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. 2011 Mar 7;17(9):1109-15.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v17.i9.1109.

Digestive oncologist in the gastroenterology training curriculum

Chris Jacob Johan Mulder  1 , Marc Peeters, Annemieke Cats, Anna Dahele, Jochim Terhaar sive Droste
Affiliations

Digestive oncologist in the gastroenterology training curriculum

Chris Jacob Johan Mulder et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Until the late 1980s, gastroenterology (GE) was considered a subspecialty of Internal Medicine. Today, GE also incorporates Hepatology. However, Digestive Oncology training is poorly defined in the Hepatogastroenterology (HGE)-curriculum. Therefore, a Digestive Oncology curriculum should be developed and this document might be a starting point for such a curriculum. HGE-specialists are increasingly resisting the paradigm in which they play only a diagnostic and technical role in the management of digestive tumors. We suggest minimum end-points in the standard HGE-curriculum for oncology, and recommend a focus year in the Netherlands for Digestive Oncology in the HGE-curriculum. To produce well-trained digestive oncologists, an advanced Digestive Oncology training program with specific qualifications in Digestive Oncology (2 years) has been developed. The schedule in Belgium includes a period of at least 6 mo to be spent in a medical oncology department. The goal of these programs remains the production of well-trained digestive oncologists. HGE specialists are part of the multidisciplinary oncological teams, and some have been administering chemotherapy in their countries for years. In this article, we provide a road map for the organization of a proper training in Digestive Oncology. We hope that the World Gastroenterology Organisation and other (inter)national societies will support the necessary certifications for this specific training in the HGE-curriculum.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Curriculum; Digestive oncologist; Gastroenterology; Immunotherapy; Oncology; Targeted therapy; Training.

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