Academic Supervisor and contact person : Frédéric Bonbled

Tel. 02 764 52 88

E-mail : bonbled@anps.ucl.ac.be

President : Fr. Bonbled

Members : J. Rahier, P. Delvaux, J.M. Guerit, B. Maldague, J.J. Rombouts, J.P. Roussaux, G. Schamps, A. Seghers

The Selection Committee for candidate assistant clinician specialist 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 Legal Medecine (Ministerial Decree of 27.02.2002, published on 11.07.2002).

• 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 Legal Medecine, 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 the 30.05.2002, relating to the planning of the medical offer for the public, published on 14.06.2002, does not apply to those candidates wishing to obtain the title of specialist doctor in Legal Medecine (those candidates are thus not counted among the generalist or specialist candidates 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 full-time training course lasts at least five years and includes theoretical courses on expertise medecine, a full-time practical training period on pathological anatomy lasting at least 18 months and a practical training period of in legal medecine equivalent to a full-time training course of at least 30 months. The apprenticeship project established by the university promoter must be approved by the ministerialvalidation committee for the speciality. These periods of practical training include being on call.

It is recommended to begin the course by means of a practical training period as a specialist assistant clinician doctor candidate in pathological anatomy, equivalent to a full-time training programme of at least 18 months in one or several recognised practical training services, in conformity with the Ministerial Decree of 26th April 1982 which fixes special recognition criteria for specialist doctors, work experience supervisors and services for the specialisation of pathological anatomy. The recommended length of this training course in pathological anatomy is from 2 to 3 years.

The training programme in Legal Medecine is equivalent to at least 30 months full-time training in one or several recognised practical training centres, in conformity with article 3, and includes, among others, a specific training course on legal clinical medecine, thanatology, toxicology, juridical criminology, penal law and analytical techniques in exploring biological traces. This training programme in Legal Medecine may be followed by a "MACCS" in pathological anatomy during the third year of studies.

The theoretical training in expertise medecine is organised in the form of a university certificate in Expertise Medecine (ESP3DSMEX/ESP9CE/EX), equivalent to a full-time training programme of at least 12 months, including a course on responsibility rights, expertise procedure, sequelar propaudeutics within the different medical specialities and the evaluation of corporal damage.

• During the training course, the candidate must have carried out at least 20 autopsies and 120 penal expertises per year, as well as having assumed increasing responsibility in the subject matter and in the other activities.
• At least once during the training programme, the candidate must have presented a paper during a recognised scientific meeting and published an article on a scientific subject relating to Legal Medecine in a review, of which he is the main author.
• The candidate must have completed a report on his work experience in which he keeps a record of all activities, distinguishing the acts in which he has participated and those accomplished personally, and in which he indicates all of the seminars, courses and other didactic or scientific activities in which he has taken part.

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

Compulsory courses

Seminars and supervised exercises on :

• Special Criminal Jurisdiction matters
• Questions of Psychiatry
• General Traumatology and Sequela
• Legal-medico Odontology

Options

The student will choose from among the following options or from those selected from the course programme in agreement with the programme supervisor :

This training course can be followed 1 year full-time, or 2 years part -time. This programme addresses :

• doctors who practise or wish to practise evaluation or repair of corporal damage
• national health advisory doctors
• inspector doctors of the "INAMI"
• advisory doctors for insurance companies
• doctors desirous of advising their patients correctly and orientating them appropriately for medical, juridical and administrative and damage repair
• graduates in dental sciences desirous of developing an expertise activity

The content of this programme is as follows :

Multidisciplinary thematic questions and problems related to specialist medical expertise

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

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

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.

The university certificate in medical expertise is awarded to candidates who have succeeded in their theoretical studies, participated in the seminars and the practical work experience periods and successfully defended a thesis. It can constitute a specific form of training, independent of the recognition as a specialist doctor in Legal Medecine.