Sturend meebewegen: De opleiding tot arts voor verstandelijk gehandicapten

In the Netherlands the specialization Intellectual Disability Medicine started in 2000. The main reasons for its existence are the unmet health needs of people with intellectual disability. The discipline has developed rapidly, from general practitioner-plus to a specialist in comorbidity next to the general practitioner. The specialization takes 3 years. Training hospitals can be found all over the Netherlands. The trainees follow the weekly educational activities at the national training institute that is linked to the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. Given the great diversity of health questions that specialists in intellectual disability medicine (Dutch acronym: AVGs) have to deal with in their training, aside from clinical issues, a lot of attention is devoted to such topics as how to work methodically, medical-ethical questions and network development. About 220 AVGs are currently registered.