Education and training of European neurologists in dementia

What is it about?

The aim of this study was to describe the present involvement of neurologists in dementia management in European countries. Data were obtained from a questionnaire that members of The European Federation of Neurological Societies Scientific Panel on Dementia responded to. Information was obtained from 25 countries in Europe. A progressive decrease in the teaching activity from medical school to boardcertified neurologists was reported. Teaching of medical students in dementia is obligatory in most countries, whereas there is no formal obligatory education in dementia after graduation from medical school. Further, in only half of the countries that responded to the questionnaire, obligatory courses in dementia are part of the training in neurology. Except for one country, the post-graduate training programs of board-certified neurologists do not include dementia as an obligatory topic. In only 10 of 25 countries, guidelines for neurologists on dementia evaluation have been published in local language. It is recommended to include obligatory teaching and training in dementia in the catalogue of minimum requirements for specialist training in neurology and this teaching should also be part of the ongoing update of certified neurologists.

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Why is it important?

Except for Poland, Hungary, and Cyprus (where there is no medical school), teaching in dementia is part of the curriculum of medical students in all countries, either as lectures or as courses. In Finland and Slovenia, teaching is optional, but in 19 of the 24 countries that provided information on teaching programmes, teaching is obligatory. Obligatory lectures are provided in more than 50% of the countries, the curricula vary from country to country: in Latvia and Romania, teaching is limited to one obligatory lecture ranging up to four in Greece, but most countries have twoobligatory lectures in their curricula. A little less than 50% of the countries offer obligatory courses, and most of them only one course during the curriculum.In 12 of 25 countries, guidelines for physicians on dementia evaluation have been published in local language, and in 10 of 25 countries, guidelines for neurologists on dementia evaluation have been published in local language . In 10 countries, no published guidelines existed, although guidelines are in preparation in the Netherlands, Latvia, and Poland. In contrast to the relative lack of guidelines, in all countries except Cyprus, Slovenia, and Serbia and Montenegro there is training material on dementia available for physicians or neurologists .

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