Training Course in Headaches - LMIC

The Course is aimed at health professionals interested in acquiring expertise on headache disorders. The syllabus encompasses the Course’s areas of interest, from Social Sciences to Basic Sciences, from Translational to Clinical Headache Medicine. This Collection supports and amplifies research related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3 Good Healthy Lives and Well Being.

Duration

The course entails a study period of 50 hours, including lectures, tutoring, e-activities, research activities, and individual study. Credentials to the course last for a full academic year.

Public Health Priorities

Headaches are listed in the latest Global Burden of Diseases 2019 survey cumulatively in 2nd place among all disabling diseases and in 1st place if only the female gender is counted. This calculation is based on YLD = years of life lost due to disability.

Social Burden

Recurrent headache is among the chronic conditions with the highest incidence, second only to Low Back Pain (Global Burden of Diseases 2019), with higher values in women (9.1%) than in men (7.8%). Migraine ranks first among young women under the age of 50. No other disease, communicable or non-communicable, is responsible for more years of healthy life lost in young women, although migraine does not cause premature mortality.

Economic Problem and Barriers to Treatment

Primary headaches and migraine are a public health problem with considerable costs for patients and society. This cost ranks among the highest of the major brain diseases, with more than dementia at 8.6 billion, psychotic/affective disorder at 18.7 billion, and stroke at 3.4 billion.

Sustainable Development Goal SDG3 as a Pillar of Education

Considering the burden of disease and the high costs associated with managing the condition, all prevention and early treatment strategies should be considered as they are likely to be cost-effective. Since chronic headaches are a major cause of disability and service utilization, early and correct identification of sufferers and appropriate treatment are desirable. This would undoubtedly reduce costs both directly, by reducing the use of specialist or hospital care, and indirectly, by reducing acute episodes and improving quality of life.

Mission and history

Unitelma Sapienza is the only on-line Italian university that is maintained by a consortium composed of public enterprise and directly linked to the best Italian public university: the University of Rome "La Sapienza", with 130,000 students and a staff of 4,000 teachers and researchers. Unitelma Sapienza, through the use of advanced information technology and methodologies in distance learning, promotes access to higher education, without the constraints of space, time, providing services to students and workers out of office, who are unable to attend regular educational activities. Teaching, training and research within the campus, combine the necessary economic, managerial and legal knowledge required to manage complex business within the "information society" Unitelma Sapienza pays particular attention to the development of research, in particular within scientific and economic sectors as well as in the management of information technology, with particular attention to theories, models, processes, technologies, and applications for the development of a virtual campus through the Internet in higher education. A special focus is given to tutoring: we have tutors concerned with academic activities and tutors that are mainly concerned with the motivation and the achievement of career goals of the student. Both of these figures are meant to increase interactivity with students for a more cooperative learning.

Organization and management

The Chancellor who is usually a professor and an eminent figure is elected for a six-year period, serves as the titular head of the University, represents the University, in academic activities and presides the Academic Senate presiding also overall major ceremonies. The present Chancellor, prof. Francesco Avallone has for several years working on research related to stress and organizational well-being. The Senate is the senior academic body of the University decides on academic policy, planning, coordination and evaluation of teaching and research activities and is composed of both faculty members as well as staff members. Legally and constitutionally it is responsible for the academic activity of the University - ie, teaching and research. The University “Department of Law and economics” is a broad-based department that caters to all academic and research activities. producing first-class research across the range of the discipline. The Department is committed to excellence in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level. The Board of Trustees is the corporate body established by Statute with complete responsibility for the government and welfare of the University and all the interests pertaining thereto including students, faculty, staff, and alumni. It is represented by eminent figures from Italian academic institutions and Civil Society, Responsibilities are:

• The determination of the major goals of the University and the approval of the policies and procedures for implementation of such goals.
• The review and approval of the operating and capital budget of the University.
• Such other responsibilities as law, governmental directives.
• The University ensures that all of its activities are subject to quality assurance, evaluation, and enhancement through periodical assessments by its main governing bodies.

International relations

Unitelma Sapienza is committed to enhancing the international level of participation for the University and its student population; in particular:

• In opening new possibilities for student participation in EU calls for international student mobility through (Erasmus);
• Improving the participation of the academic and administrative technical staff in EU calls for international mobility of faculty and staff;
• Developing and producing online activities geared to an international market, also through agreements with third parties;

Within this context, the project activities include the inauguration of a section of its website in English language; the activation of training courses offered in English only (Master in International Cooperation, Finance and Development); the production of training courses in two languages (Project Planning and Project management); the English translation of some existing masters ( Neonatology); building a network with prestigious international online universities. In 2015, six teachers and two officials will travel abroad under the Erasmus program for study and research whilst for the second year round small groups of students have already participated in the Erasmus student mobility program. The university will host the international conference on constitutional law Italy-Iberian-American (5th-8th October 2015). The university is chosen by foreign teachers to exchange research (most recent dr. Simona Guerra, Visiting Scholar, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Leicester. The university, finally, in partnership with research institutions and Italian and foreign universities , presented in 2015, the following projects under Community funding: Erasmus Plus KA2 Learn-plus "Distance learning for Knowledge and Entrepreneurship; Erasmus Plus KA3 Diversity 3.0" “Equal opportunity for Equity, Social and Inclusive Innovation" and participates in the project “Bridging the gap between public opinion and European leadership: Engaging in dialogue on the future path of Europe"; The University promotes seminars and study conferences held in the presence and streamed.