Educational Committee for Phoniatrics
Chair
Berit Schneider (Austria)
Committee Members
Per Ake Lindestad (Sweden)
Committee goal
The goal of the committee is to establish a standard for:
a. The scope of the speciality
b. The training program and the contents of the curriculum
c. Unification of the educational/specialisation system to facilitate international comparisons.
Previous achievements
It was expressed in the report to the Board Meeting 05 that the educational program for Phoniatrics does not represent a great difficulty because part of this difficulty is taken away by the fact that the specialisation begins after the basic medical education/qualification which is more or less similar world wide. The difficulty remains in the domain of defining the educational needs for specialisation in the field. There is already a good document given by the European Union of Phoniatricians [UPE] some years ago. This document highlighted the recommendations for the scope of the specialty and the educational program as well as requirements for specialisation.
Current topics of discussion
The committee is working at present, through face-to-face meeting as well as through the net to modify the old document to meet changing demands at present as well as possible future changes to adapt to a changing tendency of specialisation in Medicine. The committee is aware that the status of Phoniatrics varies in various countries around the world. This extends from an independent speciality, to a sub/super speciality of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, to a special arrangement with Audiology, to a non-existent line. The before mentioned explanation may present the lines along which the committee shall work in the future. The committee may tart with looking at the recommendations of training for specialisation as it is being summarised by two members following a face-to-face meeting that the other two members could not attend unfortunately. When this document is studied by all and following discussions, the final recommendations shall be reported to the IALP Board.
Person to contact
Berit Schneider (Austria)
