The European Training Requirements in Neonatology (ETR Neonatology) represent a curriculum that has been developed to support national training programmes in Neonatal Medicine and is one of the Paediatric Specialist training programmes, defined by the Union Européenne des Medicins Specialistes (UEMS) through the European Board of Paediatrics (EBP).
Work on the ETR was led by NPEU's Clinical Director of CTU, Prof Charles C Roehr, a neonatologist and the current President of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR). The document has the objective to define the minimum requirements for training in neonatology by adapting it to modern-day, clinical work patterns and administrative realities. It strives to make the up-to-date process of training in neonatology (following the core-training in paediatrics) transparent, while facilitating the incorporation of high-quality national training programmes that were not easily reconciled with the modular system of the ETR Neonatology.
Work on the revision (2017 - 2021) was led by Prof. Charles Roehr and a UEMS-appointed board of examined specialists in neonatal medicine with years of experience at senior staff level, all being experienced neonatal educators with extensive knowledge in policy development and members of the ESPR. The process of generating the ETR Neonatology included the review of existing European policy documents on training requirements, the second edition of the ETR (Version 2007), national European syllabi and also recently-published, by an international collaboration, European Standards of Care for Newborn Health. Furthermore, through the initiative of the European Board of Neonatology (EBN) – the ESPR's educational branch – consultations among representatives of >30 European national neonatal societies were sought to actively contribute items for inclusion in the ETR to ensure international applicability.
The result is a truly Pan-European curriculum for neonatal training, including suggestions suitable for countries throughout Europe independently of their level of income.