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Bridging continents: postgraduate infectious diseases training programs from central Europe to Southeast Asia

Öncü S, Erdem H, Tufan ZK, Al-Abri SS, Al Maslamani M, Alramahi JW, Alrifai S, Alsuwaidi A et al.

Infection, 2025

1 citation

Abstract

PURPOSE: Increasing travel, climate change, spread of antimicrobial resistance and pandemics increased the need for well-trained infectious diseases (ID) specialists and qualified ID specialist training for protecting public health all over the world. In this study, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of ID specialty training programs for standardization and quality improvement in a large geographical area.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among national respondents of 29 countries [Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan), the Middle East (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon), Southeast Europe (Albania, Greece, Kosovo, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Croatia), Eastern Europe (Russia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan), Southeast Asia (Malaysia), Türkiye] to evaluate the structure and components of ID training programs.

RESULTS: In this study, structural variability in ID training programs was notable. 65.5% of the countries offered independent specialty program, 59% of the countries reported a required exam for entry into the ID specialization. Nearly all of the countries had a formal training curriculum; written exams were the most common used assessment method.

CONCLUSION: This study provides a comprehensive overview of ID specialty training across diverse regions, highlighting major structural…

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