About IMAT ( International Medical Admissions Test)

International Medical Admissions Test (IMAT) serves as an enrolment exam for Italian universities offering medicine and surgery or dentistry courses in english. IMAT was first held in 2011 by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing. Since 2023 IMAT is held by the Italian Ministry of Education (MIUR). The exam constitutes a total of 60 questions from logical reasoning questions, general knowledge, biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. The time given to complete the exam is 100 minutes. All questions are multiple choice (5 choices) with a single correct answer. For each questions answered correctly 1.5 points is given. For an incorrect answer 0.4 points are deducted from your overall score. For lack of answer no points are given or taken away. The score received from the exam determines whether and to which Italian university the examinee can enrol. The usual date of the exam is in September, although each year the exact date changes.

The exam is structured into 5 sections:

SECTION 1- Reading skills and general knowledge: 4 questions

SECTION 2- Logical reasoning questions and problems: 5 questions

SECTION 3- Biology: 23 questions

Syllabus:

The chemistry of the living: The biological importance of weak interactions. Organic molecules are found in organisms and their respective functions. The role of enzymes.

The cell is the basis of life. Cell theory. Cellular dimensions. The prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, animal and plant. Viruses. The cell membrane: structure and functions; transport across the membrane. Cellular structures and their specific functions. Cell cycle and cell reproduction: mitosis and meiosis-chromosome kit and chromosome maps.

Bioenergetics. The energy currency of cells: ATP. Oxidation-reduction reactions in living things. Energy processes: photosynthesis, glycolysis, aerobic respiration and fermentation.

Reproduction and heredity. Life cycles. Sexual and asexual reproduction. Mendelian genetics: Mendel’s laws and their applications. Classical genetics: chromosomal theory of inheritance – patterns of inheritance. Molecular genetics: structure and duplication of DNA, the genetic code, protein synthesis. DNA of prokaryotes. The structure of the eukaryotic chromosome. Genes and the regulation of gene expression. Human genetics: mono- and polyfactorial character transmission; autosomal and X-chromosome-related inherited diseases. Biotechnology: recombinant DNA technology and its applications.

Inheritance and environment. Mutations. Natural and artificial selection. Evolutionary theories. The genetic basis of evolution. Heredity and environment.

Anatomy and Physiology of animals and humans. Animal tissues. Anatomy and physiology of systems and apparatuses in humans and their interactions. Homeostasis.

SECTION 4- Chemistry: 15 questions

Syllabus:

The constitution of matter: the states of aggregation of matter; heterogeneous systems and homogeneous systems; compounds and elements.

Laws of perfect gases.

The structure of the atom: elementary particles; atomic number and mass number, isotopes, electronic structure of atoms of various elements.

The periodic system of elements: groups and periods; transition elements. Periodic properties of the elements: atomic radius, ionization potential, electronic affinity, metallic character. Relationships between electronic structure, position in the periodic system and properties of the elements.

The chemical bond: ionic bond, covalent bond and metallic bond. Bond energy. Polarity of the bonds. Electronegativity. Intermolecular bonds.

Fundamentals of inorganic chemistry: nomenclature and main properties of inorganic compounds: oxides, hydroxides, acids, salts.

Chemical reactions and stoichiometry: atomic and molecular mass, Avogadro’s number, mole concept and its application, elementary stoichiometric calculations, balancing simple reactions, the different types of chemical reactions.

Solutions: solvent properties of water, solubility, the main ways of expressing the concentration of solutions.

Equilibria in aqueous solution.

Elements of chemical kinetics and catalysis.

Oxidation and reduction: oxidation number, concept of oxidant and reductant. Balancing of simple reactions.

Acids and bases: the concept of acid and base. Acidity, neutrality and basicity of aqueous solutions. pH. Hydrolysis. Buffer solutions.

Fundamentals of organic chemistry: bonds between carbon atoms, crude and structure formulas, concept of isomeria. Aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Functional groups: alcohols, ethers, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, amides. Elements of nomenclature.

SECTION 5- Mathematics and physics: 13 questions

Syllabus:

Physical quantities and their measurement: Fundamental and derived physical quantities. Systems of units of measurement: International and Technical. Multiples and submultiples. Scientific notation. Main conversions between units of measurement of different systems. Scalar quantities and vector quantities. Vectors and operations on vectors.

Kinematics: Description of motion. Velocity and angular velocity, acceleration and centripetal acceleration. Uniform rectilinear motion, uniformly accelerated motion, uniform circular motion, harmonic motion.

Dynamics: Concept of force as interaction between bodies. Forces as applied vectors. The principle of inertia. Mass and the 2nd principle of dynamics. Examples of forces: weight force, elastic force, static and dynamic friction. Action and reaction: the 3rd principle of dynamics. Impulse and momentum. Principle of conservation of momentum. Momentum of a force and angular momentum. Work and kinetic energy. Conservative forces and potential energy. Principle of conservation of mechanical energy. Power.

Fluid mechanics: Density and compressibility of fluids. Gases and liquids. Hydrostatics: pressure and principles of Pascal, Stevin and Archimedes. Fluid dynamics: one-dimensional motion, flow and flow rate, continuity equation. Ideal fluids and Bernoulli’s equation. Viscous forces in real fluids.

Thermodynamics: Equilibrium, concept of temperature, thermometers. Concept of heat and calorimetry. Modes of heat propagation. Heat capacity and specific heat. Changes of state and latent heats. Laws of perfect gases. First and second principles of thermodynamics.

Electricity and electromagnetism: Electric charges. Forces between charges and Coulomb’s law. Electric field and potential, equipotential surfaces. Dielectric constant, capacitance, capacitors. Electrostatic energy. Series and parallel of capacitors. Generators. Electric voltage. Electric current. Resistivity, resistance, resistors. Ohm’s law. Series and parallel of resistors. Kirchhoff’s principles. Work, Power, Joule effect. Direct and alternating current. Period and frequency. Magnetic field of an electric current. Forces on electric currents in a magnetic field. Electromagnetic induction.

Number sets and algebra: natural, integer, rational, real numbers. Sorting and comparison; order of magnitude and scientific notation. Operations and their properties. Proportions and percentages. Powers with integer, rational exponent) and their properties. Radicals and their properties. Logarithms (in base 10 and base e) and their properties. Hints of combinatorial calculus. Algebraic expressions, polynomials. Notable products, n-th power of a binomial, factor decomposition of polynomials. Algebraic fractions. Algebraic equations and inequalities of first and second degree. Systems of equations.

Functions: fundamentals of functions and their graphical representations (domain, codomain, sign study, continuity, maxima and minima, increasing and decreasing, etc.). Elementary functions: whole and integer algebraic, exponential, logarithmic, goniometric. Compound functions and inverse functions. Goniometric equations and inequalities.

Geometry: polygons and their properties. Circumference and circle. Measurements of lengths, surfaces and volumes. Isometries, similarities and equivalences in the plane. Geometric places. Measurement of angles in degrees and radians. Sine, cosine, tangent of an angle and their notable values. Goniometric formulas. Resolution of triangles. Cartesian reference system in the plane. Distance of two points and midpoint of a segment. Equation of the line. Conditions of parallelism and perpendicularity. Distance of a point from a line. Equation of the circumference, parabola, hyperbola, ellipse and their representation in the Cartesian plane. Pythagorean theorem. Euclid’s theorems (first and second).

Probability and statistics: frequency distributions according to character type and main graphical representations. Notion of random experiment and event. Probability and frequency.

IMAT DATES AND DEADLINES

IMAT 2025 will be held on 17th of September. The registration will open on the 26th of August and will close on September 9th at 15:00 (GMT+2). As the syllabus and structure has been almost identical in the previous 10 years, we expect it to stay the same as last year. We also expect the locations of the examination and the exam rules to remain same as in past years. The exact locations of 2023 examination centres can be found at the website of MUIR:(https://www.mur.gov.it/sites/default/files/2023-08/Decreto%20Ministeriale%20n.%201082%20del%2007-08-2023%20-%20TABELLA%20A%20_paesi%20e%20sedi.pdf ). Stay updated via Universitaly.it and the MIUR portal to ensure you don’t miss important deadlines.

ENROLLMENT

STEP 1- PREPARE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The amount of documents required by Italian universities may seem overwhelming, especially for non-EU students. For this reason it is important to begin collecting all the documents early. Each university may demand different documents and the exact requisites should be verified on the university’s website.

Most universities will require the following documents:

High school diploma

The main enrolment requirement is completion of 12 years of education and possessing a high school diploma. Additionally, some universities require the candidate to translate the high school diploma into Italian. This can be done privately through an official translator. In case of IB diplomas, this can be done through the Ibo.org website.

Declaration of Value (DoV)

Declaration of Value is an informative document, which legalises foreign qualification in Italy. In order to obtain it, candidate should file in their high school diploma to an Italian consulate/embassy in their country of origin. Often, the Italian consulate or embassy will ask for university pre-enrolment certificate, which can be obtained through https://www.universitaly.it website, and a proof of DoV requirement by the university. This can simply be a screenshot from the university’s website.

Passport picture

All universities require an image of student’s passport’s front page.

Photograph

Candidates must provide the university with a passport-size photograph, which is needed for creating student’s university enrolment form.

Codice Fiscale

Codice fiscale is the Italian fiscal code, which should be obtained before moving to Italy. Codice fiscale allows, for example, to rent/own a property in Italy and open an account in an Italian bank. Codice fiscale can be obtained in Italian consulate/ embassy in student’s country of origin. When issuing the fiscal code, the Italian embassy/ consulate will demand either a pre-enrolment or enrolment certificate of your Italian university.

English language proficiency certificate (only non-EU students)

English language proficiency certification at B2 level is often a requirement of the Italian embassy when applying for visa. Some universities also demand English language certification during the enrolment process. It is not a requirement for registering into and sitting IMAT.

Pre-enrolment (only non-EU students)

Non-EU students must pre-enrol into their university of choice before registering for IMAT. Every university publishes the pre-enrolment deadlines for their course individually, therefore it is recommended to stay updated with your university’s of choice website.

STEP 2- REGISTER FOR THE EXAM

IMAT registration takes place through Universitaly.it website. When registering, candidates select the location of the examination centre where they wish to write the exam. During registration, EU students select multiple universities, to which they want to apply, and arrange them in order from first-choice university to last-choice university. Non-EU candidates select only one university. Afterwards, candidates pay the exam fee. Typically, the fee is between 100 and 200 EUR. Beforehand, every applicant should create an Universitaly.it account.

STEP 3- TAKE THE EXAM

On the day of the exam, candidate should arrive at the examination centre with a valid ID document (same as the one used for registration), black pens, printed confirmation of IMAT registration and payment for the exam. Both confirmations will be sent to the email associated to candidate’s Universitaly.it account. Usually the first official rankings will be published within 4 weeks after the exam. As many people resign from their spot or do not confirm their interest, the ranking is updated every few days and new people are accepted into the empty spots. Therefore, it is important to check the ranking list for updates and confirm the interest in the next scrolling.

STEP 4- ENROLLMENT

After the release of final results, students will be given a few days to enrol into the university that they were given a spot at. EU candidates who did not get into their first-choice university are given a chance to wait for new ranking updates without losing a spot at the university they were initially accepted to. In order to enrol, the candidate must submit all required documents to the university. Depending on the university, the documents should be delivered in a digital form or in person.

STEP 5- VISA APPLICATION (NON-EU STUDENTS ONLY)

After enrolling into the first-choice university, student should file in a request for visa as soon as possible. This process may take up to few weeks. In the case when university classes have already started and the student is still awaiting their visa, the university will often give an exemption from class attendance for the first few weeks of the course.

Italy has recently become the most popular destination for international students willing to study medicine or dentistry abroad. There are several reasons accounting for this fact. First of all, Italian universities are recognisable worldwide. According to QS World University Rankings 2023 University of Milano ranks as the #80 best medical course worldwide. University of Bologna is positioned as #84, University Sapienza #112, while Padova #125. Another reason is affordability of the courses. The tuition fees for medicine or dentistry courses range from 500 EUR/year to 3500 EUR/year. Italian universities are also known for their long history and research focus.