Academic Supervisor : Christian Raftopoulos

Contact : Secretary's Office for Neurosurgery

Tel. 02 764 10 85

josiane.mester@clin.ucl.ac.be

dominique.meurice@clin.ucl.ac.be

President : Chr. Raftopoulos

Members : FOMEKONG Edward, GILLIARD Claude, GUSTIN Thierry, KOERTS GUUS, ROOIJAKKERS Herbert, VAZ Geraldo. One representative from the "MACCS".

The Selection Committee for assistant clinician candidate specialist doctors (MACCS) 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 Neurosurgery (Ministerial decree of 18.07.1979, published on 07.08.1979).

• 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.
• 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 Neurosurgery, 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 the 14.06.2002, applies to those candidates wishing to obtain the title of Specialist Doctor in Neurosurgery (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 two years of foundation studies and four years of higher studies. 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 candidate specialist will follow a university course organised as follows :

Two years of training, consisting of :

• Theoretical courses : directives and procedures for operatory and surgical techniques, including general pathology, loco-regional and general anaesthetics, ressuscitation and traumatology
• Seminars

One year of Neurology : the lectures of the first year of the programme of the first part of the specialised studies diploma in Neurology.

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

Four years of training

• Theoretical courses, including " Computer processing of medical images"
• Seminars : Seminar (univ. and interuniv.) on Neurosurgery
• A period of supervised training in a hospital : Neurosurgical hospitals
• Among others : an optional course on Neuroradiology, Neuropathology or Neurophysiology

A year of General Surgery studies : assessment on the year to verify acquisition of the basic teachings in surgery.

A year of Neurology studies : assessment on the year to verify acquisition of the basic teachings in Neurology.

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.

Each year, the candidate will make a speech or a presentation in the context of Belgian or foreign scientific seminars or meetings.

At the end of the specialisation, the candidate will be the author of at least one publication in an international review.

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

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 a specialised training programme leading to this validation.