Practical training is a mandatory part of the curriculum and covers different areas of professional knowledge. The Establishment requires all students to undertake 30 ECTS, 14 of which as extramural practical training, during their veterinary programme.

Activities are scheduled throughout the curriculum, starting from the third year, and are considered as fully-fledged teaching modules.

Practical training has been reorganised for the 2016 cohort in order to comply with the new EAEVE Standards and stakeholders’ needs. Current organisation includes:

• Clinical Practical Training

Students have to perform different hands-on activities requiring different levels of autonomy and responsibility throughout the curriculum. The third year clinical activities at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Department is worth 2 ECTS. Students are involved in basic activities with mild responsibility. Further ECTS are acquired during the fourth and the fifth year. Pro-activity and increasing responsibility are required for the management of emergencies and complex clinical cases. Students have also to attend:
i) the Clinical Skill labs for development of clinical skills;
ii) continuing education sessions (e.g. Seminars/Conferences) in order to acquire transversal competences dealing with professional knowledge.
The activities at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital will concern different animal species (companion animals, non conventional and exotic species, production animals and equines). During their clinical activities students are also required to attend external Veterinary Clinics (3 ECTS) to gain further experience of basic medical and surgical treatments in a variety of species.

• Non Clinical Practical Training

Non-clinical practical activities are carried out both extra – ed intramurally.

Extramural activities are carried out mainly at the local healthcare units (ASSL) that are part of the National Health System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) and represent the competent authorities properly monitoring different aspects of:
- preventive medicine (area A) (2 ECTS)
- inspection and hygiene of foodstuffs of animal origin (area B) (5 ECTS)
- animal husbandry and welfare (area C) (3 ECTS)

Students have also to acquire a further ECTS within the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale performing practical training in animal necropsy and cadaveric diagnostics.

Intramural activities concern zoo-technics (2 ECTS) for acquiring competences and skills in breeding management (data loading, database consultation) and clinical nutrition, feed, laboratory, animal welfare and breeding.

Learning outcomes and characteristics of each practical training section are described in the Italian website of the Degree Course of Veterinary Medicine.

The administrative management of Traineeship is the responsibility of the  Orientation, Tutoring and Placement service of the School (SAMEV). It is mandatory to contact the dedicated office at Service Desk before starting the practical training.

Any Establishments involved in mandatory Traineeship has to be included in an official list after having countersigned a specific agreement with UniTO. Students can propose agreement with new establishments not yet included in the official list. Nevertheless, no EPT can be agreed or carried out before countersigning the agreement. The latter provides, among others, insurance coverage for students.

The training outcomes (Progetto Formativo) have to be agreed between students/establishment and the academic tutor. These are undersigned by the Academic Tutor, the non-academic Tutor and by the student. The Academic Tutor is a member of the permanent teaching staff.

Students are required to evaluate their practical training experience by fulfilling a questionnaire whose results are periodically sent to the external establishment/tutors. 

Prof. Selina Iussich is currently the Delegate for supervision of overall practical training activities.

Members of the academic teaching staff are identified as academic tutor for specific training, namely:

 - Prof B. SICURO (Animal Husbandry, Animal welfare and Pharmacosurveillance/Pharmacovigilance);
 - Prof E. GREGO (Animal Health and Preventive Medicine);
 - Prof T. CIVERA (Food Hygiene);
 - Prof S. IUSSICH (Post-mortem Diagnostics);
 - Prof A. TARDUCCI e Dr L. PIRAS (Companion Animal Clinics);
 - Prof C. BELLINO (Production Animal Clinics).

Students also have the possibility to perform Intramural and Extramural practical training periods (APS) in order to cover the elective credits of the curriculum. Any information concerning APS is available at SAMEV website.