Academic Supervisor : Martin Buysschaert

Secretary's office for Internal Medecine

Tel. 02 764 10 54

President : M. Buysschaert

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

President : M. Lambert

Members : BALLIGAND Jean-Luc, BOLAND Benoît, CORNETTE Pascale, DELGRANGE Etienne, DONCKIER Julian, HAINAUT Philippe, LEFEBVRE Chantal, ROGER FRANCE Francis, VANDERCAM Bernard, YOMBI Jean-Cyr, ZECH Francis. One representative from the "MACCS".

The Selection Committee for candidate specialist assistant doctors (MACCS, in French) is composed of the members of the teaching Committee, to which are added two guest members and two co-opted members.

This complementary master's programme aims to prepare doctors to become officially recognised holders of the specific professional title of Specialist Doctor in Internal Medecine, (Ministerial Decree of 19.03.1979, published on 15.03.1979).

• 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.
• Further to the royal decree of 16th March, 1999, 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 Internal Medecine, in a Belgian medical faculty.

The juridical context and practical procedures for this selection exam 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 the 30.05.2002, relating to the planning of the medical offer for the public, published on the 14.06.2002, applies to those candidates wishing to obtain the title of Specialist Doctor in Internal medecine (those candidates are thus counted among the general practitioner candidates or specialists in the context of the numerus clausus).

• the candidate must have satisfied the requirements of the first part of the degree course of specialised studies in Internal Medecine.

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 five years, full-time, including at least three years of foundation studies and two years of higher studies in Internal Medecine. 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 :

• Theory
• Seminars
• Supervised practical exercises

Sessions organised by the different department services, the Belgian Society of Internal Medecine or associated specialities and inter-university conferences.

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

Two years, full time, consisting of :

• theory : specialised courses in General Internal Medecine, Evaluation of the quality and organisation of treatment
• Seminars
• A supervised apprenticeship period in a hospital

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

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

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

At the end of these two years of studies, each candidate will be evaluated during the course of an interview aimed at testing his in-depth knowledge of General Internal Medecine.

The writing of a thesis (20-25 pages) on a subjet relating to General Internal Medecine. The instructions for the thesis are available at the secretary's office for Internal Medecine. The publication of an article on a clinical or scientific internal medecine subject or the presentation of a paper toa scientific meeting.

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

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