Academic Supervisor : Martin Buysschaert

Contact : Secretary's Office for Internal Medecine

Tel. 027641054

E-mail : Buyschaert@diab.ucl.ac.be

Academic Supervisor : Jean-Pierre Devogelaer

Contact person : M.-Ch. Thomas

Secretary's Office for the Unit of Rhumatology and Phosphocalcic Metabolism

Tel. 027645391

E-mail : hallot@ruma.ucl.ac.be

President : M. Buysschaert

Members : L. Delaunois, A. Ferrant, A. Geubel, Ph. Hainaut, F. Houssiau, Y. Pirson, M. Symann, J.-L. Vanoverschelde

President : F. Houssiau

Members : BOUTSEN Yves, DUREZ Patrick, ESSELINCKX Walter, DEVOGELAER J.-P., LAUWERYS Bernard, MANICOURT Daniel. One representative from the "MACCS".

The Selection Committee of candidate assistant specialist doctors (MACCS, in French), is composed of the members of the Teaching Committee, to which are added two guest members and two coopted members.

This complementary master's programme aims to prepare doctors to become officially recognised holders of the specific professional title of Specialist Doctor in Rhumatology (Ministerial Decree of 09.03.1979, published on 15.03.1979, modified by the Ministerial Decree of 09.11.2004, published on 06.12.2004).

• The applicant must hold the degree title of Doctor in Medecine or be a Doctor from a member country of the European Union authorising medical practice in Belgium.
• The applicant must be in possession of a document attesting that, at the end of the selection exams, he was retained as a specialist candidate in Rhumatology, in a Belgian medical faculty.

The juridical context and practical procedures regarding these selection tests can be obtained from the secretary's office.

Degree holders from outside the European Union are only allowed to register on the programme in the context of procuring a university certificate for partially specialised training for the duration of two years (if they are in the process of doing a specialisation in their country of origin) or for an in-depth specialised training course for the duration of one year (if they are already recognised as specialists in their own country).

The Royal Decree of 30.05.2002, relating to the planning of the medical offer for the public, published on 14.06.2002, applies to those candidates wishing to obtain the title of Specialist Doctor in Rhumatology (those candidates are thus counted among the general practitioner candidates or specialists in the context of the numerus clausus).

Applications for admission must be addressed to the academic supervisor.

The organisation of the entrance selection tests is arranged in accordance with the calendar and the general examination rules and regulations.

The training course includes full time apprenticeships in recognised services and teaching centres. It lasts for at least six years, full-time, including at least three years of foundation studies in internal medecine and three years of higher studies in Rhumatology. The apprenticeship project established by the university promoter must be approved by the ministerial validation committee for the speciality. These periods of practical training include being on call.

Parallel to the practical training, the specialist candidate will follow a university training programme organised as follows :

Three years, full-time, consisting of :

• Theoretical courses
• Seminars
• A period of supervised hospital training

The theoretical sessions of the first two years form part of the specific university training programme (FUS, in French).

In order to familiarise the candidate with all the aspects and methods of diagnosing and treating Rhumatology, three years, full-time, consisting of :

• Theoretical courses, including scans of the locomotor apparatus of the spine.
• Seminars
• A period of supervised hospital training

In addition, 30 hours of optional courses

Seminar on physical medecine and rehabilitation

Semestrial clinical evaluations : these evaluations are established (in writing) by the practical training supervisor of each candidate and aim to test different items. The evaluations of all the candidates are reviewed during the two semestrial meetings of the ensemble of the practical training supervisors.

At the end of these three years of training, each candidate will be evaluated during the course of an interview aimed at testing his general knowledge in internal medecine.

Further to the application of the Royal Decree of 16 March, 1999, at the end of his first two years of training, the candidate will receive an attestation proving that he has successfully accomplished a specific university training course.

At the end of these three years of training, each candidate will be evaluated during the course of an interview aimed at testing his in-depth knowledge in Rhumatology.

The writing of a thesis (20-25 pages) on a subjet of Rhumatology and the publication of an article.

Upon fulfilment of the above-described training requirements, the teaching committee will award the academic title in rhumatology.

This title does not replace official recognition by the ministerial validation committee. It attests the successful completion of an academic and scientific study programme in the context of specialised training leading to this validation.