by InTrieste
The first phase of Italy’s reformed medical school admissions process has come to a close, and its initial results reveal a striking imbalance: hundreds of available places remain vacant, even as thousands of aspiring doctors wait in limbo.
In Trieste, only 134 students passed all three required tests needed for direct admission to the medical degree program, out of 210 available places. Dentistry fared even worse: just five candidates qualified for 40 seats. A similar pattern emerged in Udine, where 82 students passed for 165 available positions.
For those who cleared all three exams, the path forward is straightforward. Their enrollment is guaranteed, provided they complete registration by Jan. 14, allowing them to begin their medical studies without delay.
But roughly half of the seats across the region remain unfilled and will now be allocated to a second group of candidates classified as idonei — students who passed at least one of the three exams across two testing sessions. This category was created by a government decree issued in late December as part of Italy’s new admissions framework.
These candidates are ranked in multiple sub-lists that take into account their test scores and any exams they declined. Admission for them will be conditional. To secure their place, they must pass make-up examinations designed to cover the academic gaps left by the tests they did not pass. These recovery exams will be held in two rounds before the end of February.
Unlike the standardized national test administered at the end of the so-called “filter semester,” the make-up sessions will be organized independently by each university. Officials expect that, as students pass these exams and move up the rankings, the remaining vacant places will gradually be filled.
The situation in Friuli Venezia Giulia reflects a broader national trend. Across Italy, 22,688 candidates have been deemed eligible for conditional admission, while only 17,278 places are available. That leaves more than 5,000 students who, even after passing at least part of the admissions process, are likely to be turned away.
Those who do not secure a place will have the option of enrolling in other degree programs and attempting the medical admissions process again next year — a delay that, for many, means putting a long-held ambition on hold.
