Åsa Ingvar – Dermatology Board Examination in Europe
of Dermatology( UEMS-EBDV) organizes a board examination every year in August in Frankfurt. This is the official European examination, supported by EADV, and it tests knowledge in both dermatology and venereology. It contains multiple-choice questions on everything from history to terminology to basic science to epidemiology to clinical cases. To pass this exam you need to score at least 55 % correct answers.
It is also allowed for foreign physicians to take the British“ Specialty Certificate Examination in Dermatology” which is arranged in October every year. This examination can be written on Pearson VUE test centres that is available in many cities in Europe. In this exam the questions are more detailed and written as clinical cases, but the answers are also in a multiple-choice format. Unfortunately, venereology knowledge is practically not tested in this exam since venereology is not part of the dermatology specialization in Great Britain. To pass this exam you need to score at least 68 % correct answers.
I decided to take both examinations and therefore can make a comparison. In my opinion, the questions in UEMS-EBDV was sometimes quite hard to understand and several“ true-or-false” questions were in double negative format, so that you in the end were supposed to choose false for a statement that was true and vice versa. This took unnecessary time and effort to get your mind around. The British examination, on the other hand, was professionally written and it was consistently clear what was asked for. The main weakness in this examination was the lack of venereology questions. Both the European and the British examinations included many difficult questions, most were relevant but a few tested what I would like to label as“ superfluous knowledge”. Ergo, knowledge that you never use or need in your clinical practice but that only tests how many details you have managed to memorize during your studies( and that, unfortunately, quite soon will be forgotten due to lack of utilization). Thus, both examinations have their pros and cons, and which one you choose may have many reasons but hopefully this text can offer some guidance.
Would I recommend residents to take a board examination?
It was quite exhausting to prepare for the dermatology board examination, but it was also fun, and I am very glad that I did it. I have gained an enormous amount of knowledge and I feel much more confident in my every day practice now. I also feel proud to have passed a knowledge test and I no longer doubt that my level of knowledge is of an international standard. I therefore want to highly recommend residents in all Nordic countries to take a board examination in the end of your residency! Good luck!
60 Dermato-Venereology in the Nordic Countries
Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018, Vol. 23, No. 2