II Level Master on Percutaneous interventional treatment of structural heart diseases

Course description 

Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, in partnership with the Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio - Regione Toscana - CNR, will be offering the 8th edition of the II level Master program “Percutaneous interventional treatment of structural heart diseases” Academic Year 2026/2027.
The Master's venue will be the main campus of Sant’Anna School. Practical activities will be held in the headquarters of Fondazione Gabriele Monasterio in Massa, at the University Hospitals of Pisa and Florence, and in other sites.
The Master will begin in January 2027 and end in December 2027.
Language of instruction will be English.

Course target

The essential qualifications for submitting the admission application are: being under 65 years of age, a degree in Medicine and Surgery (or an equivalent degree obtained from an Italian or foreign university or higher education institution), and a specialization diploma (or equivalent qualification) in Cardiology or Cardiac Surgery and related disciplines, or alternatively, attendance at a Specialization School in the same disciplines. Applications for the Master program are open to both European and Non-European citizens.

Training objectives 

The general objective of the Master is to provide the cardiologist and the cardiac surgeon theoretical and practical skills for an innovative and modern therapeutic approach to the patient suffering from structural heart disease (i.e. non-coronary). 

Specifically, the Master aims to: 

1. provide the diagnostic bases and clinical criteria that allow the identification of the population of patients susceptible to percutaneous and / or hybrid approaches;
2. illustrate the panorama of imaging techniques, their interpretative bases and their use in the diagnostic-therapeutic process;
3. analyze the pre-, intra and post-operative medical aspects (role of the clinical and interventional cardiologist, radiologist, anesthesiologist, cardiac surgeon);
4. illustrate both the novelties of structural interventional techniques both in theory and in practice;
5. provide the elements of health economics and resource management with a focus on the socio-economic impact of innovative approaches in medicine.

Teaching methods

The syllabus of the Master Programme, in addition to individual studying and the preparation of a final project work, will cover 400 hours distributed over a period of 12 months and divided as follows:

• no. 130 hours of classroom-based teaching, delivered in person/blended/synchronous distance learning, allowing real-time interaction between lecturers and participants in a virtual environment;

• no. 230 hours of asynchronous distance learning, accessible via a dedicated online platform available 24/7, ensuring tracking of activities and reporting of interactions;

• no. 40 hours of workshops, practical activities and seminars;

• no. 100 hours residential training commensurate with the level of in-depth study and the professional skills required by the Master.

• guided individual study.

Course programme

The Master program is structured in the following main areas:

• Clinical Cardiology and Anesthesiology, to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge aimed at pre-operative evaluation of patient candidate to percutaneous structural interventions, to patient management, to risk evaluation, to evaluation of pathologies requiring non-conventional approaches, to cardioanesthesia;
• Imaging, to acquire the interpretative basis of main imaging techniques in order to optimize preoperative planning;
• Percutaneous Interventions, to develop deep knowledge and skill in the use and application of percutaneous and hybrid therapies for structural heart diseases;
• Health management, concerning the analysis of the economic, social and cost-benefits aspect of the new techniques.

Tuition fee

Master tuition fee is € 4.500,00 and includes participation to all teaching activities as well as access to teaching material, lunches during the lecture weeks at the Sant’Anna School in Pisa, access to the e-learning platform, tutoring and assistance for preparation of the project work, tax stamp of € 16,00 for the Diploma. 

Travel, accommodation, and any other expenses not expressly included are the responsibility of each participant.

Attendance certificate

At the end of the Master Programme, the Institution issues a second-level University Master’s Diploma, pursuant to art. 3 of Ministerial Decree No. 270/2004, as subsequently amended, to students who attended the entire training syllabus regularly and successfully, in accordance with the requirements envisaged in the Disciplinary Regulations and who are up-to-date with the payment of the enrolment fee.