EBP exam

About the exam

The European Board of Paediatrics examination will assess the basic knowledge needed to underpin paediatric training. It is intended as an exam for trainees who have completed at least 2-3 years basic training, but who have not necessarily progressed to ’specialist’ training. However, it will also serve as an assessment of knowledge for trainees near the end of their training, or as an assessment of continuing knowledge for established paediatricians. It has been developed in collaboration with CESMA and the UEMS. Both have endorsed the exam.

The syllabus for the basic paediatric training has been agreed by EAP, and ratified by the UEMS, and can be found here. It includes all elements of the training recommended for basic paediatric trainees, and so is not limited to the knowledge base that will be tested in the EBP examination. However, details of the competencies and knowledge required are set out clearly in the document and form the basis for the examination.

A Message from the EBP Exam Committee: The European Board of Paediatrics Exam 2020

We are absolutely delighted to report that the first-ever European Board of Paediatrics Exam took place on 16th October 2020, an historic day for EAP and all the organisations and individuals who contributed to the exam’s success. The results have now been sent out to the candidates, and we congratulate all those that passed the exam.

Firstly, we must thank CYIM, who have worked with us from the outset to prepare for this. There is a very particular thank you to Ann Garrott of LOW, who has coordinated, organised and chased – without her support this exam would not have been possible – and thanks also to Loraine Lugasi of Paragon who has helped us keep candidates (and examiners!) up to date with crucial information. Brendan Bruce and Charlotte Denis (also from LOW) have helped us publicise the exam and their experience has been invaluable. Finally, Tina Schurter and Daniel Stricker from Bern University provided external statistical review, that has been really helpful in ensuring the high quality of the exam.

Next, we must thank the candidates themselves. They obviously had studied hard for the exam and we wish them all the best in their careers, which we hope will be significantly helped by their ability to prove their professional credentials.

Thanks also go to all the personnel who helped on the day; it’s not an easy job to run a new exam, especially on-line, and the proctoring service, and technicians who looked after us helped enormously.

Despite our enthusiasm to get this exam completed, we have been very careful to maintain a high quality at every stage, from the question writing, through the exam selection and the analysis. We have involved CESMA at every stage to support and monitor us, and the external statistical review was extremely helpful in checking the validity of the exam. We are delighted both at the exam pass mark and success rate, and plan t build on this for next year, where we are planning to run two exams in May and October.

We thank you all for your patience over the period where we have been developing the exam, and thank all of you who have been involved. Continued work will be needed of course, but we hope that will be accompanied by continuing success!

The majority of the candidates were from Europe, but we were delighted to receive a significant number from the Middle East. The breakdown of numbers is as follows:

Europe: 92

 
Middle East: 12

Now that we have the exam firmly established, we must look forward to planning next year’s edition. This year we planned for 40 candidates, and received 120 successful applications. We already have a waiting list for the next exam, which we are planning for early May, and encourage early interest; keep watching for formal opening of applications on this site.

The potential for this exam to help young professionals across the globe is only limited by our imagination and ambition.

Congratulations and very best wishes to all concerned, and let’s keep the momentum going!

Best regards,

History and purpose

Many countries in Europe have quite different approaches to the assessment of training. To address this, and to ensure that trainees from across Europe are trained in a comparable manner, the UEMS set up the European Council for Accreditation of Medical Specialist Qualifications (ECAMSQ) in 2008.  The principles of assessment are that the competence of the trainee is the critical factor.

Assessment is generally accepted as needing four different elements: knowledge, clinical assessment (summative assessments), experience and competency (formative assessments).

Knowledge is usually assessed by means of a written exam, most commonly an MCQ exam. Such exams may test core training knowledge, or may be used at a later stage in training to assess specialist knowledge.

Clinical assessment (often just termed clinical exams) involve trainees being assessed face to face by examiners who test their ability to interpret data, assess patients or plan care.

Experience is usually either assessed by duration of training, or by the evaluation of logbooks determining what cases or what procedures have been encountered by the trainee.

Competency is often assessed by using a number of in-training mini-assessments, such as case based discussion, directly observed procedures and others. Information on these techniques (from the CanMeds website) can be found here. 

European recommendations are not binding on any country, and each must determine for themselves how to assess competency, but the recommendations do provide a uniform platform on which training evaluation can be based. 

The EAP has simultaneously been agreeing the elements of core training, that should be learnt by all doctors who predominately practise in paediatric medicine. This includes primary care doctors working with children, general paediatricians in hospital and subspecialists. The curriculum for that core training has been agreed 3 years ago, and approved by the UEMS. 

Having recognised that knowledge examination is a critical component of the evaluation process, the need to develop an examination for European paediatricians is pressing. Some countries (such as the UK and Ireland) use an established exam, but most have no access to a standardised exam. This is wanted by EAP, but also by the UEMS, and by CESMA, the European group that oversees examinations in medicine. Over the last 10 years, many other (adult based) specialists have developed such exams, and paediatrics needs to join them. 

Any examination needs to be a part of a broader assessment. The EAP strongly supports the need for competency assessment, as well as clinical examination and logbooks. However those additional assessments are usually better arranged within countries, and conducted in the native language of the trainees. At this stage (2020) the EAP is therefore looking to provide a high quality knowledge based exam, although the possibility of future clinical examinations remains our ambition.

Exam Regulations

Please read the Exam Regulations carefully.

By registering for the EBP examination, the candidate confirms that he/she adheres to the terms and conditions as stipulated within the regulations. If you have any questions please contact us on ebpexam@eapaediatrics.eu

Exam details

Who can apply? 

The exam is intended as a measure of basic paediatric training. It is open to all trainees who are in a recognised training institute, whether within Europe or elsewhere in the world. Applicants will need to provide a letter of confirmation from their training institute that certifies the trainee is a qualified doctor, and is training in paediatrics.

We also believe that fully qualified paediatricians may also find this exam useful for confirming their ongoing professional development, or for ‘revalidation’. Applicants with substantive posts in paediatrics can therefore also apply, again needing a letter from their institution confirming their position. 

Who should take the exam? 

As suggested above, the main group for whom this exam is designed is trainees in paediatrics. These may be in Europe  (where they could be training in hospital based or community based posts) but the exam may also be valuable for trainees overseas, especially those looking for European experience*. We also believe that the exam may be useful for general practitioners who want additional paediatric experience, or for established paediatricians wanting to undertake CPD/revalidation.
*but please note the section below  

What does the exam mean? 

This exam is an assessment of basic knowledge, and successful candidates will get a certificate demonstrating that their theoretical knowledge of paediatrics has achieved a level to satisfy the UEMS. CESMA – the European body tasked with monitoring training assessment in Europe, has been involved with the exam from its inception, and their approval of the exam is anticipated once it has been running for a couple of years.

However it is not intended as a measure of completion of training. Assessment of knowledge is one component of assessing trainee competency, but needs to be taken into account with other measures (such as clinical skills and competencies, and volume of experience) before training can be properly assessed as complete.

As a European exam, no national medical body can be obliged to recognise the exam in their country, and it will not guarantee admission to any training program, but it will be valuable evidence of a level of training that will be recognised as such across Europe.

What are the exam regulations? 

The exam regulations can be downloaded here. By registering for the EBP examination, the candidate confirms that he/she adheres to the terms and conditions as stipulated within this binding document.

QUERIES

If you have any questions please contact us on ebpexam@eapaediatrics.eu. 

FAQs

Acknowledgements – our heroes!

We would like to acknowledge those people who have made this exam possible, either by writing case studies to aid revision or by writing the actual questions. It takes a great deal of knowledge, expertise and time to do so and we recognise these people are ‘our heroes’!