By providing free access for European medical specialists to the European job market via two relevant directives (issued in 1975 and 2005), the European Union (EU) has effected an automatic recognition of the diplomas and certificates of qualification in medicine in all member countries. This is only acceptable on the basis of harmonised training standards across the entire EU. Thus, it is mandatory to work towards such harmonised standards in all medical specialties.
As a result of the first directive and more than 10 years ago, the Long Range Planning Committee of the Paediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), led by M. Zach, developed the first European syllabus for Training in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine as a tertiary care subspecialty. This pioneering syllabus not only served as a model for other tertiary care subspecialties in paediatrics but also helped establish and strengthen paediatric respiratory medicine (PRM) as a subspecialty within Europe. With the syllabus as a guide, the ERS Paediatric Assembly and the ERS School have continuously promoted state-of-the-art training in PRM.
In contrast to adult respiratory medicine, which has long been established as a specialty in most European countries, PRM is still developing as a subspecialty in Europe 1. Widely different approaches to training are still the reality in EU states. Formal training in a recognised training centre is the norm in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland; in other countries there is no formal recognition of PRM, and junior doctors have to train abroad or in adult respiratory depts. Training in particular areas sometimes occurs in other subspecialties, such as …
