Pan-European Professional Curriculum for Gynaecologists Erasmus Project

Project Title

Pan-European Professional Curriculum for Gynaecologists

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

In Europe there are more than 5 million births each year and about 2 million women have failed pregnancies. Maternal deaths associated with pregnancy and delivery are as high as 30/100.000 births, of which 50% are linked to substandard care. Furthermore about 25.000 babies are stillborn every year and another 25.000 die before their 1st birthday.
There are only a few EU-wide agreed health indicators for the care of women during pregnancy, during labour, and for the care of newborn. Although the standards of care in the EU are above average compared with worldwide standards, maternal deaths associated with pregnancy and delivery is still high. Also, the diversity of treatment of gynaecological complaints and findings differs substantially throughout Europe. With the EBCOG Standards of Care for Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2015, a first step was made towards less diversity in health care delivery across Europe; development of standards for postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the form of a new training curriculum will further improve quality of care for women in Europe. Currently, there are no ‘state-of-the-art’ educational programmes that comply with European directives and standards, since they are either outdated or do not exist at all. The current national training programmes lack transparency and may therefore lead to suboptimal quality of training in throughout Europe. Until the start of this project, the available training recommendations and curriculum for postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology was out of date and had not led to alignment of national training programmes. This is very relevant as EU integration allows free movement of specialists across Europe on one hand whereas on the other hand currently no guarantee can be given for the quality of the training programmes from one county to another, whereas patient safety is at stake.

In order to offer a solution for the need to strengthen and to harmonize the quality in higher education and training in the field of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, EBCOG (the European Board & College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) has taken up the ProCuGyn project to create a pan-European Obstetrics and Gynaecology curriculum. This curriculum must meet:

• The need for conformity with regard to European directives and standards.
• The demands for professionals, employers and other stakeholders in the different countries and institutions.
• The expectation of stakeholders and society with respect to safety in health care of (pregnant) women and (unborn) children.

The ProCuGyn Strategic Partnership will be of great value for the current and next generation of obstetricians/gynaecologists. It offers the possibility for professionals to be trained and educated by a ‘state-of-the-art’ curriculum that complies with European directives. ProCuGyn guarantees that professionals involved will be able to keep up with future developments. The pan-European curriculum in Obstetrics and Gynaecology will set an example for other (medical) curricula as well. The curriculum will consist of:

1. Core content and elective modules
2. Societal and general skills for EU obstetrics and gynaecologists
3. Educational strategies for training, assessment and quality management

In addition, the project also aims to deliver:

4. SWOT analysis for implementation of the curriculum
5. Policy recommendations for implementation and sustainability
6. Handbook for strategic partnerships in pan-European postgraduate medical education

The ten partners in the project represent a great diversity in culture and organisation of national health care systems within the EU. All partners have a solid track-record on the latest developments in obstetrics and gynaecology. Together they represent outstanding knowledge and expertise from the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, support from important EU and international organisations (EBCOG, ENTOG) and academic levels in a well-balanced cooperation between field organisations and educational organisations.
The partners will collaborate to improve and share innovative practices within and beyond the participating organisations to equip (future) professionals with the knowledge and skills they need in their high-skilled occupations. By involving different kinds of stakeholders (patients, midwives, nurses, hospital board members) in developing the new training curriculum, it will be attuned to current and future labour market needs and foster employability and professional mobility in Europe.

ProCuGyn strongly contributes to the European Area of Skills and Qualification by promoting the use of learning outcomes in the design, delivery and assessment of this new curriculum. This will provide future trainees with state-of-the-art knowledge and competencies needed in their high-skilled occupations. ProCuGyn will strengthen quality as stated in the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 2014-2020.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 387963,85 Eur

Project Coordinator

STICHTING VU & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Stichting de Geboortebeweging
• Sint Lucas Andreas Ziekenhuis
• STICHTING HOGER ONDERWIJS NEDERLAND
• Ustav pro peci o matku a dite
• REGION HOVEDSTADEN
• UNION EUROPEENNE DES MEDECINS SPECIALISTES-UEMS AISBL EUROPEAN UNION OF MEDICAL SPECIALISTS
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO