Skills and requirements of a transplant hepatologist: board certification of the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF).

Liver transplantation has indeed evolved from an experimental procedure in the early 1980s to the most effective treatment for patients with advanced liver cirrhosis and for selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and fulminant hepatic failure. In this new scenario, the transplant hepatologist plays a crucial clinical role, with essential duties and skills to manage the complexities encountered in waitlisted patients or transplant recipients. The clinical tasks of the transplant hepatologist include the management of patients with end-stage liver disease who are candidates for liver transplantation and/or on the waiting list, as well as the care of transplant recipients, in both the in- and outpatient setting. Starting in 2013, the Italian Association of the Study of the Liver, with the endorsement of the National Transplant Centre, will be offering a formal certification process for transplant hepatologists, implemented in accordance to Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes-European Board of Transplant Medicine procedures. The Special Article outlines the requirements for board certification of the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver transplant hepatologist.