Student Life

The social life in Pavia is very developed – the large number of students and the developed unique tradition of huge summer parties organized by the “colleges” allow to relax properly between the exams and refresh your head a little. The city is full of bars/pubs, ice cream shops and places to where one can spend some quality time with his friends after the studies. The number of foreign students is impressive and it’s not difficult to find an English-speaking company of friends. A short video from one of the parties

The city of Pavia

Pavia is a small, green, and historic north-Italian city, located aprox. 40 km away from Milan. It can be reached from it in 30 minutes by train from the Milan megapolis. The river “Ticino” crosses the city near its center and the two bridges that cross it (the first is the famous Covered Bridge of Pavia) provide access to city parks and the city center. Transportation inside the city by bicycle is a rewarding experience as the city is mostly flat and cycling lanes are very widespread. Transportation card for students costs only 15€ for the entire year! Drivers are also familiar with bicycles on roads and treat cyclists respectfully. Although Pavia is not a big city, it is very developed in the services and attractions that it offers: gyms, swimming pools, a couple of small cinemas, bars and pubs, parties and lots of students.

Classrooms and Libraries

The logistics and the facilities that the University offers don’t fall from one’s expectation from a developed European University. The lecture halls are equipped with Projectors, WIFI, Air conditioning, and voice amplification systems. Cafeterias and vending machines are nearby as well.

Here’s the location of first year’s classes:

The Following years’ lectures are located in the Hospitals “San Matteo” and “Maugeri”.

• brand new DEA hospital building of San Matteo for emergency medicine with 9 floors, over 48000 square meters of 149 million worth structure containing 480 beds and aprox. 1600 workers.
• Foundation of Salvatore Maugeri – Research Neuro-Rehabilitation center
• Foundation of C. Mondino
• Clinical Institute of E. Morelli
• Institute of Santa Margherita

Pavia is the only place in Italy (as of 2012) to perform Heart surgeries with with the robotic surgery system – da Vinci Surgical System. It is also one of the few places in Italy to have it’s own Medical Nuclear Laboratory where Radio-isotopes are created to treat cancer.

Students Exchange

Exchange programs are your opportunity to widen horizons and spend a considerable amount of time abroad to gain hands-on experience in medicine and get familiar with different cultures. It is also your opportunity to meet students from around the globe with whom you might one day make some research or work in a clinic.

Exchange in Europe – Pavia currently allows to spend up to a year in one of it’s partner Universities as part of ERASMUS exchange program. By the end of the year all exams and clinical work is recognized in curriculum in Pavia. Exchange scholarships are also included with this program and the student can choose among numerous partnering medical schools around europe including: Austria, UK, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary and more.

Exchange outside Europe – GHLO which stands for Global Health Learning Opportunities is a project organized by AAMC, the same organization which administers the Medical college admission tests (MCAT) in the States. The project allows the student to choose a University from a huge variety of options all over the world, by July 2013 there will be around 80 institutions around the globe, including USA, Europe, Australia, Middle East, Africa, China and South America, all represented in common website. All this to allow you to go for a period of some months to gain clinical experience and participate in the student life of the University. The project is currently in its pilot phase, and University of Pavia is the only one in Italy to take part to it.