian universities on the occasion of the entrance tests to Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
"We contest the wrong model of national and local programmed numbers! We have chosen the date of April 13, the start date of the most relevant entry tests for use of resources, number of young people involved and impact on society: this year 80 thousand will participate in the admission test to the courses of study in Medicine and Surgery and in Veterinary Medicine. We consider the current system of access to knowledge and training as detrimental to the right to study. The only reason for maintaining the current system is not to invest in university education.
year we dispute even more strongly the irrationality of a system that relies on TOLC-Med and TOLC-Vet, determining the rankings with non-predetermined criteria and clearly known by the candidates.
Like Udu and Rete degli Studenti Medi we ask that the State allocate adequate resources to overcome, after almost twenty-five years, the implementation of Law 264/1999.
We believe that another university, open and inclusive, is possible", they conclude.
Codacons also comments on the affirmations of the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci on the increase in the number programmed for Medicine which does not, however, envisage exceeding the limited number.
"A missed opportunity for the government and for thousands of students who are unable to access medical school at Italian universities every year"- he continues.
"Increasing the number of places that can be registered by 20% cannot be the solution to the problem of difficulties in accessing medical faculties - says the president Carlo Rienzi - Just think that last year, compared to the 14,740 places made available in Italian universities , there were 65,378 students enrolled in the admission tests.The admission tests are now used only to fill the coffers of the universities,
and they are harmful for the country and for the health system since Italy has long been experiencing a serious shortage of doctors, as recently demonstrated by the Covid emergency.
The entire closed number system is obsolete, useless, and harmful to students' rights, involving, among other things, a waste of millions and millions of euros considering the expenses that candidates have to face to take the tests in the various cities and for the preparation for entrance tests" - concludes Rienzi.
2 out of 3 candidates will make double attempt. The Skuola.net survey
However, the new entrance test for the degree courses in Medicine and Dentistry does not convince all aspiring "white coats", even if most of them will attempt the test twice.
This was reported by a survey by Skuola.net carried out on 650 fourth and fifth year students who would like to pursue a medical career after graduation.
Among graduates, for example, 2 out of 3 - always among those interested in these degree courses - will participate in the selection tests scheduled from tomorrow to 22 April.
And a similar participation rate (67%) is found among fourth year students, who however will be distributed between the two windows scheduled for this year;
in fact, that according to the reform there will be a second test at the end of July.
However, focusing on fifth-grade students, the upcoming state exam has not allowed everyone to set up adequate preparation: in fact, over half of them will present themselves for the April selections so as not to throw away the double chance offered them from the ministry (47%) or to take measurements for the new questionnaire (the same for 14%).
Someone who will be determined already from now, however, there will be:
there are about 2 out of 5 high school graduates, who in recent months have declared that they have preferred studying for the entrance tests over that for the imminent Maturity.
Suffice it to say that, among them, the vast majority (80%) have been preparing since last year: 19% for four to six months, 32% for seven to nine months, roughly 29% for at least twelve months.
Fortunately for the latter, together with the reform, the Ministry of University and Research has given a clear boost to universities to organize orientation and preparation courses.
Among those who worked hard for the appointment, 4 out of 10 took advantage of this opportunity.
A share that could have been much higher, given that 1 out of 4 preferred to follow other paths, while 1 out of 10 did not know that universities held such courses.
The alternative most relied upon are test-specific books, followed by preparation courses provided by private entities.
Different methods which, however, led a large proportion of girls and boys struggling with the new questionnaire model, towards the same conviction: the old entrance test, the one administered until last September, was better.
This is the opinion of 40% of those directly involved in the fifth year of high school who will not only participate but will do so having prepared themselves properly.
Only a third (33%) favor the structure of the new test.
All the others (27%), on the other hand, are waiting to carry out the official one to give a balance.
Most of those who will not participate in the April session took this decision precisely in consideration of the
another big appointment coming up in the coming months: the high school diploma.
Among the "absent", over 1 out of 2 wanted to give priority to the state exam and then concentrate on the test;
many others (36%) instead wanted to avoid wasting time, taking a few more weeks to refine their preparation.
But there are also those (10%) who simply won't participate because they got "distracted" and didn't have time to sign up.
