1. Introduction |
- The number of patients with malignancies in the world continues to increase. It is estimated that 10 million new cases are diagnosed every year and that 2 million people are either receiving treatment or are living with their disease. The last decades have seen a rapid growth in medical technology and in the advances of fundamental knowledge of cancer cell biology with impact on genetics, screening, early diagnosis, staging, and overall treatment of cancer. These developments have also led to a more coordinated, multidisciplinary approach
- to the management of the individual malignancy and the need to establish formal training based on a set of guidelines or a curriculum in the various major specialties such as surgery, radiotherapy, and medical oncology. The foundation for the establishment of medical oncology as a specialty was created in 1965 when the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was founded. A uniform system of training in medical oncology in the United States was formulated by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1973. In 1997, ASCO published a train-ing resource document for the development of a curriculum in medical oncology.
- The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) instituted an examination in medical oncology in 1989 for physicians actively working in the field. To guarantee maintenance and update of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of these physicians, which is essential to the provision of excellent care, the program of continuous education of medical oncology, the ESMO-Medical Oncologist’s Recertification Approval program, was introduced in 1994.
- The main objective of these certification systems is to improve the quality of patient treatment and care, to set standards of clinical competence for the practice of medical oncology, and to encourage a continued scholarship for professional excellence over a lifetime of practice.
- In 1998, a standard program of certification and training for medical oncology was published in accordance with the requirements set by the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes for the recognition of medical oncology as an independent discipline. At present, medical oncology is a recognized specialty in 25 European countries.
- In other areas of the world, teaching and training programs in medical oncology have also been developed.
