UEMS EUROPEAN BOARD OF NEUROLOGY THANKS ITS PARTNERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
TO THE EUROPEAN BOARD EXAMINATION IN NEUROLOGY
EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY
Next Examination: June 15, 2018
Lisbon, Portugal
Detailed information coming soon.
INFORMATION
ON THE 9th EUROPEAN BOARD OF NEUROLOGY EXAMINATION
June 23, 2017 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Edited by UEMS European Board of Neurologists – Examination Committee
Address:
UEMS - EBN
c/o Vienna Medical Academy
Alser Straße 4, 1090 Vienna, Austria
t: +43 1 405 13 83-32
f: +43 1 407 82 74
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GENERAL
The European Board Examination in Neurology is a joint development of the UEMS Section of Neurology and the European Academy of Neurology. It is considered to be a tool for the assessment of European neurological education and to boost its European standards.
It is supervised by the examination committee of the UEMS /EBN and also observed by the EAN representing the European neurological scientific societies and the World Federation of Neurology (WFN).
The exam was held in 2009 for the very first time and since then 252 candidates passed the exam. Successful candidates from all over the world are now conferred the title "Fellow of the European Board of Neurology (FEBN)".
8th European Board Examination in Neurology – May 27, 2016 – Copenhagen/Denmark
The 9th European Board Examination in Neurology will be organised one day prior to the 3rd congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) on Friday, June 23, 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
VENUE
Europaplein 22,
1078 GZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The exams will be taken in secluded rooms without public accessibility. In case of failure there is no limitation of sitting at later examinations, provided a reduced examination fee payment. Registration for the examination implies that the candidate accepts that the result of the examination is final. No legal debate on the final decision is possible.
WHY TAKING A EUROPEAN NEUROLOGY EXAMINATION?
Passing this examination is an additional sign of excellence but no legal consequence is attached nor is the right to practice within the EU or elsewhere affected.
The European Board Examination in Neurology is a substantial step in the further harmonisation and in the raising of the standards in European neurology. The cooperation with scientific neurological societies is an important scientific input and a guarantee of continuous update of the current knowledge of a European neurologist.
The European Examination in Neurology is a proof of excellence: Taking the examination shows the candidate´s commitment to life-long learning. Even without legal recognition, this is known and recognised within the profession throughout Europe and the rest of the world, thus encouraging the mobility of specialists in Neurology giving an additional distinguishing mark to the individual candidate.
A few words of praise from one of the successful candidates:
"Many thanks. Being a FEBN I noticed that the world turns in different ways, as the title and the knowledge have opened many new doors and opportunities in the field of Neurology for me. Furthermore the preparation and revision for the exam, which I completed successfully after 3,5 years of training in field of neurology, expanded further my knowledge in the area."
"I just wanted to thank you for your unconditional support to take the EBN exam this year in Denmark. I was very proud of being part of the group who took this holistic examination. The organization and quality of the exam were great and will definitively help in the development of better academic neurologists."
"Thanks for all the communications and support given for taking the EBN examination. It is a good academic experience for me. Thanking you sincerely"
"I would like to thank you a lot for all the help you gave me, your wonderful kindness and your generous availability; for making this experience one of the best of my life and a dream come true.
It has been a pleasure, a privilege and an honour meeting you in person, and witnessing the magnitude of your human qualities.
Thanks again for the great work that you have done, and I will always be grateful for this gift."
APPLICATION
When applying for the European Board Examination one declares consent to taking the examination in the depicted format and structure and acknowledges that cancellations are only possible according to the cancellation policy.
An application must be submitted by filling in the application form (see link to secure server at the bottom) until May 12, 2017 at the latest.
Correctly filling the personal details (especially full name, surname and only if desired a title) in the application form is crucial, as these data will be used for the certificates that will not be changed afterward.
The application must be accomplished by payment, the date of transfer to our bank account will serve as the application date.
There is a reduced fee for candidates from low- and lower-middle-income countries (see http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups#Low_income) and for those who follow the early registration procedure.
The amount of the admission fees is according to the candidates' place of work.
Early bird fee registration and reduced rate registration means complete application through the website before the respective dates stated below.
If you require a visa to enter Europe and need a letter of invitation, please let us know once you have signed up. Please take into account that there may be waiting periods for visas.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The European Board of Neurology will not ask candidates for certificates but it is supposed that they have followed their basic training in general medicine and a national postgraduate training program including at least 3 years of training in clinical neurology.
Identification documents will be required on the day of the examination.
PAYMENT
Only candidates from whom UEMS-EBN has received the examination fee will be admitted.
Payment should be made by PAYPAL. Only in some justified exceptions we also support manual bank transfers free of charge for the beneficiary on the following account with reference to EBN Exam 2017 and the candidate’s last name with date of birth.
Beneficiary: "AISBL UEMS/S. Neurology",
IBAN: BE97 0016 3680 2349
BIC: GEBABEBB
at the “BNP Paribas Fortis SA” Bank
| Admission Fees (in EUR) | Regular fees Payment received from March 23rd on |
|
| Associate members from EAN (*group 1) | 700 | |
| Non European countries | 850 | |
| Associate members from EAN (*group 2) and low and lower middle income countries according to the link below | 450 |
*Group 1: EAN - Associate Member societies from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom
*Group 2: EAN - Associate Member societies from Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, FYRO Macedonia, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
The amount of the admission fees is according to the candidates' place of work.
To get sure about the classification of low and lower-middle-income economies please find the following link:
http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups#Low_income
An additional administration fee of 100 Euros may be asked for in case of irregularities requiring further administrative steps.
In the event of cancellations before May 15th applications for 2018 will be possible for a considerably reduced charge.
CONTENTS
The examination is not an ultimate test for retrieving knowledge from memory, but competency based following the UEMS adopted roles: Medical Expert, Communicator, Scholar, Health Advocate and Professional.
The examination consists of the following parts:
- About 100 MCQs on EAN-Guidelines and general subjects in Neurology.
- Short essay on a neurology related public health or ethics related topic to be orally discussed with the examiners.
- Critical appraisal of a neurological topic to be orally discussed with the examiners.
Results of these 3 examinations will be combined to one final mark.
By allowing the use of your own reference sources at the examination and to prepare your presentations at home, we do not only rely on your snapshot performance on the examination day. We want to take other factors into account as well!
Written part of the examination
The goal of this part of the examination is testing knowledge and handling knowledge.
Multiple Choice Questions are selected from the listed main subjects and diseases in our Core Curriculum.
Core Curriculum Vers. Nov. 2014
For your preparation we recommend:
- A. H. Ropper, M. A. Samuels: Adams and Victor´s Principles of Neurology, MacGraw Hill, or a similar textbook. These books may be taken to the exam to be used as a reference source in the open book parts.
- e-Brain modules (www.ebrainjnc.com)
- EFNS & EAN guideline papers from 2012-2015
Access to e-Brain:
If you do not have a password and username, you can get access
via www.ebrainjnc.com/purchase_full.html by either
a) Personal subscription (£250/yr high income; £75 middle income; Free Hinari or low income countries)
b) Joining a subscribing organization such as EAN.
c) Persuading your institution to purchase a license (as libraries do for journals etc)
These sources will be used by the question authors as well.
EFNS & EAN guideline papers from 2012-2016
EFNS guideline ALS EFNS guideline Ataxias EFNS guideline dementia related disorders EFNS guideline diagnosis Parkinson's disease EFNS guideline therapy Parkinson's disease EFNS guideline mild traumatic brain injury EFNS guideline ocular myasthenia EFNS guideline Restless legs syndrome EFNS guideline PCR diagnosis of infectious diseases CNS EFNS review on the role of muscle biopsy in the investigation of myalgia EFNS-ENS/EAN Guideline on concomitant use of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease EAN consensus on mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke EAN consensus on palliative care EAN guidelines on central neurostimulation therapy in chronic pain conditions
Reference sources are permitted in parts of the examination, we suggest one handbook and if desired a couple of hardcopies to be taken to the examination.
The examination is taken using a laptop computer. Candidates are requested to bring their own device! Please let us know (e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you have difficulties bringing your own laptop computer. In such case we will find an appropriate solution.
How to participate in the written part of the examination?
MCQ: Multiple Choice Question test
This consists of about 100 multiple choice questions including clinical case descriptions and in addition may also contain images (radiology, pathology etc.) given in paper format. About 40 questions have to be answered without use of references within the first 60 minutes, the remainder can be made with help of hard copy references of your own choice in the subsequent 120 minutes.
80 out of the total of 100 points can be obtained for this part of the examination.
Oral part of the examination
The goal of this part of the examination is to test presentation abilities, communication, discussing topics in the field of ethics and public health, discussing actual scientific issues. Language difficulties in non-English speakers will be taken into account.
Essay
You are requested to prepare an essay on an ethical or a public health subject in the field of neurology. This essay should be an original piece of work and will be checked on plagiarism by a scanner.
Examples and suggestions for topics are given here:
How to prepare the essay to be presented
It is allowed to take other subjects of own preference. Write a short essay (max. 800 words) following the instructions and send this to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before May 15.
It is the candidate’s responsibility to send in this document timely, a failure may be considered as a cancellation of the examination. In case of an incomplete set of sent documents after a complete subscription, we will send you a reminder amply before the examination.
Moreover we ask you to prepare an oral presentation on your essay. At the exam, there will be 4 minutes for you to present your essay to two examiners. You may use a laptop present in the examination room for presenting some slides you composed (recommended, not obligatory, these slides should not be sent in before the examination).
Examples for essays and powerpoints: Neurology related Ethics Neurology related Public Health
The examiner will ask some further questions for another 4 minutes and then complete the form as shown in the example.
10 out of the total of 100 points can be obtained in this part of the examination.
Critical appraisal on a topic (CAT)
You are requested to produce a critical appraisal of a topic within the field of clinical neurology. This appraisal should be an original piece of work and will be checked on plagiarism by a scanner as well.
The procedure and the elaboration of an example is given here:
Example: How to perform a CAT
The critical appraisal should be sent in as well for judgment to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before May 15.
It is the candidate’s responsibility to send in this document timely, a failure may be considered as a cancellation of the examination. In case of an incomplete set of sent documents after a complete subscription, we will send you a reminder amply before the examination.
The CAT will not be presented but you will get additional questions to make ourselves sure about your authorship of the document. This will take another 4 minutes and the examiners will complete an examination form as given in the example.
10 out of the total of 100 points can be obtained in this part of the examination.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please read this website carefully and report unforeseen omissions to
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Registration will be possible on the examination day from 7:00 am on. It is to be expected that results will be announced at about 7:30 pm.
EVALUATION OF RESULTS
Written tests
After obtaining the results of the candidates, data will be analyzed according to p-values and RIT-values. Questions with insufficient statistics will be eliminated.
Thereafter a passing limit will be calculated with help of Cohen’s method and an Angoff procedure as a control measurement. Final notes will be calculated taking a 60% real knowledge limit.
Oral tests
Two examiners each will produce a score on the two separate parts of the oral examination. Both notes, running between 0 and 10, will be averaged to a mean score.
Application 
