Abstract
1) In July 1962, Professor Andrea Prader, Director of the University Children's Hospital (Kinderspital) in Zurich, Switzerland, organised an informal 2-day meeting for paediatricians who had attended the 4th Acta Endocrinologica Congress in Geneva the days before and who were known to be interested in foetal, neonatal, and paediatric endocrinology. 2) The need for harmonised education and training was formulated by Professor Leo Van den Brande in 1976. He proposed to develop a Europe-wide training programme in paediatric endocrinology aimed to increase the level of knowledge and skills across the continent. 3) In March 1999, after an assessment of its first comprehensive training programme that was being developed since 1995 under the aegis of Professor Peter Hindmarsh, Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes was recognised as a subsection of Paediatrics by the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS).4) The ESPE Accreditation and Syllabus convenors, working under the umbrella of the ESPE Education and Training committee, initiated a survey to gain a comprehensive view of the legal status of paediatric endocrinology subspecialty in 2017.
A close collaboration of colleagues from 42 countries allowed drawing a nearly complete European map displaying the different levels of the subspecialty recognition.