"For 2022, we have received applications from Australia, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, and Hungary." With these words, Gabriella Bettelli, scientific director of the Master's Program in Perioperative Medicine for the Elderly offered by the University of the Republic of San Marino, concludes the 2021 cycle of the training program and, together with Antonio Crucitti and Nicolò Scuderi, with whom she shares the leadership of the initiative, sets the stage for the new edition scheduled for next year. Last Saturday, December 11, eight geriatricians, surgeons, and anesthetists from various Italian institutions completed the specialization program during a ceremony attended by students and faculty at the former Courthouse in the historic center of San Marino.
"The students," the academic explains, "presented theses that focused on a project for a dedicated training program for elderly surgical patients to be implemented in their hospital, and on analyses to improve the environments in which they work and therefore refine ward activities, achieve better clinical outcomes, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce costs."
In addition to her medical work, Bettelli is involved in various research projects and participates in Italian and international task forces working in areas such as the development of anesthesia guidelines for the treatment of elderly patients undergoing surgery, thus contributing to an updated, current, and innovative Master's program. "I believe this training initiative is unique in Italy and rivaled at the European level only by the Sorbonne in Paris," she explains. "We aim to involve not only professionals from abroad, but also our Italian colleagues—surgeons, anesthetists, geriatricians, and nurses—with a positive path that positions our country as a leader in this field, consistent with the data that, along with Japan, indicates Italy has the longest history in the world. Our roots," she emphasizes, "must be preserved as best we can." To achieve this, the contribution of figures like Crucitti, from the Catholic University of Rome, is crucial: "In the capital, he directs a surgery department at Cristo Re Hospital, where elderly patients are treated with cutting-edge techniques."
