Unison or cacophony: postgraduate training in pathology in Europe. 2009

Fred T Bosman, and Jan G van den Tweel
Institut Universitaire de Pathologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Rue du Bugnon 25, 1011, Lausanne (CH), Switzerland. fred.bosman@chuv.ch

With the free movement of people in the European Union, medical mobility has increased significantly. This is notably the case for disciplines for which shortage of well-trained staff has occurred. Pathology is among those specialties and effectively the discipline is confronted with a striking increase in mobility among trainees and qualified specialists. The presumption underlying unlimited mobility is that the competencies of the medical specialists in the European countries are more or less equal, including significant similarities in the postgraduate training programs. In order to assess whether reality corresponds with this presumption, we conducted a survey of the content and practice requirements of the curricula in the EU and affiliated countries. The results indicate a striking heterogeneity in the training program content and practice requirements. To name a few elements: duration of the training program varied between 4 and 6 years; the number of autopsies required varied between none at all and 300; the number of biopsies required varied between none at all and 15,000. We conclude that harmonization of training outcomes in Europe is a goal that needs to be pursued. This will be difficult to reach through harmonization of training programs, as these are co-determined by political, cultural, and administrative factors, difficult to influence. Harmonization might be attained by defining the general and specific competencies at the end of training and subsequent testing them through a test to which all trainees in Europe are subjected.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010336 Pathology A specialty concerned with the nature and cause of disease as expressed by changes in cellular or tissue structure and function caused by the disease process. Pathologies
D011361 Professional Competence The capability to perform the duties of one's profession generally, or to perform a particular professional task, with skill of an acceptable quality. Competence, Professional,Generalization of Expertise,Technical Expertise,Expertise Generalization,Expertise, Technical
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003162 Competency-Based Education Educational programs designed to ensure that students attain prespecified levels of competence in a given field or training activity. Emphasis is on achievement or specified objectives. Education, Competency-Based,Competency Based Education,Competency-Based Educations,Education, Competency Based,Educations, Competency-Based
D004502 Education, Medical, Continuing Educational programs designed to inform physicians of recent advances in their field. Medical Education, Continuing,Continuing Medical Education,Education, Continuing Medical
D005060 Europe The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN. Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D005062 European Union An economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. (https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries accessed 12/31/2020) Common Market,Euratom,European Atomic Energy Community,European Coal and Steel Community,European Common Market,European Community,European Economic Community,Community, European Economic,EEC,Economic Community, European,Common Market, European,Common Markets,Common Markets, European,Communities, European,Communities, European Economic,Community, European,Economic Communities, European,European Common Markets,European Communities,European Economic Communities,Market, Common,Market, European Common,Union, European
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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