The European core curriculum on radiotherapy.

For the radiotherapy community in Europe, 4th March, 1991 marked a historic date. On that day representatives from national radiotherapy societies in Europe officially signed a document now known as the "Minimum Curriculum for the Postgraduate Training of Medical Practitioners in the Modality Radiotherapy Within Europe". This document marks the completion of nearly 5 years' work by the Committee on Education of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) and an intensified endeavour towards harmonisation of training in radiotherapy in Europe. The beginnings of this project can be traced back to June 1985, when a small group of colleagues, during the ECCO meeting held in Stockholm, decided to form a Committee on Education within ESTRO. In 1986 European societies actively involved in radiotherapy training were sent a questionnaire. The first questionnaire was designed to provide an inventory that would give an insight into training in oncology during basic medical training; the way the speciality was organised in the different countries; and the way training in radiation oncology was organised in these countries. Our prime interest was the theoretical part of the training programmes. Although we were aware of the potential bias caused by the selection of colleagues invited to complete the forms and although the analysis of the data turned out to be extremely difficult due to differences in the organisation of the speciality, some general conclusions could be drawn. Firstly, there is, or was, hardly any country in which oncology was a recognisable independent part of the basic training of medical doctors, as was also concluded by the educational branch of the EORTC. Secondly, in most countries, radiation oncology was an independent speciality (or was becoming so) either in itself or integrated in oncology. We concluded that radiotherapists formed the largest group of full-time oncologists in Europe. Thirdly, there was an enormous variation in the regulations and rules applied to the training of medical specialists in Europe. This resulted in a great variety of training programmes. Although there were many points of similarity, there was no such a thing as a European training programme for radiotherapy, neither with respect to the content of the training, the training organisation nor certification and rules for examinations. It was clear that it would be impossible to change this picture rapidly, it was also felt that it would not be very useful to try it. However, in view of the political changes taking place in Europe and the increasing mobility of students and professionals, stimulated by the EEC programmes (ERASMUS ; TEMPUS), it seemed worthwhile to define a set of standards which could serve as a reference for national training programmes. In 1989 a second questionnaire was sent out. This questionnaire was forwarded to one or more representatives of national radiotherapy societies. In this way the answers could be considered to reflect more accurately the situation in a certain country. This second questionnaire aimed at collecting more detailed information on the organisation of the speciality and the training programme. The outcome served as the basis for a draft of a core curriculum in radiation oncology which was prepared by a small working party of ESTRO's Committee on Education. With the support of the ERASMUS Programme of the EEC, the committee was able to organise two meetings, one in May