Curricular clinical clerkships (hospital-based)

While attending lectures during the first two years of the program, you've likely heard—often in somewhat dramatic or even apocalyptic tones—about the days when, starting from the third academic year, you can log in to the Studenti Online platform and book that year’s internship activities: what are commonly referred to as "click days."

Since this is a first-come, first-served booking system, it’s quite common among students enrolled in the Medicine and Surgery degree programs to feel a mix of emotions around this moment: on one hand, the excitement of finally starting clinical activities; on the other, the fear of not being able to secure a spot in the Operational Units most aligned with one’s personal interests in medicine.

To face this moment in the best possible way, it is essential to maintain a flexible approach when choosing your internships.

Within the educational journey of a medical student, clinical internships are a crucial opportunity for both professional and personal growth. At this stage, it is completely natural to develop preferences and expectations regarding specific departments or specialties. However, focusing exclusively on a single field may limit your training experience and prevent you from discovering unexpected interests or hidden aptitudes.

In fact, internships completed in departments that initially seemed less appealing can often turn out to be extremely enriching and rewarding, both professionally and personally.

Approaching different areas with openness allows you to develop a broader perspective on medicine, enhance your adaptability, and gain transferable skills that are essential in future clinical practice. Ultimately, varied experiences are a valuable asset for a well-rounded and mindful education.

Embracing flexibility, rather than rigidly sticking to your initial preferences, is a sign of professional maturity and a meaningful opportunity for growth.

Also remember that the quality of your internship experience often depends on the attention and guidance provided by your tutor or internship coordinator. For this reason, choosing a less popular—and therefore less crowded—Operational Unit may offer a more personalized and higher-quality learning experience.

Start and end dates for internship bookings are published on Studenti Online, under the section: “Tirocini Medicina” → “Cerca tirocini”.

Clinical clerkship registration calendar

Registration for curricular clinical clerkships follow a calendar defined annually, published in the clinical clerkship registration calendar page.

Registration for hospital-based clinical clerkships is available on ‘Studenti Online’ and opens on 09:00h (Italian time) of the scheduled registration start date (see calendar page).

Clerkship periods

On Studenti Online > Internships Medicine, details of the start/end dates for each clinical clerkship period are available.

PLEASE NOTE: students who have yet to undergo their preliminary medical check are kindly invited to consider the compatibility between the date of their medical check appointment at the Occupational Medicine service and the dates of the first hospital-based clinical clerkship for which they will register (see 'How to register and have clinical clerkships recorded' section below).

Clinical clerkships usually take place from 8:00h to 13:00h from Monday to Saturday.

Attendance to clinical clerkship activities is compulsory.

Clinical clerkships of students who do not meet the minimum attendance requirement will be assessed as ‘failed’ (‘non idoneo’); in this case, a new clinical clerkship period must be booked following the procedure described on this page.

Registration

You must log in to the Studenti Online platform and access the “Tirocini Medicina” → “Unità operativa” section. At this point, you will be able to select the Operational Units (U.O.) for the periods in which spots are available. It is not possible to register for more than one internship during the same period.

Once your selection is complete, you will find your request under the "Home" section of your Studenti Online page, in the “Richieste in corso” box. The request status will be marked as “Richiesta ricevuta”, and by clicking on “Vedi dettagli”, you will see a summary of all relevant information.

You may cancel your request up to 5 days before the start date of the selected internship by choosing the appropriate option in the request details. From 4 days before the start date onward, cancellations must be made by emailing the relevant Office and notifying the Operational Unit involved.

Academic record

Attention: If the internship was not attended or the expected objectives were not achieved, the tutor/internship coordinator/U.O. director will indicate this in the system, and the request will be marked as “Non idoneo”. In this case, the booking procedure must be restarted.

1. At the end of the internship activity, the tutor/coordinator can confirm that the attendance took place. Once confirmed, the request status will change to “Frequenza confermata”.
2. At this point, the U.O. Director/internship coordinator can confirm the trainee’s eligibility. Once eligibility is confirmed, the request will move to the status: “Tirocinio completato”.
3. You must now access the request details (“Home” section of your Studenti Online page → “Richieste in corso” box → “Vedi dettaglio” option next to the request) and click the blue button “Compila questionario”. Once the questionnaire is completed, the request will move to: “Questionario compilato”.
4. The internship can finally be recorded by the Academic Tutor of the Degree Programme. After the recording, the internship status becomes “Tirocinio verbalizzato” and it will be visible in your transcript (“Libretto online” section of Studenti Online).

First day of clinical clerkship: where to go and at what time

Hospital-based clinical clerkships: please refer to the document ‘Clinical clerkship contacts’ available in the ‘Clinical clerkship contact details’ box on this web page.

Simulation-based clinical clerkships: please refer to the dedicated page.

Contact details and schedule of activities

Clinical clerkship contact persons are indicated in the documents in the ‘Clinical clerkship contact details’ box on this web page.

On the first day of each clinical clerkship, hospital ward staff will introduce students to the hospital ward and to the schedule of activities for the rest of the clerkship period; students are therefore strongly recommended to arrive on time.

Rules of conduct

During clinical clerkships, students must behave appropriately and in accordance with their role as prospective healthcare professionals. They are therefore required to:

• Comply with rules and regulations of the teaching hospital and hospital ward as illustrated by the clinical clerkship coordinators and tutors;
• attend the clinical clerkship equipped with a white coat, FFP2 mask and Covid-19 green pass;
• arrive and leave on time, and notify any absence to the clinical clerkship coordinator/tutor
• be respectful to everyone;
• comply with with institutional rules and regulations regarding workplace hygiene, health, and safety;
• comply with privacy and confidentiality rules when dealing with any data and information during clinical clerkships.

Check the Code of Conduct in the ‘Regulations and Guidelines’ box on this page.

Dress code

While attending clinical clerkships, students must wear a white coat in compliance with institutional rules and regulations on workplace hygiene. White coats are not provided by teaching hospitals.

Operating theater – disposable uniforms

Medicine and Surgery students are entitled to disposable operating theatre uniforms only during the day(s) in which they are scheduled to attend operating theatres/cleanrooms.

Procedure for collecting operating theatre uniforms
Trainees enrolled in Medicine and Surgery Degree Courses have the right to use disposable uniforms only for the planned day(s) of the clinical clerkship period.

To collect them, follow the instructions below:

• For surgical block within the University Hospital of Bologna, ask surgical block staff/cleanroom staff for disposable operating theatre uniforms;
• For surgical block within the Hospital Units USL of Bologna, they must write to the environmental hygiene service at the email igafor@ausl.bologna.it

Please note that:

• disposable uniforms cannot be used outside the University Hospital of Bologna.
• It is strictly forbidden to wear the operating room and cleanroom uniforms outside of the aforementioned areas.

Cancellation

Should it become necessary to cancel a clinical clerkship due to impediments to attendance during the booked period, the application must be cancelled as soon as possible to allow for the vacant slot to be taken up by another student.

Applications can be cancelled on Studenti Online until 5 days prior to the scheduled start of the clinical clerkship (= the previous Wednesday).

Cancellations that should exceptionally become necessary after this deadline can be notified to Ufficio Servizi agli studenti and to the relevant hospital ward.

Rescheduling

To reschedule a clinical clerkship following cancellation or ‘fail’ assessment due to non-attendance, a new application must be entered via Studenti Online, as described on this page.

Please note: it is not possible to register for more than one clinical clerkship for the same clinical clerkship group, therefore any submitted application must be cancelled in order to register again. Students who are unable to cancel their clinical clerkship application on Studenti Online may email Ufficio Servizi agli studenti (see contact details on this page).