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| IFOS Report 1997 Paper on Basic Phoniatric Education in the frame of ENT Training Programs (J. Wendler, updated) Despite of remarkable diversities among countries with the status of phoniatrics reaching from an independent specialty of its own standing to practically not existing, Europe, the cradle of phoniatrics, seems to have maintained and even extended its front position. The paper as well as the philosophy of IFOS is, generally, well known and widely accepted, and there are numerous activities in most of the countries to put the program into practice. On the way to a United Europe, important predecisions regarding professional aspects of medical specialization have already been taken. Among others, the Union of the European Medical Specialists (UEMS) agreed at their meeting in Dublin, September 1996, on a “Chart for the European training program in otorhinolaryngology” which contains all the topics and recommendations as formulated in the IFOS paper. This success was possible mainly due to a convincing professional policy of the Union of the European Phoniatricians (UEP) represented by their Secretary General W. Wellens in full accordance with the positions of IFOS. The main problem, to-day, is the fact that, still, not all of the European countries are belonging to the politically defined European Union. But, this will change for the better in the near future. Conflicting competition comes, in Europe too, from several other medical fields (neurology, pediatrics, maxillofacial surgery, rehabilitative medicine) as well as from logopedics and speech pathology. The care of hearing impaired children in terms of pedaudiology is an integrated part of phoniatrics in several countries. In others, this has been separated and shifted to audiology. The new rules and regulations for medical specialization in Europe are, still, under discussion, in particular with regard to the official status of phoniatrics. Whatever the outcome may be, it has to be realized that the medical challenges of the age of information require – despite of basic phoniatric education in the frame of ENT training programs - a recognized medical field of its own with special competence for communication disorders, and that is phoniatrics. |
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