A nurse teaching a medical student how to take a blood sample.
A future dentist discussing an ethical dilemma with a radiographer.
A midwife demonstrating how to assist with a birth in front of an audience of future physiotherapists listening intently. And, a little further on, a nutritionist practising suturing while a future doctor tells him: “No, wait… like this it’ll be better!”
No, this isn’t the chaos of a hospital in the midst of an emergency.
It’s UniCamillus University’s IPE Days 2026. That’s right: because our Rome campus has once again this year been transformed into a huge laboratory of collaboration, adrenaline, discussion and (why not?!) pure fun.
The IPE Days—where IPE stands for ‘Interprofessional Education’—are training days during which students from various healthcare degree courses learn to work together as they would in a real hospital setting, but they do so through simulations, practical activities and team games.
Two days in which the various degree programmes joined forces
On 5th and 6th May, through a mix of activities in English and Italian, students from all UniCamillus degree programmes—Medicine, Dentistry, Healthcare Professions and Human Nutrition Sciences—came together to enjoy an experience very different from the traditional lecture. There were no silent rows of desks or notes to be taken carefully: at IPE Days, students work as a team, get involved and, above all, learn from one another.
The initiative, launched in 2023 based on an idea by Professor Fabio D’Agostino, Head of the BSc in Nursing at UniCamillus, in collaboration with Professor Peter Brooks —an international expert in Interprofessional Education and Professor at Grossmont College in San Diego—has now become one of the most eagerly awaited events for the University’s students.
For the 2026 edition, Professor D’Agostino entrusted the organisation to Romina Belsito, Lecturer in Nursing Sciences. And it is no coincidence that the energy that gave shape to these days originated precisely from the BSc in Nursing.
Once again this year, Professor Brooks sent his greetings from the United States, joining us live to share how proud he is of the growth of this project and to confirm his desire to continue collaborating with UniCamillus in the years to come.
Team building, ethical dilemmas and “skills games”
The IPE Days format is simple but leaves nothing to chance: mixed teams are formed—each comprising students from completely different degree programmes—who are presented with practical challenges, ethical dilemmas and collaborative activities. In other words? Exactly what they will encounter in their working lives. “When they enter the world of work, they will never be alone”, says Belsito. “They will always be working alongside other healthcare professionals. It is important that they learn, right from university, to engage with one another, to communicate and to help one another.”
So let’s get started with the team-building games, designed to foster team spirit and break the ice. Then it’s time for discussions on ethical cases, where no one necessarily has to find ‘the right answer’, but everyone must learn to listen to different points of view: because when faced with the same clinical case, a nurse, a doctor, a radiographer or a dentist may observe completely different details, and it is precisely from that exchange that true professional growth arises.
But the most eagerly awaited moment remains the ‘skills game’, in which each degree programme ‘teaches’ the others. A few examples? Nursing students show students from other degree programmes how to take a blood sample. Future radiographers explain how to read a CT scan or an X-ray. Future midwives teach delivery techniques using manikins. Medical students practise suturing. And so on. But take note, there is only one rule: help one another. “The facilitators (university lecturers and administrative staff) who supervise the student teams almost never intervene,” explains Lecturer Belsito. “If a student is struggling, it is the other students who help them and guide them towards solving the problem. This, in fact, is the true meaning of IPE Days”.
Much more than just a university activity
The result of these days? Students emotionally engaged, new friendships forged between a (mock!) suture and a (mock!) birth, stronger relationships with lecturers and a new realisation: in healthcare, no one really works alone. And perhaps this is precisely the most important lesson left by IPE Days 2026: learning to care also means learning to collaborate. With competence, mutual trust and, every now and then, even with a laugh.
Ah, and for the most proactive team, there was even a final prize: a mega breakfast offered by the University. Because working well as a team definitely works up an appetite!
The work of the tireless UniCamillus IPE Team
But who were the wonderful facilitators of the UniCamillus IPE Team who organised and managed the IPE Days together with Lecturer Belsito? Here they are, in alphabetical order!
Professor Cinzia Auriti, Professor Sondra Badolamenti, Professor Saviana Antonella Barbati, Professor Anna Berardi, Alberto Besi, Professor Alberto Bongiovanni, Professor Luca Burratti, Alessandra Carlizza, Professor Susanna Cordone, Federico Chen, Professor Verena Damiani, Consuelo D’Annibale, Alice Di Gennaro, Professor Aneta Dworakowska, Arianna Emiliani, Marwa Fichera, Alessia Galati, Professor Noemi Giannetta, Professor Davide Gnocchi, Federica Labate, Professor Lara Lanuzza, Professor Giorgio Lisi, Professor Leonardo Maggiolini, Flavia Magliocchetti, Professor Marco Mancini, Vania Mancini, Professor Francesca Marchetti, Professor Simone Marconcini, Professor Luciano Mutti, Professor Roberta Nardacci, Professor Eleonora Nicolai, Professor Antonia Nucera, Antonella Palombo, Professor Filomena Pietrantonio, Luca Pollio, Professor Verena Pichler, Professor Luisa Pieroni, Raffaella Pisapia, Professor Paolo Ragonese, Professor Anas Rashid, Professor Giovanni Sellitto, Professor Sara Spadone, Professor Daniele Tortorici, Olga Zaccaria.
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