Nuclear medicine training and practice in Germany

Abstract

In Germany the duration of training in the field of nuclear medicine is 5 years, of which 1 year must be spent in clinical inpatient patient care, and another 6 months of training in another field is possible. It is also permissible to work for up to a year in a radiology department. In contrast, to get credit for the training in nuclear medicine in other fields such as radiology is essentially impossible or there is a very strict time limit. The reason can be found in the differences within the Federal States in Germany with regard to acknowledging nuclear medicine as a “specialty of immediate patient care” [2]. The WBO of the German Medical Association constitutes one of the guidelines dictating the content of the training. The German Radiation Protection Ordinance and the guidelines on obtaining the special qualification contain further regulations. In this ordinance specific numbers are listed for guidance, which, however, do not constitute bindingminimum numbers. In addition to the provision of the medical associations, the guideline on technical knowledge, which took effect on 1 November 2011, determines ballpark numbers and time frames for training programmes in expert knowledge of safe use of radiation. Essentially these match the provisions in the template regulation, with the exception of the number of therapies allowed for malignant thyroid diseases (only 100 instead of 200 therapies) and providing a separate regulation for endoluminal or endocavitary therapies. For this separate specialty ten documented applications are required each for selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), endoluminal therapies and radiosynoviorthesis. In the former specialty training regulation, MRI could be found as a subspecialization in the field of nuclear medicine. In the new specialty training regulation, an additional subjectL. S. Freudenberg ZRN Grevenbroich, Dormagen, Neuss, Germany