Handbook for setting up courses

UNION EUROPÉENNE DES MÉDEC INS SPÉC IAL I STES EUROPEAN UNION OF MEDI CAL SPEC IAL I STS Association internationale sans but lucratif – International non-profit organisation

Conclusion:

The formation of the EU has had many political and economic consequences such as disappearing borders , free trade of goods and labour between countries and the use of a single currency. However, in addition to these many advantages, there are also many problems, particularly in the field of medicine. One such problem relates to the regulation which refers to national recognition of training programs as valid in all member states, and free movement of doctors to work wherever they like without taking an examination to prove their quality. We are all well aware of the fact that quality of training is one of the most important factors in the domain of Quality of Health Care. Unfortunately, there are numerous indications, throughout the world and within Europe that currently training programs between EU member states are not comparable in quality or content. Because of this lack of harmonization or standardization European agencies are need to guarantee to their citizens that a professional who will be taking care of them has been exposed to the best high quality training there is to offer. This training should additionally have been evaluated and shown to objectively demonstrate competence of that individual for his or her current domain of medical practice throughout Europe. For this reason there is a move towards the European Accreditation of Medical Specialties through standardised and equitable assessment tools to evaluate physicians who practice any given specialty.

The UEMS, through its publications has realized and addressed the importance of these problems. “The UEMS Charter on Visitation of Training Centres (UEMS 1997)” recommends minimal standards to which the training centres should conform. Its “Policy Statement on Assessment during Specialist Postgraduate Medical Training (UEMS 2006/19)” is aimed at assessing the content and quality of training in the EU countries and other countries who are full members of UEMS.

With the advent of the Council for European Specialist Medical Assessment (CESMA-UEMS), UEMS has come to realize that the medical care of European citizens must be held in the highest regard to ensure all patients across Europe are cared for by competent, skilled and professional physicians.

Since increasingly UEMS recognized medical specialties will choose to evaluate trained professionals with exams covering both basic knowledge coupled with skills and tests of competency, the UEMS has compiled this guide to help the various subspecialty boards with successfully writing and structuring one of the most common and frequently used methods of assessment, the Multiple Choice Question.

A VENUE DE LA C OURONNE , 20 16

T +32 2 649 51 64 F +32 2 640 37 30 info@uems.net

BE- 1050 BRUSSELS

www.uems.net