Vnitr Lek 2024, 70(1):E15-E19 | DOI: 10.36290/vnl.2024.014

Postgraduate training in internal medicine - where do we stand? We can take inspiration from the European Board of Internal Medicine's qualification requirements for internal medicine training

Zdeněk Monhart

Interní oddělení a urgentní příjem, Nemocnice Znojmo

Lékařská fakulta Masarykovy univerzity, Brno

The education of high-quality specialists in the field of internal medicine is a demanding process that requires a lot of effort, especially on the part of the trainee, but also the active involvement of the supervisor and the training institution. The current system of postgraduate education in the Czech Republic is still based on the completion of the prescribed practice and the acquisition of a prescribed amount of knowledge, the knowledge of which is verified at the end of the educational process. However, the competencies of an internist have more dimensions than just acquiring enough knowledge in the field of internal medicine. The education of internists can be conceived as competency-based education - i.e. first define the resulting profile of the graduate of the educational process, what competencies he or she should have in the process of providing health care. The progress of each trainee in acquiring target abilities and skills must be evaluated on an ongoing basis, and a suitable tool is to determine enough "verifiable professional activities" (EPA = Entrustable Professional Activities). For the gradual improvement of our postgraduate education, we can find inspiration in the educational program proposed by the European Board of Internal Medicine, which, in addition to a summary of qualification requirements for preparation in the field of internal medicine, also shows possible ways to modernize the educational process.

Keywords: internal medicine, postgraduate education, competency-based learning, entrustable professional activities.

Accepted: February 23, 2024; Published: February 26, 2024  Show citation