The new didactic organization of University degree of health areas considers a final qualifying examination composed, among other exams, by a written dissertation (thesis) dealing with technical-operative-experimental matters. At the faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Padua University, the council of the Degree in Nursing proposed a document about finalities, arguments, methods and operative rules for the production of the thesis as an instrument for students and teachers. During academic year 1996/97, 49 students had been graduated, for the first time in Italy. About 63% of theses were highly congruent with council's methodological instructions. When the matter of the theses was a technical aspect of an assistance problem, the theses were correct from a methodological point of view. Many professional figures supplied support to the students for the thesis, giving them a complete experience of professional application. The dimension of the thesis suggested by the Council's instruction was unrespected, the average length of the theses (30.3 pages) was significantly (p < 0.01) higher than that proposed (20 pages). This suggests that students could have an insufficient synthetic capability.