Welcome to the EAP Newsletter, Autumn 2022 edition! We'll start with a message from the outgoing European Board of Paediatrics Chair, Rob Ross Russell.
It is with pride but also sadness that I handed over the position of Chair of the European Board of Paediatrics to Liviana da Dalt at the Spring meeting this year. Having started a Chair of the Tertiary Group in 2009, I was persuaded (by Jean-Christophe Mercier) to help write the Training Requirements (ETR) for Core Paediatrics, a huge piece of work started by the late Elke Jaeger-Roman amongst others. We were successful in getting this approved in 2014.
Its significance should not be underestimated. In creating this ETR the EAP/EBP has managed to get agreement across Europe that ALL paediatricians, in whatever specialty, should undergo core training, and has set out the requirements for that training.This landmark ETR will pave the way for consistency in training across different countries, and as a basis for specialties in every paediatric medical discipline - a major step forwards from the disparate training programs that preceded it. We also achieved agreement from UEMS that paediatrics has at least 14 subspecialty areas, and even if they are not formally recognised as independent specialties by UEMS, the responsibility for developing ETRs in those subjects remains with the EBP.
In 2015 I then took over JC’s role as Chair of the EBP. It was clear that we needed to back to the Core ETR with a common exam, but this was a huge undertaking. Initial discussions with other exam providers (such as the RCPCH in the UK) did not seem to provide what we needed, and so we set out on a voyage…
To have created an exam in 3 years (from 2017 to 2020), that has been critically acclaimed, and used by over 40 countries is one of the achievements I am most proud of. It has needed input from question writers, statisticians, (therapists…) and of course the amazing Ann Garrott, without whom etc etc. We now have over 600 questions logged on the platform, and are starting to build a resource that will serve paediatricians across Europe for many years.
Lastly, I need to acknowledge the many others who have taken this work and moved it on to new places. Developments in the training material (‘EAP Learning’) and the Core Knowledge in Paediatrics course are the early shoots of strong and valuable training. A particular shout out to Francesca Seregni, Valentina Ferraro and Kathy Gallagher for their enthusiasm. And also to my successors Liviana, and Peter Hoyer, as well as our esteemed President, the one, the only, Adamos Hadjipanayis!!
So thank you all for your help and support, your kind words to me and your ongoing efforts to support the EAP.
Educating
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Protecting
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