Name: Licareti Danielle-Cosette
Exchange (Erasmus +study/traineeship): Erasmus+ study mobility
Course year/post lauream: Bachelor's - 3rd year
Degree: Medicina Veterinaria
Courses, exams, traineeship suggested/not suggested:
Support and welcome: The Dimevet service within the faculty has been incredibly helpful and welcoming regarding any matters I may have needed aid with, as well as the students assigned to coordinate us Erasmus student. Everyone has been communicative and explicit. The university level service was a bit harder to get a hold of, but nevertheless helpful once they responded. Organisationally, the system was a bit hard to follow and understand overall, and certain aspects like the checkin can get inconveniently crowded due to lack of staff.
Language difficulties: The only difficulties I may have encountered were only at first - being Romanian, Italian was an easy language to grasp, especially due to the need to converse with everyone. People were patient and eager to help, and the professors have been nothing if understanding regarding our potential lack of ffluency, especially during exams. Some of the more formal language brought along some difficulties while studying, but the possibility to pursue individual studying in our own time, along with the wide variety of books available in the library were a great help in getting a more in-depth understanding of the concepts. Overall, language was amoun th least of my problems, despite being a great concern.
Accommodation and how easy was to find it: The directions on Google Maps were helpful enough. The building of the faculty was quite difficult to get around, however, even for local students. (':
Transports: Transport was one of my biggest problems throughout the mobility. I lived in Imola and it took me nearly an hour and a half to get to the faculty, despite having to take only one bus, and oftentimes traffic or strikes made the transit even longer and more difficult. This was especially a problem when some of the courses/esercitazioni were rescheduled last minute, and with the duration of my transit I'd have ended up reaching the faculty by the time the course ended. It was also quite inconvenient to only have to attend a 1hr course in a day, while the transit took 3 hours total. Another inconvenience was the lack of possibilities of making a 6-month Tper subscription, considering I was only there for a semester, and I needed to make one for the whole year, which was significantly expensive, yet still cheaper than paying for a monthly one for 6 months.
Integration with Italian students: Everyone has been incredibly pleasant and friendly, some of which I still keep in touch with. Though it was a bit harder to communicate in italian, some of them spoke English and we could speak more easily. The year representatives were helpful and responsive. Collaborating with other students during the Esercitazioni was very fun.
Evaluation of courses and practices: It was quite clear from the start that the professors were all professionals, and the materials were engaging and interesting. The fact that the slides are uploaded and available for all students was an absolute blessing, and the extra papers and clinical cases offered by the professors are very useful and formative. I feel the course structure is a bit slow in some domains, and a bit rushed in others (Anatomia Patologica and Parassitologia, namely, cover far too much infomation for one single semester, and I consider it would be more beneficial to split the courses to allow for a better, less superficial comprehension of the discipline), but overall it was survivable, especially due to the engaging opportunities for practical skills during the esercitazioni. The exams were surprisingly (and a bit unreasonable, for example in Anestesiologia) difficult.