Members

• Domenico Coviello (Chair, Milan, Italy)
• Celia DeLozier (USA/Switzerland)
• Peter Farndon (Birmingham, UK),
• Tiemo Grimm, (Würzburg, Germany)
• Rodney Harris (Manchester, U.K.)
• Shirley Hodgson (London, U.K.)
• Alastair Kent (Patients Organizations, GIG and EAGS)
• Gyorgy Kosztolanyi (Pécs, Hungary)
• Jorge Sequeiros (Porto, Portugal)
• Heather Skirton (Plymouth, UK)

The last Education Committee held in Leuven (11 Dec 2005) was planned in conjunction with the 1st annual workshop of Unit 6 (Education) of the Eurogentest project.

Discussion with the participants has identified the following issues:

1. Education and training in genetics has a wide heterogeneity in Europe.
    
2. In the last year, both patients organizations and professional have worked together to identify needs and tools to improve genetics education.
    
3. Needs to create an official European document (guidelines of good practice, minimum core competences in genetics, European recommendations) to:
   a. help at national level the genetic societies in the EU member states to improve and/or harmonize genetic education and training
   b. help the local professional groups to interact with policy makers
   c. promote initiatives about genetics for the implementation of genetic courses into national curricula of professional groups with the necessity to establish number of hours, topics and curricula of genetics at different levels (undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate).
    
4. To approach the identification of core competences, a definition of three levels of practice for professionals has been proposed:
   • health care professionals (generic area)
   • specialized branches of medicine (non geneticists)
   • specialist in genetics (clinical MDs, non MDs professionals: psycho-social, nurse and laboratory).
    
5. Need to establish a working group for the identification of topics relevant to core competences for professionals based on the following principles:
   • a common core body of genetics knowledge as a basis for practice for all health professionals
   • differentiation of levels and specificity of competences in genetics for a range of professional disciplines and specialisms
   • where possible, translation of the core competences in national languages through the activity of the ESHG.
    
6. Need for recognition of medical genetics as an EU specialty. This is work in progress. Prof. Ulf Kristoffersson is taking the lead in the process that involves recognition from “UNION EUROPÉENNE DES MÉDÉCINS SPÉCIALISTES-EUROPEAN UNION OF MEDICAL SPECIALISTS (UEMS- www.uems.be).
    
7. Future proposed programs:
   First priority:
   • definition of genetic core competences in Europe: proposal of a joint Eurogentest meeting Unit 6 + Unit 3 in Porto, 20-22/September/2006
   • need to link different levels of Higher Education with a specific curriculum and an overview of the status in Europe
   Second priority:
   • develop criteria of quality to guide selection of genetic educational material on line
   • establish a European system for continuing professional education
   • set up European Courses for Professionals

All the members of ESHG are invited to send comments and to join the working groups to identify topics relevant to core competences for professionals.

Archives:
Letter 13 - March 21 2008
Letter 12 - August 17, 2007
Letter 11 - May 10, 2007
Letter 10 - October 3, 2006
Letter 9 - July 3, 2006
Letter 8 - April 21, 2006