The Italian health care system is largely socialized, with priorities and policies established both nationally and regionally. Currently emergency medicine in Italy is practiced mainly by traditional specialists, such as internists and surgeons, and the scope of emergency medicine practice is not as broad as that seen in the United States. However, dedicated training programs in emergency medicine have recently been developed, and it appears that in the future, specially trained emergency physicians will be increasingly available. Emergency medicine is currently viewed as a sub-specialty of internal medicine, and it is unclear whether emergency medicine will be recognized as an independent specialty.