The European Board of Internal Medicine Report 2021
Face-to-face meetings have been postponed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we have resorted to Zoom and have had several meetings to further our activities online rather than face to face. It is hoped that the Board will meet again in Malaga this June.
The Accreditation of Training Centres and the Certification of Internal Medicine documents have both reached a stage of where they are ready to be implemented. To progress this further both documents will require an appropriate web-based package with support, security, and maintenance. The cost and process of approving each application are being worked through at the current time.
The development of a knowledge-based examination is currently the main goal of the Board. A European Diploma of Internal Medicine examination will require a significant amount of organization. We have liaised with the European Board of Paediatrics on how they developed their exam and with CESMA. We have approached the American College of Physicians regarding the potential purchase of questions from their existing Internal Medicine database. The Board is collaborating with the LOW Academy, a company that specializes in the marketing, security, and delivery of European examinations. It is envisaged that they will host the exam in Internal Medicine when launched.
The Statutes of the Board have also been reviewed and approved by the UEMS Section of Internal Medicine. They are still with EFIM as to the make-up of the Board and how the election and elections of the key posts are organized.
The Board has developed a questionnaire on the state of training in Internal Medicine. It remains open and to date, it has had over 200 responses. The result of this survey offers insights into the shape of training, working practices, and burnout.
We will continue to meet online but also face to face now that the pandemic situation has regressed to permit international travel again. The upcoming Malaga meeting (ECIM 2022) is an opportunity to regroup and plan for future projects.