interviews: Nina Vaclavikova
Interest in health care professions has reached a high level at the University of Trieste, where 875 students are set to sit the admission examination on Wednesday for 525 available places in undergraduate health sciences programs.
The university said applications for the 2026–27 academic year increased 31 percent compared with 2025, marking the highest number of candidates since the programs were established. The available places are spread across 11 degree courses offered in Trieste, Gorizia and Pordenone.
Applicants were allowed to rank up to three programs in order of preference, and every course received more total preferences than the number of places available, reflecting growing demand across the university’s entire health sciences offering.
Physiotherapy remains the most competitive program, attracting 254 first-choice applications. It is followed by Nursing, with 143 first-choice candidates, and Speech and Language Therapy, with 112.
Several programs recorded particularly strong growth in first-choice applications, including Psychiatric Rehabilitation Techniques (up 69 percent), Dental Hygiene in Trieste (42.4 percent) and Pordenone (39.4 percent), Medical Radiology and Radiation Therapy Techniques (34.8 percent), Speech and Language Therapy (30.2 percent), Physiotherapy (21.5 percent) and Health Assistance (17.4 percent).
The university also reported renewed interest in Nursing, where first-choice applications rose 21.2 percent from the previous year. According to the university, that increase exceeds the 16.3 percent national rise recorded by Italy’s National Federation of Nursing Professions.
The largest share of available places is in Trieste, where the university offers 220 positions in Nursing, along with programs in Physiotherapy, Biomedical Laboratory Techniques, Medical Radiology, Dental Hygiene, Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Speech and Language Therapy. Additional programs are based in Gorizia and Pordenone, including Health Assistance, Environmental and Workplace Prevention Techniques, Dietetics and Dental Hygiene.
Women continue to account for more than 70 percent of applicants, while the university’s appeal extends beyond the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. More than 20 percent of candidates come from elsewhere in Italy, with the neighboring Veneto region representing the largest external group at 16.1 percent, particularly from the provinces of Treviso, Venice and Belluno.
The entrance examination will take place on the university campus at Piazzale Europa. Candidates are scheduled to arrive at 8:30 a.m., with the test beginning at 11 a.m. The 100-minute exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions covering biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, logical reasoning, and reading comprehension.
Admission rankings are expected to be published within 15 days of the examination.
