ICS MAUGERI AND UNIVERSITY OF PAVIA INTRODUCE FIRST MASTER IN FRAGILE PATIENT REHABILITATION
ICS Maugeri IRCCS, in partnership with the University of Pavia, has launched Italy’s first Master’s Programme in Prevention, Care, and Rehabilitation of the Fragile Patient, offering a comprehensive, multidisciplinary training pathway for medical professionals .
Spanning 1,500 hours over one year (February–October 2025), the programme awards 60 ECTS credits and is structured in a blended format—combining frontal lectures, distance learning, practical internships, and supervised clinical stages. The course targets qualified physicians (max 15 participants) and aims to develop specialists proficient in evaluating fragility, integrating care pathways, and leveraging advanced technologies including AI, robotics, and virtual platforms.
The curriculum is organized into five thematic modules—neurology, pulmonology, cardiology, internal medicine, and research/statistics—taught by cross-sector teams encompassing physicians, physiatrists, psychologists, and rehabilitation experts.
This initiative responds to Italy’s ageing population: recent data show that 17% of Italians are considered fragile—rising to 33% over age 85—while over 65% of those aged 65+ live with at least two chronic conditions. Studies indicate that multidisciplinary approaches, combining comprehensive assessments and technology-supported interventions, reduce adverse events by 30% and improve functional autonomy, especially post-stroke or trauma.
ICS Maugeri supports 7 full scholarships for merit-based candidates, covering tuition costs entirely. According to ICS Maugeri’s President Luca Damiani, the programme enhances hospital-level organisation by integrating clinicians-in-training into daily operations—a step towards sustainable, humanised rehabilitative care.
Why This Matters for Medical Tourists:
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Expert-led care: Trained specialists with advanced knowledge of complex chronic conditions and frailty
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Integrated clinical pathways: Seamless continuity from hospital to community-based services
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Tech-enriched rehabilitation: Incorporation of state-of-the-art tools such as AI and robotics
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Resource-efficient model: Clinically effective care aligned with patient-centred outcomes
By integrating academic rigour with real-world application in a leading rehabilitative institution, ICS Maugeri and University of Pavia are cultivating a new generation of professionals capable of delivering holistic, sustainable, and innovative care to vulnerable patient populations—an essential model for ageing societies and international best practice.
References: ICS Maugeri News
ICS Maugeri encompasses a network of 19 Italian clinical sites, 10 of which are recognized as Research Hospitals of National Interest (IRCCS) with special focus on high-level, high quality rehabilitation treatments in different healthcare areas.
The Maugeri Pulmonary Rehabilitation Network consists of more than 60 pneumologists and of 320 beds. They follow over 4,700 patients per year, for about 106 thousand days of hospitalization.
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At ICS Maugeri the patients can benefit from the Respiratory Physiology services, pulmonary exercise stress test, pulmonary function laboratories for the study of respiratory mechanics and gas exchange, bronchoscopy procedure, pulmonary ultrasound, and sleep study.
Patients who are candidates for rehabilitation are those who suffer from the pathologies, disorders, disabilities listed below. Statistics show that failure to undergo respiratory rehabilitation delays or prevents patients’ recovery, increases complications, leads to new hospital admissions.
Reference: Maugeri
- Prolonged disability after hospitalization in intensive care (to rehabilitate respiratory function after mechanical ventilation);
- acute or subacute pulmonary diseases;
- obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD, asthma, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, chronic respiratory failure);
- restrictive lung diseases (interstitial lung disease with chronic respiratory failure, respiratory diseases secondary to neuromuscular or rib cage diseases, TB consequences);
- postoperative respiratory failure (lung and mediastinal tumors, lung transplantation, sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).
