The Institute of Psychological Medicine (IPM) of the Faculty of Medicine is dedicated to the teaching and research in the field of Psychology applied to medicine. In the area of medical education our main objective is to implement programs that give increasing emphasis to the teaching / learning of clinical communication skills and psychology applied to medicine. Starting from the various areas of psychology relevant to the medical context, the aim is to provide students with knowledge about the normal psychological functioning, which allows the student to understand the psychological processes implicated in health and disease. Based on this knowledge and basic skills, students will be better equipped to develop a clinical practice based on a holistic perspective. Underlining the weaknesses and limitations of a reductionist biomedical model, we want to enable the medical student for an exercise of medicine centered on the patient. Thus, the ultimate goal is to train doctors to depart from the dehumanizing imperatives of technomedicine focused on the treatment of the disease and to return to a humanized medicine which see the patient as the central object of care - the patient as an individual and integral whole. To meet this goal, our department is concerned with training students to re-learn the values of compassion and empathy, in order to practice a medicine whose main purpose is to relieve suffering.
In terms of research, the IPM covers a wide range of areas ranging from fundamental areas such as psychiatric genetics, multiple areas of clinical and psychopathological research, psychological processes and psychometrics. Given its extensive research experience in the field of psychopathology and psychiatry the IPM is in a strategic position to establish a fruitful connection with the psychiatric department, playing a crucial role in the education and development of psychiatric research and in the association with other areas of the neurosciences.