Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 51-11 | Page 15

The European PRM Board Fellowship is a seal of excellence
The present paper provides an overview of the se-
veral activities recognized by the UEMS Section and
Board in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM).
These are designed to achieve the goal of harmonizing
postgraduate PRM education as the main strategy to
increase the quality of rehabilitation care and rehabili-
tation service organizations across all European Union
member countries.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE NEED FOR
HARMONIZATION OF MEDICAL TRAINING
The unified discipline of PRM, as we know it today,
emerged gradually in Europe at the time of develop-
ment of the European Economic Community (currently
the European Union).
Historically, the development of many domains of
the specialty can be traced back to the 19 th century,
although some methods of treatment still in use are
far older. After the Second World War, the speed of
development of the discipline was boosted by the needs
of the tremendous number of civil and military war ca-
sualties, the increase in prevalence of chronic disabling
diseases, and a change in how disability and disabled
people were perceived by society (social responsibi-
lity, human rights issues, financial burden, etc.). New
rehabilitation approaches developed by the discipline
started to benefit patients surviving spinal or muscu-
loskeletal injuries, and those with limb amputations or
sequelae from congenital and acquired brain lesions.
At that time, PRM did not officially exist in various
European countries and was known by other names.
The UEMS was founded in 1958, and based on the
need to harmonize the training and qualifications of
medical specialists, in order to ensure that the free
circulation of doctors within Europe would guarantee the
highest levels of healthcare in all countries (1). During
the 1960s, with the collaborative work of doctors from
different European countries who were active in the field
of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 3 European
PRM bodies were founded, with the aim of developing
and strengthening this medical specialty. One of these
was the mono-specialist Section of PRM of the UEMS.
To achieve their goals, the PRM Section worked to
establish:
• a precise definition of the specialty;
• use of PRM as the name of the specialty in all Eu-
ropean countries;
• definition of the role of the PRM specialists in disa-
bility and healthcare;
• provision of indications for excellence in postgra-
duate training and continuous education of PRM
doctors; and
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• preparation of inventories of the university and non-
university centres offering training in the specialty
of PRM in Europe (2).
Important milestones achieved by the Section, in
the first 20 years of activity (1971–1991), included a
presentation in 1981 at the Commission of the Euro-
pean Communities. This was a document defining the
specialty, giving indications for PRM teaching and
training in the member countries, and outlining the
role of the PRM physician. In 1988, a document en-
titled: “The role of doctors specializing in PRM in the
assessment of disabilities for social and professional
re-integration” was approved. The first White Book of
PRM was published in 1989.
A Foundation named “Collège Européen de Mé-
decine Physique et de Réadaptation” was created in
1991 under statute and registered in The Hague. The
objectives of this body were amongst others: (i) to
ensure optimal care at a similar level in terms of reha-
bilitation for the patients in all European countries; (ii)
to work towards the harmonization of PRM education
and training in European countries; (iii) to promote the
highest possible level for training and care in PRM. To
enable the Foundation to work very closely with the
UEMS PRM Section, the assembly of the delegates of
the UEMS PRM Section was established as the general
assembly of the Foundation.
ORGANIZATION AND MISSION OF THE
UEMS PRM BOARD
Over the years, the College became functionally known
as the European Board of PRM. The relationship bet-
ween this Board and the PRM Section of the UEMS
was very close (3). The Board took all the responsibili-
ties of the Section’s educational affairs, functioning as
the educational committee of the Section, and adopted
the name “PRM Board of the UEMS”.
Each UEMS member country is allowed to appoint
2 delegates to the PRM Board, which meets twice a
year. A preparatory workshop of the Board delegates
always precedes the General Assemblies of the UEMS
PRM Board and Section, where all final decisions and
elections are taken, with each member country casting
one vote.
For each member country one of the delegates
serves as the National Manager and is the liaison for
the certification activities of the Board at the National
level. The Board conducts the certification of Fellows,
Trainers, Training Centers and the accreditation of edu-
cational events in the field of PRM ”(in collaboration
with the European Accreditation Council for Continu-
ing Medical Education [EACCME] of the UEMS). All
J Rehabil Med 51, 2019