Report from the EFIM Working Group on Professional Issues in Internal Medicine Two reports have now been published: in 2005 and in 2010, please see below:
What will be the future of internal medicine in Europe? Because of rapidly growing concerns regarding the position of internal medicine in many European countries, the European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM) has established a working group to analyze the situation.
Being well aware of the variation in working practices in the different countries, the members of the group used an "all-European" approach to answer the following questions:
· Are there problems for internal medicine? If so, what are these problems and why?
· Why do the health care systems in the European countries need internal medicine?
· Why do patients need internal medicine?
· What needs to be done?
Internal medicine is the modern, clinical, and scientific medical discipline that is responsible for the care of adult patients with one or more complex, acute, or chronic illnesses. Internal medicine is the cornerstone of an integrated health care delivery service that is needed today. Decision-makers in politics and hospitals, insurers, journalists, and the general public need a better understanding of what internal medicine can offer to the health care system and to the individual patient.
EFIM recommends wide publication of the two reports (see below) via national society websites and journals with translation where appropriate. EFIM owns the copyright and any additional journal publications should be notified to:
Dr JWF Elte, EFIM Secretary-General
E-mail: mailto:j.elte@sfg.nl
1st Report from the EFIM Working Group on Professional Issues in Internal Medicine
Political issues in Internal Medicine in Europe: A position paper Chairman/Principal Author: Werner Bauer
Members: Petra-Maria Schumm-Draeger; Johannes Koebberling; Thomas Gjoerup; Jose Javier Garcia Alegria; Faustino Ferreira; Clare Higgens; Werner Bauer; Giuseppe Licata; Moshe Mittelman; James O'Hare; Serhat Ünal.
Eur J Int Med 2005; 16: 214-217
2nd Report from the EFIM Working Group on Professional Issues in Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine in Europe: How to cope with the future? An official EFIM strategy document
Chairman/Principal Author: Mark Kramer
Members: Mark Kramer, Erdal Akalin, Melchor Alvarez de Mon Soto, Haim Bitterman, Faustino Ferreira, Clare Higgens; Petra-Maria Schumm-Draeger, Johannes Koebberling, Mine Durusu Tanriover, Werner Bauer.
Eur J Int Med 2010; 21: 173-175