IMAT 2024: Syllabus in english explained

Finally, the IMAT 2024 test announcement is out!

Are you looking for the IMAT 2024 syllabus in English ?

Well, we explain it all in this article. Enjoy reading!

You’ll also find a final comment comparing this year’s syllabus with previous years 😎

Intro

Programs related to the admission test questions for the master’s degree programs in Medicine (LM-41) and in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics (LM-46) in English.

Admission to the courses requires the ability to comprehend and analyze written texts of various types, to conduct logical-mathematical reasoning, and to have knowledge of general culture, with special regard to the historical, geographical, social, institutional, and disciplinary fields in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology.

The required skills and knowledge respond to the preparation promoted by educational institutions that organize educational and teaching activities consistent with the National Directions for high schools and the Guidelines for Technical High Schools, especially because of the Italian State Examinations.

1. Reading skills and knowledge acquired in studies

Understanding written texts in English of different kinds and with different communicative purposes constitutes a transversal competence since all types of questions will be formulated in English, including by resorting to symbolic language.

The following skills will also be specifically tested:

• understand abstract, uncommon, or specialized vocabulary in real contexts;
• identify the phenomena of textual cohesion and coherence;
• extracting and inferring informative specificities from the text.

These skills will be tested from short texts of scientific non-fiction or classic and contemporary, or from short texts on current affairs published in newspapers and in generalist or specialized.

Also, from short texts of various types and themes, skills acquired in previous studies and knowledge of general culture will be tested, including supranational issues or topics of contemporary public debate. In particular, the questions will aim to ascertain:

• the ability to orient oneself in the represented space and time, i.e. to place in space and time relevant historical and cultural phenomena;
• knowledge of major national and international institutions;
• understanding of phenomena in the fields of law, economics, and citizenship.

2. Logical reasoning and problems

The questions are designed to test the ability to logically complete an argument, in a manner consistent with premises. These premises are stated in symbolic or verbal form and deal with cases or problems, even of an abstract nature, the solution of which requires adopting different forms of logical reasoning.

3. Biology

• The chemistry of living things.
• The biological importance of weak interactions.
• Organic molecules found in organisms and their respective functions. The role of enzymes.
• The cell as the basis of life . Cell theory. Cellular dimensions. The prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic, animal and plant. Viruses.
• The cell membrane : structure and functions; transport across the membrane. The structures of cells and their specific functions.
• Cell cycle and cell reproduction : mitosis and meiosis – chromosome kit and maps chromosomes.
• Reproduction and heredity . Life cycles. Sexual and asexual reproduction.
• Mendelian genetics: Mendel’s laws and their applications. Classical genetics: chromosomal theory of inheritance – models of inheritance. Molecular genetics: structure and duplication of DNA, the genetic code, protein synthesis. The DNA of prokaryotes. The structure of the eukaryotic chromosome. Genes and the regulation of gene expression. Human genetics: transmission of mono- and polyfactorial traits; autosomal inherited diseases and X chromosome-related.
• Mutations . Natural and artificial selection. Evolutionary theories. The genetic basis of evolution.
• Heredity and the environment.
• Biotechnology : recombinant DNA technology and its applications.
• Anatomy and Physiology of animals and humans . Animal tissues. Anatomy and physiology of systems and apparatuses in humans and their interactions. Homeostasis.
• Bioenergetics. The energy currency of cells: ATP. Oxidation-reduction reactions in living things.
• Energy processes : photosynthesis, glycolysis, aerobic respiration and fermentation.

4. Chemistry

• 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 the atoms of the 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 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, concept of mole and its application, elementary stoichiometric calculations, balancing of 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 solutions.
• 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, and the concept of isomers. Aliphatic, alicyclic, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Functional groups: alcohols, ethers, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, and amides. Elements of nomenclature.

5. Mathematics

• 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, decomposition into factors 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.
• 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. Formulas goniometrics. 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, the parabola, hyperbola, ellipse and their representation in the Cartesian plane. Theorem of Pythagoras. 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.

6. Physics

• 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 acceleration centripetal. Uniform rectilinear motion, uniformly accelerated motion, uniform circular motion, harmonic motion.
• Dynamics: Concept of force as the 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 momentum. Principle of conservation of momentum. The momentum of a force and momentum 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. Dynamics of liquids: one-dimensional motion, flow and flow rate, continuity equation. Ideal fluids and Bernoulli’s equation. Viscous forces in fluids Real.
• 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. Field and electric potential, equipotential surfaces. Dielectric constant, capacitance, capacitors. Electrostatic energy. Series and parallel of capacitors. Generators. Electric voltage. Current electricity. Resistivity, resistance, resistors. Ohm’s law. Series and parallel of resistors. Principles of Kirchhoff. 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.

General Comment about the IMAT 2024 Syllabus

From an educational perspective, the Decree remains essentially unchanged. After the end of the Cambridge era, the test will be prepared by CINECA, the same institution as in 2023. The distribution of questions, the scores for correct and incorrect answers, and the syllabus of topics are the same as last year.

This means we expect a varied test, with types straddling the ancient and complex Cambridge mode and the more concise types borrowed from the Italian Medicine test. The analysis of the 2023 test can undoubtedly help identify salient topics that may come up again this year. Last year’s test looked like this:

Logical reasoning, general knowledge and reading comprehension

In general, it settled on an average difficulty. Specifically, of the 4 reading comprehension questions, 3 were about general knowledge, and only 1 was about reading skills. Of the remaining 5, 2 were about Critical Thinking, and 3 were about Logical Reasoning.

Given the Cambridge types that are more difficult for students, the logical reasoning questions seemed medium-difficult, and the critical thinking questions medium-hard.

Biology

With long and very technical texts that could be frightening at first reading, the biology part was actually of medium difficulty. Predominant was the part on the cell, with 10 questions between Cell Theory and the central dogma of Biology. However, special mention also goes to Biochemistry (3 questions) and Anatomy (4 questions). Finally, with only 1 question, the topics of evolution and photosynthesis, which, however, are always tricky for students.

Chemistry

The chemistry on the CINECA 2023 test seemed significantly more doable compared to the Cambridge era, with short questions and simple formula applications. We considered this subject to be medium-easy. The most frequent types were stoichiometry exercises and questions on the structure of molecules. Rare but difficult questions required thinking outside the box to reason about everyday applications of chemistry. In general, it was the latter that challenged candidates the most.

Maths and physics

This was definitely the most challenging part of this test because of the alternations between simple and more complex exercises. The calculations were not long or complicated; however, they involved reasoning about mathematics, even across the board. Almost half of the questions involved Algebra, but an exercise on probability and electrical circuits, which were also quite intricate, should be mentioned.