The European Board of Internal Medicine Report 2019
The European Board of Internal Medicine met several times in 2019 to further its projects in Internal Medicine.
The Board currently has an ongoing survey for residents in Internal Medicine. This aims to capture enough responses to inform future ventures relating to curriculum development and other important educational aspects. This has a broad remit and includes questions about the shape of training, procedural practices, working conditions and specific questions about physician burnout. The survey currently remains live and has had approximately 150 responses to date. There will be an interim analysis of the survey findings and how they may be most informative for the Board’s work.
The Board has produced draft documents relating to a passport for trainees and Internists. The document for residents serves to measure and record progress against expected milestones during their training. It will permit the resident to identify strengths or weakness when comparing their training with the expected European curriculum.
The document for Internists is in effect the creation of a European Certificate of Internal Medicine. This proposal will take evidence provided from the Entrustable Professional Activities laid out in the European curriculum of Internal Medicine as a benchmark. Further confirmation of training criteria at a national level will be used as a measure of completion of training as an Internist.
These draft documents have been shared with the National Societies for further comments. The next steps will be to refine and accommodate any alterations.
The Board has also discussed whether the development of a knowledge-based assessment exam in Internal Medicine, when used in conjunction with the Certificate, could permit the granting of a European Diploma. There have been initial discussions with the Royal College of Physicians on this subject.
The Board will meet again in Krakow, Poland in May 2020 at the next MIRCIM conference and 6th EFIM day.