Forum for Nordic Dermato-Venereology Nr 2, 2018 | Page 29
Dermato-Venereology in the Nordic Countries
Dermatology Board Examination in Europe
Å sa I ngvar
Specialist in dermatology and venereology, Dermatology Department, Skåne University Hospital,
Lund, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
In Sweden, as in many Nordic countries, it is not required to
take a board examination to become a certified dermatovenere-
ologist, but it is required in many other countries in Europe as
well as in other parts of the world. Even so, there may be resi-
dents in our Nordic countries that would like to take a board
examination anyway and in this article I will tell you about
my experience with studying for and taking two different
board examinations, the official European examination “the
European Board of Dermatovenereology (UEMS-EBDV) Board
Examination” and the British examination ”Membership
of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom
(MRCPUK) Specialty Certificate Examination in Dermatology”.
I also would like to take the opportunity to warmly thank
both t he Swedish Society for Dermatology and Venereology
(SSDV) and the Dermatology Department at Skånes University
Hospital in Lund for giving me the prerequisites to be able to
successfully pass the exams, SSDV for the financial support to
pay for the UEMS-EBDV examination and my Dermatology
Department for giving me 4 weeks to prepare for the exam.
Why take a board examination?
There can of course be many different reasons to wanting to
take (or not to take) a board examination. Personally, I felt
the need to push myself to study to make sure I have the
knowledge that is expected from a specialist in dermatovenere-
ology in Sweden as well as internationally. For me it was very
helpful to have an upcoming examination to follow through
in this ambition. Also, during my career I would like to work
abroad, and many countries demand that you have passed
a dermatology board examination (among other things) to
be able to work as a dermatovenereologist in their countries.
Textbooks: Braun-Falco, Rook-Wilkinson, Fitzpatrick et al,
Bologna et al.
Guidelines:
EDF (European Dermatology Forum) guidelines.
IUSTI (International Union against Sexually Transmitted
Infections) guidelines.
CME articles in the JAAD, Arch Dermatol, Dermatology,
Acta Derm Venereol, JEADV, JDDG (English online version).
Major review articles in all international dermatological and
venereological journals.
Fig. 1. Recommended final preparations for the UEMS-EBDV examina-
tion, extracted from their homepage.
How one prepares for an examination is probably very indi-
vidual, but the groundwork is to read in the acknowledged
Dermatology and Dermatopathology books and to study pub-
lished guidelines. In addition, there are many home pages that
offer study support, such as Derm101 and Derm In-Review,
and several books that are designed for studying for a board
examination (most often intended for the American board
examination). As for me, I started to study far in advance and
used a study book (Dermatology- Illustrated study guide and
comprehensive board review, Jain 2017) as the basis for my
studies, and it gave me an excellent overview. After reading a
chapter in my study book, I went through the corresponding
chapter in Braun-Falco’s Dermatology (3 rd edition, Burgdorf
et al.) to get a more detailed knowledge. When I had finished
this review, I looked over all guidelines published on European
Dermatology Forums (EDF) home page. Finally, I answered
about 3,000 study questions that I found on Derm In-Reviews
home page, making sure to look up all questions I didn´t know
the answer to. After this, I felt that I was well prepared.
How to prepare?
You can find curriculum and advices on how to prepare for
the board examinations on the home pages of the organizing
committees. However, the advice on how to prepare is quite
comprehensive as you can see in Fig. 1, which was extracted
from UEMS-EBDVs home page.
Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018, Vol. 23, No. 2
Which board exam should you choose?
There are many dermatology board examinations in the
world, which also reflects that it is required to pass a theore
tical knowledge test in many countries to become a certified
dermatovenereologist. In Europe, the UEMS European Board
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