Welcome

The Department of Economics, Science, Engineering and Design (DESID) of the University of San Marino in collaboration with the University of Ferrara, establishes a Second Level Master's Degree in Geriatric Medicine.

In the last 100 years we have witnessed, in all Western countries, a progressive increase of elderly population. It is estimated that in Italy there are currently more than 12 million elderly subjects (age > 65 years); of these, more than 2 million are non-self-sufficient, while more than 200.000 are residents of (institutionalized) elderly care facilities. The elderly consume a large part of our country's health resources.

La geriatric medicine has been taking for years a central role in care and management of elderly patients and has developed a specific working methodology called "multidimensional geriatric evaluation” (VMG). In fact, the elderly patient has particular characteristics that distinguish him from the adult patient: atypical presentation of pathologies, comorbidities, decline in functional and cognitive status, clinical instability, reduced mobility, social and economic problems. All these characteristics require particular preparation by doctors who work daily in contact with elderly patients, both outside and inside structures dedicated to them. These include not only hospital wards and Geriatrics and Internal Medicine clinics, but also territorial structures such as long-term care, assisted health residences (RSA) and protected homes.

The need for geriatric education is therefore in exponential growth among medical personnel, compared to an official offer which, to date, is limited from a quantitative point of view, only to specialization schools in Geriatrics.

The aim of the Master is to provide basic specialist training in the field of geriatric medicine, of the methodology, of pathologies related to ageing, of their classification and treatment, in line with those provided in the university environment, in the most advanced countries in this field.

The idea is to provide the essential notions of geriatric medicine to doctors who, while working daily with elderly patients, do not have a specialization in geriatrics.

The Master is organized in collaboration with the San Marino Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics.

In particular, the course aims to provide:

• a knowledge of the most recent acquisitions in the field of gerontology and geriatrics
• the acquisition of principles basics of geriatric multidimensional assessment and the tools needed for it
• thedeepening of the main ones syndromes/pathologies of the elderly (medical history collection, functional examination, interpretation of instrumental and imaging tests, clinical reasoning, differential diagnosis, prognosis)
• un training to the correct use of scales and tests specific for the evaluation of the elderly population

The Master is aimed at graduates in possession of the following entrance qualifications:

• Degree (new and old system) in Medicine and Surgery
• Master's Degree in Psychology
• Master's Degree in Nursing Sciences
• Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Health Professions
• Master's Degree in Nutrition Sciences
• Master's Degree in Prevention Health Professions Sciences

The doctor who will obtain the Master in Geriatric Medicine will be able to boast a competence essential but specific in the field of medicine for the elderly. This competence can be used both in the context of basic medicine that of territorial structures e residential dedicated to the elderly.

This demand is growing rapidly due to the progressive aging of the population and continuously increase in subjects over eighty years of age in our country. The professional tools provided will also allow those who obtain the Masters in Geriatric Medicine to share with their fellow specialists in Geriatrics a series of methodologies already extensively validated and used internationally.

The doctor will acquire specific skills of evaluation and treatment of the elderly patient.

In particular, the doctor:
• will develop a high standard of skill of geriatric multidimensional assessment (VMG) and in performing geriatric tests and scales

• will acquire the ability to analyze, critically, the clinical condition , prognosis of the geriatric patient, as a result of a process of integration of clinical experience and the best scientific evidence

• on the basis of the principles of Evidence Based Medicine, where available, will be able to decide on the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures more suitable for the specific elderly patient, evaluating any possibility of recovery of previous skills and proposing a individualized therapeutic-care plan