News Letter May 2007
Section of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM)
Of the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS)
Communiqué d’information de mai 2007
Section de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation de l’Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS)
General Assembly in Rennes
Assemblée générale de Rennes
30/05/2007- UEMS_PRM_newsletter20070521FE.doc
English version
The General Assembly of the UEMS PRM Section took place in Rennes from 29th to 31st of March 2007 and was attended by 45 delegates from 28 countries. The Assembly was hosted by the Centre Hospitalier Privé Saint Grégoire, which also welcomed the European Society of PRM, the Editorial Board of the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Chief Editor of Europa Medico Physica.
The Executive Committees of the PRM Section and Board were fully completed with the election of Dr Nicolas Christodoulou (Cyprus) as Secretary General and the vote of new rules about the organization charts of the Board and Section. The President of the Board is automatically the Vice-President of the PRM Section. The Vice-President of the Board is considered as the future President of the Board. The Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary, the Treasurer and the Deputy Treasurer are the same persons, respectively in the Section and in the Board. President Alain Delarque’s proposal for an “New Government” of the UEMS Section and Board was unanimously adopted. This New Government will consist of :
ü Prof. Alain Delarque (France), President of the UEMS PRM Section,
ü Prof. Xanthi Michail (Greece), Vice-President of the Section and President of the Board,
ü Dr Nicolas Christodoulou (Cyprus), Secretary General of the Section and Board,
ü Dr Georges de Korvin(France), Deputy Secretary and Webmaster of the Section and Board,
ü Dr Martinus Terburg (The Netherlands), Treasurer of the Section and Board,
ü Prof. Fernando Parada-Pereira (Portugal), Deputy Treasurer of the Section and Board,
ü Prof. Bengt Sjölund (Sweden), Chairman of the Committee for Clinical Affairs,
ü Prof. Michael Quittan (Austria), Rapporteur of the Committee for Clinical Affairs,
ü Prof. Christoph Gutenbrunner (Germany, Chairman of the Committee for Professional Practice,
ü Prof. Mihai Berteanu (Romania), Rapporteur of the Committee for Professional Practice,
ü Dr Anthony Ward (United Kingdom), Past-President of the UEMS PRM Section
ü Prof. Guy Vanderstraeten (Belgium), Past President of the PRM Board
Board
The Board started to consider the concept and the feasibility of an educational project, in which Board registered trainees will be involved from the beginning of their graduate programme. The trainees would benefit from lower registration fees to the Board, from reduced registration to European Congresses accredited by the PRM Board and from new teaching programmes, such as the European School Marseille programme on Posture and Movement Analysis. The further development of education material on the website and E-learning will also be addressed.
The certification of the Training Units will be reorganized under the responsibility of Prof. Crt Marincek (Slovenia). He will cooperate with Dr Martinus Terburg (The Netherlands), Treasurer of the Section and Board, and the “National Managers”, who are already responsible for Board certification in each country.
Clinical Affairs and Professional Practice
As a general rule for their cooperation, it was agreed that the Clinical Affairs Committee will address the scientific evidence and the quality of care whereas the Professional Practice Committee will focus on organization schemes and frameworks of PRM.
The WHO Action Plan 2006-2011 on Handicap and Rehabilitation, was presented in Athens by Dr Frederico Montero. It wants to promote access to Community Based Rehabilitation The UEMS Section will focus on Community Based Rehabilitation and the role of PRM in this process.
The UEMS PRM Section voted for promoting the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in daily medical practice. A task force will prepare guidelines and a first European conference, in context with the WHO promoting the ICF Core Sets. Members of this task force. Namely Prof. Aivars Vetra (Latvia) for the Professional Practice Committee, Prof. Michael Quittan (Austria) for the Clinical Affairs Committee and Prof. Xanthi Michail (Greece) for the PRM Board will participate in this task force, which will also include a representative of the European Society of PRM. Website : http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/site/index.cfm
Clinical Affairs
The Accreditation of the Quality of Care in PRM is going through with its second trial phase. The Internet system is going to be upgraded with the possibility for the Jury to vote “under consideration”, instead of “yes” or “no”. The candidate will then be allowed to correct his declaration according to the Jury’s recommendations within a period of six months. Thus, the procedure will be more interactive, while it will remain anonymous. The opening of this Accreditation programme to all Board Certified Specialists is expected from the beginning of 2008. Website : http://europrm.org/ -Chairman : Prof. Bengt Sjölund (Sweden), supervisor : Dr Georges de Korvin (France)
Professional Practice
The new White Book on PRM in Europe has been published both in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine and in Europa Medicophysica. A French version will be published in the Annales de Réadaptation et de Médecine Physique. Each European country retains the right to publish an approved translation in its own language.
The Committee of Professionnal Practice has started to address new issues, such as the relationship between PRM and other medical specialities and professions and a workshop on vocational rehabilitation is planed to take place at the ESPRM congress in Brugges - June 3-6th, 2008.
The next General Assembly of the UEMS PRM Section and Board will take place in Bucharest (Romania) September 13-15th 2007. Emphasis will be put on harmonizing our works with the action plans and requests of the UEMS Management Council and its new Joint Committees. Indeed, it is highly important for our specialty to give its contribution to all documents, which will be brought before the European authorities, especially, the European Commission in Brussels and the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Prof. Alain Delarque, President of the UEMS PRM Section
Dr Georges de Korvin, Deputy Secretary and Webmaster of the Section and Board
Our thanks to John Balding for assisting in the English composition.
John is the founder of the Schools Health Education Unit, Exeter. www.sheu.org.uk