Medicine and surgery Emergencies 3

Module Anesthesiology and Intensive care medicine

The Integrated Course in Medical-Surgical Emergencies provides students with fundamental knowledge and skills for recognizing, assessing, and managing the main urgent and emergency conditions of internal medicine, surgical, and anesthesiological-intensive care interest.
The course aims to develop an integrated clinical approach to the critically ill patient, promoting the ability for rapid assessment, diagnostic-therapeutic reasoning, and interdisciplinary collaboration in emergency contexts.

Upon completion of the Integrated Course, students will be able to navigate acute clinical situations, recognize time-dependent conditions, and understand the role of different specialties in managing emergency patients

Knowledge and Understanding

Students will acquire basic knowledge of the anesthesiological and intensive care approach to critically ill patients, understanding the principles of pathophysiology of emergency conditions, perioperative management, and pain treatment.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

Students will be able to apply acquired knowledge to recognize the main conditions requiring anesthesiological and intensive care support, understanding the essential phases of an anesthesiological procedure and the principles of perioperative patient management.

 Making Judgments

Students will develop the ability to critically assess emergency patient conditions, recognizing signs of clinical instability and understanding the rationale for anesthesiological and intensive care choices.

 Communication Skills

Students will be able to effectively communicate clinically relevant information for anesthesiological and intensive care management, using appropriate terminology and collaborating with other professional figures involved.

 Learning Skills

Students will consolidate their capacity for continuous updating in anesthesiology and intensive care, in relation to the evolution of life support techniques, pain control, and critically ill patient management.

In-person lectures and theoretical-practical sessions, with availability to host students at the instructor's clinical activity site for elective internships. In-depth seminars. Cooperative teaching (student-instructor) through sharing of teaching materials and multimedia supports.

Prerequisites as per the study plan.

Mandatory attendance

Preoperative evaluation and anesthetic risk assessment

             Principles of general and loco-regional anesthesia

            Intraoperative monitoring

            Triage and mass casualty incidents

            cardiac arrest (BLS-D, PBLS)

            Routes of drug administration in emergency settings

            The asphyxiated patient (foreign body airway obstruction)

            Sepsis

            Resuscitative approach to emergencies

            Poisonings/Intoxications

            Psychiatric emergencies

            Environmental emergencies (burns, electrocution, drowning)

            Trauma

            Acute postoperative pain

            Pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic pain

            Pain classification and pain assessment scales

            Analgesia and sedation in emergency settings

            Practical activities (BLS, PBLS, Bag-valve-mask ventilation, Airway management)

The examination is oral, in-person, conducted jointly for all modules of the integrated course. Learning assessment may also be conducted remotely if conditions require.

In-progress quizzes may be administered (useful for ascertaining students' knowledge status for more targeted coverage of program topics). Preparation and discussion of a clinical case may be required before the final examination.

The examination consists of an interview with at least 3 questions on 2 different topics pertaining to the syllabus content (of which at least one topic covered during lessons). The final judgment will be formulated considering: i) level of knowledge and understanding of program topics, ii) ability to apply such knowledge to solve specific problems, demonstrating maturity in clinical reasoning related to program topics; iii) clarity of presentation, iv) proper use of medical-scientific language.

For final grade attribution, the following parameters will be considered:

 Grade 29-30 with honors (lode): The student has in-depth knowledge of program topics, promptly and correctly integrates and critically analyzes presented situations, autonomously solving even highly complex problems, making independent choices in critical analysis and connections; has excellent communication skills and masters medical-scientific language.

 Grade 26-28: The student has good knowledge of program topics, integrates and critically analyzes presented situations in a linear manner, can quite autonomously solve complex problems, and presents topics clearly using appropriate medical-scientific language.

 Grade 22-25: The student has fair knowledge of program topics, though limited to main topics; integrates and critically analyzes presented situations but not always linearly, and presents topics quite clearly with fair language proficiency. Shows autonomous analytical capacity only on medium-complexity topics.

 Grade 18-21: The student has minimal knowledge of program topics, has modest capacity to integrate and critically analyze presented situations, and presents topics sufficiently clearly although language proficiency is underdeveloped. These capabilities emerge only with instructor assistance.

 Failed examination: The student does not possess the minimum required knowledge of the main teaching contents. Ability to use specific language is very poor or absent, and cannot independently apply acquired knowledge.

 The final grade will be determined by the average of grades obtained in the 3 modules.

Preoperative management of patients undergoing elective major surgery