Abstract
The development of adolescent health and medicine as a medical discipline lags behind in Europe compared with other regions of the world. This study aims to evaluate the structure and content of adolescent medicine and health training curricula for medical students, paediatricians, and other primary care physicians in the European region. A questionnaire survey was sent by e-mail to experts in the field from 36 European countries, addressing the content of adolescent health issues. Data was obtained from all 36 countries. At the undergraduate level, seven countries reported some mandatory stand-alone teaching (sessions dealing specifically with adolescents), while seven countries reported optional stand-alone teaching. In only 7 out of 36 countries were issues critical to adolescents covered as stand-alone sessions. At the postgraduate level, 15 countries delivered stand-alone mandatory training sessions to primary, secondary, or tertiary care paediatricians, covering most of the five critical areas listed in the questionnaire. In another 13 countries, such sessions were not mandatory and were inexistent in eight of them. The coverage among school physicians was similar but was much lower among general practitioners.Conclusion: Paediatric associations and academic institutions should advocate for a better coverage of adolescent health and medicine in the training curricula of health care providers.What is known:• In most European countries, adolescent medicine is still poorly represented as a discipline.• Experts have recently published recommendations regarding what form the structure and content of a training curriculum in this field should take.What is new:• This paper gives information on the extent and content of training in adolescent medicine and health as currently offered within under- and postgraduate European training curricula, in terms of stand-alone mandatory (versus optional) sessions.• In many European countries, both medical students and residents are poorly exposed to the basic knowledge and skills pertaining to adolescent health care.
Highlights
Worldwide, the specific health needs of adolescents are increasingly being addressed [13, 16, 18]
Paediatric associations and academic institutions should advocate for a better coverage of adolescent health and medicine in the training curricula of health care providers
In many European countries, both medical students and residents are poorly exposed to the basic knowledge and skills pertaining to adolescent health care
Summary
The specific health needs of adolescents are increasingly being addressed [13, 16, 18]. Several documents have recently outlined how high-quality health care can be achieved for adolescents [3, 15, 17, 22], in which the training and competencies of health care providers play a pivotal role [9, 12, 14] When asked about their training needs in the area of adolescent medicine and health, paediatricians express a wish to acquire a variety of knowledge and skills. In a survey conducted among French paediatric residents, 81% considered that paediatricians should acquire skills in adolescent medicine and health; they reported major difficulties in providing care for teenagers reluctant to seek health care, or in managing suicidal adolescents [8]. In another survey carried out 15 years ago among Swiss primary care providers in private practice [10], two-thirds wanted to acquire more skills in managing functional disorders and half expressed a desire to receive training in areas such as communication skills, mental health (including eating disorders), substance use, or coping with dysfunctional families
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
