SP0149 EULAR Education: What Is in It for You?
Authors: A. Iagnocco
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2016)

By 2017, EULAR will be a pre-eminent provider and facilitator of high-quality education for physicians, health professionals in rheumatology, and people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. In addition to educational sessions at the annual congress and the EULAR symposia at AFLAR, PANLAR, APLAR, currently available educational offers cover different fields and are represented by online and live courses, exchange programmes, bursaries, grantsand awards, publications and other materials. In terms of online courses, in recent years, EULAR has put substantial effort and investment into developing e-learning opportunities. All EULAR courses, as electronic ways of continuous medical education in rheumatology, are managed by a scientific course committee responsible for the structure and content of the courses and for ensuring quality control. EULAR teams of expert authors regularly review and update courses to keep up with the newest developments in the field. While the 2-year Online Course on Rheumatic Diseases offers a comprehensive introduction to and update on all aspects of rheumatology, a number of shorter online courses (i.e. US introductory, Paediatric, Health Professionals, Systemic Sclerosis) offer flexible learning for the specialist. Live courses are currently planned and developed with the objective of making a targeted contribution to training and further education to rheumatologists and health professionals, complementing the standard range of opportunities provided by universities, hospitals and other institutions. To this end EULAR offers a number of its own branded courses and, in addition, grants "EULAR scientific endorsement" as a mark of scientific quality to selected courses and meetings run by established providers in Europe. In this context, EULAR invites other courses and scientific meetings in the field of rheumatology to apply for endorsement. EULAR views scientific endorsement as an opportunity to positively influence the quality of rheumatology training in Europe, which is in line with EULAR longer-term goals. Quality control associated with EULAR scientific endorsement focuses on the proposed content and faculty as well as on evaluation of these courses or meetings. The purpose of the EULAR/ACR Exchange Program is to promote the international exchange of clinical and research skills, expertise and knowledge within rheumatology. The program recognizes outstanding rheumatology faculty and provides exposure to the exciting work being done by colleagues overseas. This exchange program allows participants to share knowledge and experience, and creates opportunities for collaboration. Another EULAR objective is the use of bursaries to contribute to the personal and professional development of rheumatologists, health professionals as well as people with rheumatic diseases. To this end, EULAR facilitates attendance at the annual EULAR congress in the form of travel bursaries, also provides bursaries to attend EULAR courses in rheumatology. EULAR is committed to helping individuals develop their skills, expertise and network of contacts and therefore offers a range of educational grants tailored to the needs of researchers and clinicians, health professionals and patient organisations. Educational grants are offered at regular intervals. In terms of publications, in addition to the two EULAR journals (ARD and RMDopen), and next to the EULAR Textbook on Rheumatic Diseases, EULAR has published the Textbook on Systemic Sclerosis, and also endorsed several books which are relevant to the EULAR live and online courses. The new EULAR Texbook on Ultrasound will be launched at the annual Congress in London, on June 2016. Additional opportunities are represented by educational activities such as a network of imaging centres, videos which offer an insight into some EULAR courses and international events, practical DVDs with video production on undergraduate training in history and physical examination of the musculoskeletal system. New activities that will be launched in 2016 are a medical student primer, student webinars on "case of the month" and webinar monthly lecture given by experts. <h3>Key messages</h3> –By 2017, EULAR will be a pre-eminent provider and facilitator of high-quality education for physicians, health professionals in rheumatology, and people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. –Currently available educational offers cover different fields with online and live courses, exchange programmes, bursaries, grants and awards, publications and other materials. <h3>Disclosure of Interest</h3> None declared