Presentation: history and mission

The presence of medical studies in Parma would have a documented beginning date: the treatise "Chirurgia" by Rogerio Frugardo or Fulgardo Parmensis dates back to 1180. That treatise, later commented on and corrected by his pupil Rolando de' Cappelluti Parmensis, a professor in Bologna, hint that Parma was a hub of medical studies of some importance.

(Information on the dispute that wants Rogerio Salernitanensis, that is, operating at the Salernitan School and not in Parma, is given in the volume "800 Years for Health: Figures, Places and Moments of Medical Life in Parma, Silva Editore, Parma, 2003").

The Department shall be inspired by a system consistent with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Based on the European standards and guidelines, ANVUR has developed the AVA (Self-Assessment, Evaluation and Accreditation) system, a point of reference for the quality policy developed by Italian universities. The Department should also be inspired by some shared principles:

1. Recognition of merit:the availability of a variety of bibliometric instruments facilitates the recognition of scientific merit, but systems of evaluation of teaching activity and survey instruments are also being experimented with to examine each individual's integration into the academic community of which he or she is a part, his or her participation in the life of the Department, respect for colleagues and sense of belonging to the institution. The Department's leadership should be a point of reference for younger people who still wish to pursue an academic career, spreading the culture of evaluation, conceived as a means for continuous improvement. Recruitment and career progressions will have to meet the ambitions of individuals, consistent with available resources and the objective needs made explicit in the University guidelines.

2. Enhancement of the Department's potential: in a competitive environment, the distribution of resources must reflect the contribution to their acquisition and the actual weight in the Athenaeum; depending on whatever parameter used (number of students, number of professors, CFUs disbursed, research funds acquired) the Department still represents 25-30% of the Athenaeum. To the functions common to the other university departments, services to citizenship should be added, with particular reference to the quality and quantity of care services provided, which qualify the city hospital as "university" and confer an added value that is difficult to quantify, but very important, to the contribution that the Athenaeum itself makes to the economy and quality of life of the entire city.

3. Enhancement of professional skills: University specificities must be defended from interferences aimed at compromising their characteristics, when they would be incompatible with the main function of the University: welfare activities must be consistent and integrated with scientific and teaching activities, being able, moreover, to benefit from them in terms of quality and updating. The principle of the inseparability of these three activities must be applied constantly, thus responding to precise institutional logic as well as inescapable legal norms. In a functioning team, then, each person must be employed in the role best suited to his or her abilities and, at the same time, find an environment willing to welcome and value them for what they can give.

4. Rational use of resources:While recognizing the just ambitions of each individual and the legitimate aspirations to have space, personnel, and tools at their disposal, projects and organizational models that aim to rationalize the use of resources will be favored, avoiding unnecessary duplication, which may not only constitute waste, but even prevent the economy of scale necessary to guarantee the quality of performance of any laboratory or facility.

5. Transparency of choices: awareness of the number and complexity of decisions to be made for the management of the constituting Department of Medicine and Surgery requires the involvement of anyone who makes himself or herself available not only to manage current affairs, but also to design and implement initiatives that will increase the competitiveness of the department in all contexts (local, regional, national, and international). The Department's Management must share with those who will be involved from time to time the decisions and proposals to be brought to the deliberative process: the Director and his Delegates will offer their utmost willingness to be reachable at all times to hear everyone's reasons, ensuring balance and fairness, while respecting the rules and institutional practice. It is in everyone's interest to strictly abide by the rules, as an element of guarantee for the entire community, which will in any case be informed and enabled to discuss and share the choices made.

The Department of Medicine and Surgery, activated since January 1, 2017, has the following purposes:

a) to foster, while respecting the autonomy of each professor, interdisciplinary research capable of aggregating the scientific potential of individual research groups in the biological and medical areas and open to possible interactions with other academic disciplines present in other universities;

b) develop and support the teaching activities of the educational paths of single-cycle degree courses in Medicine and Dentistry and Orthodontics and first-cycle degree courses in the Health Professions, Specialization Schools and PhD programs and all educational activities insisting in the medical area;

c) consolidate the internationalization of the Department by strengthening existing partnerships and seeking new ones, facilitating and promoting an international training and research network;

d) ensure the inseparability of care, teaching and research in relations with the H.S.S.N. and foster relations with other research facilities, the business world and other entities.

e) ensure the quality of teaching, research and third mission activities, the three pillars on which the University's quality assurance system rests, inspiring the University's policies and responding to the guidelines of the University's Quality Presidium and its requirements.

The quality of educational offerings is the main objective of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, whose Courses of Study (CdS) must meet the aspirations of students, within a quality assurance system consistent with nationally stable requirements. In particular, the Department of Medicine and Surgery considers the following to be fundamental to the quality of teaching:

a) the centrality of the student;

b) incoming orientation, fostering vocational choicesat the end of secondary school;

c) the international dimension of teaching;

d) periodic assessment of learning outcomes using the Dublin descriptors;

e) monitoring of Course Catalogues, teaching quality and student services, through the efforts of the Teacher-Student Joint Committee in assessing results and formulating opinions on activation and deactivation of Courses of Study;

f) monitoring of student careers to introduce useful actions to reduce dropouts and dropouts;

g) the assurance of the right to education and innovative policies oriented to its support;

h) the opportunity for periods of study abroad in facilities of high institutional qualification;

i) the commitment to the implementation of third-level university training programs, through the construction of highly qualified doctoral programs, University Master's programs, and Specialization Schools that allow the immediate entry into the world of work of highly qualified professionals

The Department of Medicine and Surgery formalizes in the SUA-CdS, at the proposal of the Study Courses, the definition of educational objectives and the teaching strategies for their realization, translating them into measurable indicators vis-à-vis the demand for training and the needs of the world of work and the professions. The Department of Medicine and Surgery implements the AVA System proposed by ANVUR (CdS Quality Assessment: requirement AQ5

The Department of Medicine and Surgery directs administrative action, identifying specific performance objectives for technical-administrative staff, as well as figures dedicated to the implementation of the AVA system.

The Department's institutional third mission activities can be divided into:

a) contracted care activities with the Regional Health Assistance Office or other institutions of the national health system;

b) manifestations and culture dissemination activities;

c) contract research and development for the predominant interest of third parties;

d) acquisition, management and negotiation of patents;

e) promotion and business creation from research results (Spin-off).

The Department of Medicine and Surgery formalizes strategic objectives for research and technology transfer in the SUA-RD by translating them into measurable indicators. The Department directs administrative action to the above goals, including by identifying specific performance objectives for technical-administrative staff, as well as specific dedicated figures.

More information on Departmental Quality Assurance can be found by clicking here

The four Departmental Units are formed based on the cultural reference areas of the suppressed departments to give birth to the Department of Medicine and Surgery: Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neuroscience, Translational biomedical sciences, Biotechnology and Translational sciences - S.Bi.Bi.T. and Surgical Sciences.

Clinical and Experimental Medicine Unit

Most of the activities of this Unit are carried out in the hospital area and in the first two buildings (10.01 and 10.02) on University Avenue, as well as in the building that houses the Department's "Ottaviani" library (10.06).

Neuroscience Unit

This Unit is predominantly hubs in the Integrated Biotechnology Complex on Volturno Street (buildings B, E and F) with a smaller component in the hospital setting (Neurology and Child Neuropsychiatry).

Biomedical, Biotechnological and Translational biomedical sciences Unit - S.Bi.Bi.T.

This Unit has its prevalent hub in the Integrated Biotechnology Complex on Volturno Street (buildings A, B, C, D) and University Avenue (University Centre for Dentistry, Normal Human Anatomy, Forensic Medicine and Pathological Anatomy - 10.03, 10.04, and 10.07).

Surgical Sciences Unit

This Unit is exclusively hubs in the hospital area.