Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 51-11 | Page 17

The European PRM Board Fellowship is a seal of excellence
practice of PRM. Table I illustrates the evolution of the
main structure and contents of the PRM curriculum of
knowledge across different editions.
CONDITIONAL ENDORSEMENT OF
TRAINING PROGRAMMES
The number of PRM trainees and specialists varies
significantly among European countries (7), in some
of which the specialty does not officially exist. The
Board has elaborated a set of requirements for the
conditional endorsement of PRM training program-
mes for European countries in which the specialty of
Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine is under deve-
lopment. Following the proposed scheme, the national
health authorities or PRM-related medical societies can
organize the training according to the high European
quality standards set by the European PRM Board.
The procedure, which is under the supervision of the
Board, leads to the certification of training centres,
trainers and fellows upon its completion.
THE FELLOWSHIP DIPLOMA
831
in the field of PRM (e.g. as an independent PRM
physician, as a leader of a multi-professional reha-
bilitation team for in- or out-patients, as a trainer for
PRM trainees, as a teacher of PRM subjects in medi-
cal schools and PRM training centres, publications,
etc.). Activities in professional PRM organizations
and patients’ organizations may also be taken into
account.
Over the last 25 years, approximately 1,800 PRM
specialists have been Board certified by Equivalence
and 1,200 by Examination.
HISTORY OF THE EXAMINATION
The first examination was held in Ghent, in 1993,
with applicants from 6 pioneer countries. Within a few
years, an increasing number of European countries
joined, and nowadays the examination is delivered in
approximately 18 countries each year (Fig. 1).
The date, starting time and duration of the exami-
nation is the same for all participating countries. The
examination is scheduled once annually, at the end of
autumn. Several organizational changes have taken
place in the last 25 years. Starting from 2007 the
submission of applications and the management of
registrations for the examination have been conduc-
ted electronically, through an internet-based system.
Further improvements in the handling of examination
material occurred in 2012, and advances in statistical
processing of the results, implemented in 2017, led to
a significant decrease in the time required to release the
results. Moreover, these changes allowed the Jury to
provide detailed feedback on each candidate’s absolute
and relative performance. Until 2017, the examination
was exclusively paper-based. In 2018 a small number
of countries delivered a computer-based version of
the examination. Starting from 2019 the examination
The Diploma of the European PRM Board Fellowship
is a seal of excellence in the specialty of PRM and proof
that the training of PRM physicians was carried out
according to the European Standards for medical train-
ing in PRM. The Fellowship of the European Board of
PRM is granted to physicians who have been trained
and licensed to practice PRM in a member country of
the UEMS and have successfully passed the European
examination in PRM. To date, 3 countries (Slovenia,
Switzerland and Belgium) have adopted the European
PRM Board examination as part of their national qua-
lification system in the specialty of PRM.
As an alternative, the Fellowship is also granted “by
Equivalence” to senior PRM doctors who:
• hold a valid qualification as medical
No. of Countries
specialists in PRM, issued by a compe-
20
tent authority of a UEMS full member
18 18 18
17 17
18
country;
15 15
15 15
16
• have been practicing the medical speci-
14
13
14
alty of PRM in a UEMS member country
11
12
for at least 7 years at the time of the
10 10
9
10
application;
8
• can document 250 Continuing Medical
6
Education/Continuing Professional
4
Development (CME/CPD) credits col-
2
lected during the 5 years preceding the
0
application;
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
• can document a satisfactory degree of Fig. 1. Number of countries that organized the European PRM Board examination, during
clinical, educative and research activities 2004–2018. Prior to 2004 the numbers ranged between 6 and 10.
J Rehabil Med 51, 2019