A careful review of the literature on postgraduate medical assessments, reveals that very little seems to have been published on this subject both in peer-reviewed journals and books. In 2007, the Council for European Medical Specialty Assessments (UEMS-CESMA) was created as a platform of discussion and harmonisation between the various European Boards and Sections organising postgraduate medical assessments. UEMS-CESMA, as it has officially come to be known, has turned out to be very successful in comprising 50 affiliated UEMS boards and societies, of which 38 (76 %) offer a European postgraduate medical assessment open to recognised specialists and/or residents in training. One of the major aims of UEMS-CESMA is the harmonisation of standards of assessment within European postgraduate medical assessments, which have been adopted by various European countries as being (partially) equivalent to the national final assessment in several medical specialties. The final aim of UEMS-CESMA is to further encourage this recognition as European gold standard of the European postgraduate medical assessments (EPMA). Harmonisation of assessment standards, which implies by definition the creation of quality assurance and control mechanisms, will be essential for this purpose.
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