LIBRO + ANEXOS NEONATOLOGÍA

Libro Blanco de las ACES Pediátricas 2024 56 ❚ 4 INTRODUCTION In order to achieve high standards of both patient care and scientific research in the field of medicine, high quality postgraduate training programmes are indispensable. One of the endeavours of the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS) and the European Board of Paediatrics (EBP), the Paediatric Section of UEMS, is to promote training programmes in Paediatrics and its recognised subspecialties of equivalent quality in the various member countries throughout the European Union (EU). Because of the rapid integration of these countries, doctors can now freely practice medicine throughout the EU. It is therefore of prime importance for the maintenance of standards of patient care that specialist doctors should receive equivalent training in each of the member countries. Neonatology is a highly technical and rapidly evolving area of paediatric medicine, which is established as a paediatric subspecialty in most European countries. In different countries the form and duration of the training, as well as process for accrediting training centres and monitoring the quality of training, vary markedly. Next to the care for preterm infants and otherwise compromised babies, Neonatology encompasses the care for healthy newborn babies, which includes the clinical examination and prescription of recommended prophylactic medication or appropriate newborn screening tests. Neonatal medicine further includes the pre- and postoperative care for infants with surgical, neuro-surgical and congenital heart disease, as well as acutely ill patients. Finally, specialists in Neonatology recognise the needs of the parents and families of newborn infants as a whole and care for these compassionately. Neonatologists utilise a multi-disciplinary team of doctors and nurses from different specialities, psychologists and other allied health care professionals and social workers to improve the physical and mental conditions in which families with an unwell infant find themselves. This ultimately includes the care for the dying sick neonate at all gestational ages and knowledge of providing appropriate palliative treatment We believe that this curriculum and assessment framework may be utilised to: ● Optimise health care for the neonate; ● Harmonise training in Neonatology between different European countries; ● Establish clearly defined standards of knowledge and skills required to practice Neonatology at a tertiary care level; ● Foster the development of a European network of proficient tertiary care centres for Neonatology; ● Through these measures, the curriculum and assessment framework aim to: o improve the quality of care for severely ill newborn babies, and o enhance European contributions to international scientific progress in the field of Neonatology. This document defines the aims of training, the content and the duration of the training programme, the basic requirements for entering such a programme and a spectrum of required qualifications for training centres and tutors.