Table 2.

Established infectious diseases training programmes that are nationally recognised

Country	Training duration (years)	Entry requirements	Supervision process	Exit examination	Authority for approval of course
Australia	3	3 years basic training and passed Part I examination of Royal Australasian College of Physicians	By suitably qualified supervisor trained in infectious diseases. Process involves formal meetings and written reports	No	The Specialist Accreditation Committee of Australia, under the auspices of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Canada	2	Minimum 3 years paediatric or internal medicine training	By university faculty members trained in infectious diseases	Yes	The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Czech Republic	3	Postgraduate training in internal or paediatric medicine	By the Institute of Postgraduate Education	Yes	The Ministry of Health
Denmark	5	2·5 years training post graduation (at least 1·5 years internal medicine).	By a senior specialist	No	The National Board of Health
Finland	6	MD degree, although in practice many candidates have been trained in general internal medicine or have done scientific research	By a senior lecturer	Yes	The medical faculty of the university (total of five medical faculties in Finland)
France	1–2 years fellowship programme	4–5 years residency in specified subjects	Practical, theoretical, and some optional internships, plus report writing and assessments	Specific degree (Diplôme d'Etudes Spécialisées Complémentaires de Pathologie Infectieuse et Tropicale)	The French Infectious Diseases Society (inter-regional co-ordinator)
Hong Kong	4 years for dual training in infectious diseases and general internal medicine; 3 years for single training in infectious diseases	Postgraduate training in internal medicine	By senior specialists and programme directors of the Hong Kong College of Physicians	Yes	The Hong Kong College of Physicians
Hungary	5	MD degree and specific entry examination	By a senior specialist	Yes	Dean of medical faculty
Ireland	4–6	At least 2 years postgraduate training in general medicine and MRCP or equivalent	By the head of department and a local committee	Not for infectious diseases. Microbiology/virology trainees must pass MRCPath examination	Irish Committee on Higher Medical Training
Israel	2	Training in internal medicine, paediatrics, or family medicine	By the head of department and hospital board nominated by the Israeli Medical Association	Yes	The Israeli Medical Association and the Infectious Diseases Society of Israel
Macedonia	4	State medical licence examination	By a senior consultant	Yes	The university department of infectious diseases and medical faculty
Netherlands	2	Licence in internal medicine, or in final 2 years of internal medicine specialty training	By infectious diseases senior staff	No	Licence must be approved by the head of the training programme
Norway	2	Medical qualification	No formal supervision, but the department must qualify as a training department	No (but there is an examination in tropical diseases)	The Norwegian Medical Association
Poland	5	Medical residency and entrance exam held at recognised training centre	By an appointed senior specialist	Yes	Special accreditation committee
Portugal	5	2 years postgraduate training and entrance examination	By a senior consultant	Yes	State hospitals
Romania	5	Entrance examination	By the head of department	Yes	The Institute for the Training of Medical Doctors and Pharmacists
Saudi Arabia	Currently 2 years—to be increased to 3 years	Training in internal medicine or paediatrics	By an experienced infectious diseases physician and microbiologist	Yes (also examination after 1 year)	Saudi Council for Health Specialities
Singapore	3	3 years postregistration training in general internal medicine, and medical qualification such as MRCP (UK)	By a senior specialist from a public institution	Yes	Specialist Training Committee (Infectious Diseases) under the Singapore Medical Council
Slovakia	3	Board certified in internal medicine or paediatrics	By a senior infectious diseases specialist	Yes	Slovak Medical University
Slovenia	6	Entrance examination	By a local specialist	Yes	Medical Chamber of Slovenia
Sweden	5	Medical qualification, plus internship in internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and general practice	By a senior specialist at a certified training centre	No (examination under development)	The state
Switzerland	3	3 years training in internal medicine or paediatrics	By a senior specialist	Yes	The Swiss Association of Physicians
Taiwan	2	Minimum 3 years training in internal medicine or paediatrics	The Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, Republic of China and local infectious diseases/microbiology specialists	Yes	The Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, Republic of China
Turkey	5 years for integrated infectious diseases and clinical microbiology	Foreign language examination and medical specialisation examination	By professors at the university hospitals or chiefs at the training hospitals of the Ministry of Health	Yes	Ministry of Health and university medical faculties, under the Council of Higher Education
UK	5 years for joint infectious diseases and general internal medicine; 6 years if tropical medicine included; 6 years training for combined infectious diseases, microbiology, or virology; 5 years for microbiology	Minimum 2 years training in general medicine or paediatrics post registration. Passed MRCP examination	By nominees of postgraduate deans	Assessment in penultimate year highlights deficiencies needing attention during the final training period. Microbiology/virology trainees must pass the MRCPath examination	Joint Committee for Higher Medical Training, through the Royal College of Physicians
USA	2	Completion of residency in internal medicine	The responsibility of the programme director	Sub-specialty board examination given by the American Board of Internal Medicine	American Board of Internal Medicine/accreditation committee on graduate medical education

MRCP=Membership of the Royal College of Physicians; MRCPath=Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists