Why IMAT students need clinical Italian
You can pass the IMAT in English. You cannot complete the 6 years of medical school in Italy without Italian. From year 3 onwards every clinical rotation is in Italian. Patient interviews, ward rounds, attending lectures, talking to nurses, reading patient files — Italian. This programme builds you a clinical Italian baseline before you need it.
Built for three audiences:
- IMAT 2026/2027 candidates — preparing the interview component + the language baseline you'll need from year 3.
- IMAT-enrolled students years 1–2 — building Italian before clinical rotations destroy the learning curve.
- Foreign doctors planning to practise in Italy — preparing the language exam for medical board recognition (Ordine dei Medici).
Why Florence for this
Careggi University Hospital
One of Italy's largest teaching hospitals — 20 minutes from our campus. AOU Careggi handles every clinical specialty, including rare-disease referral. Your future workplace, walking distance.
14 IMAT universities — Florence is one
Università di Firenze offers English-taught Medicine. If you choose Florence for IMAT, you can take our course before, alongside, and after the application — no city change needed.
Medicine has Florentine roots
The first Italian medical school was here (1321). Galileo's friend Borelli, the founders of modern anatomy, the Specola anatomical collection — your context for medicine isn't a textbook, it's a 700-year city you live in.
A real student city
Florence has 60,000 university students — half of them international. Florence is built for international academics. Cost of living, services, medical-student community — all already in place.
Curriculum — what's different
General Italian core (A1–C2) + medical Italian modules below. Designed in consultation with Italian medical educators.
| Module | What you actually do |
|---|---|
| Italiano clinico | Anatomy, pathology, pharmacology vocabulary in Italian. Common abbreviations on referral letters and clinical notes. Italian medical Latin (which is everywhere). |
| Comunicazione col paziente | Patient-history taking in Italian. Symptom description in everyday Italian (not textbook Italian) — what patients actually say. Empathy-correct register for breaking bad news. |
| Reparto & sala operatoria | Ward Italian: handovers, nurse-doctor communication, instructions. OR Italian: scrub protocols, instrument names, surgical conversation. |
| Lettura referti | Reading and interpreting Italian lab reports, radiology reports, discharge letters. Patient consent forms. |
| IMAT interview prep | Mock IMAT interviews + Italian university admission interviews. The cultural register of Italian academic settings. |
Pricing
IMAT Prep Track — 3 months
20 group lessons/week (general Italian) + 4 dedicated medical Italian modules/week. Timed around IMAT registration windows. Visa-eligible.
Medical Italian Long Track — 9 months
Full academic year. A1/A2 → certified B2/C1 with clinical specialisation. Ideal for IMAT students years 1-2 preparing for clinical rotations.
Non-EU students: all 3+ month tracks visa-eligible. See Student Visa Italy + Visa & Permit Support.
How to enrol
Small-cohort programme — we cap intake at 12 students per term. Pre-application is by 15-minute video interview to confirm fit + IMAT timeline alignment.