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Following an invitation by Professor Ahmad Khalegh Nejad, the Director of the Iranian Society of Pediatrics Surgeons and the Chairman of the SBMU Pediatrics Surgery Research Center, Professor  Gian Battista Parigi, the Director of the European Board of Pediatrics Surgeons, and Professor of the Pediatrics surgery at Pavia University in Italy, and his Deputy, Professor Pioter Stefan Czauderna were invited for a visit for a week to Tehran’s pediatrics surgery centers during in May, this year.

During the visit, the guests first visited the clinical and Para-clinics departments at Mofid pediatrics Hospital, affiliated to SBMU, and then one of the academic staff at the hospital provided them with an extensive report on the activities and statistics of the surgeries performed there.

Moreover, the guests had a meeting with Professor Abolghasemi , the SBMU Chancellor. During the visit it was decided that the guests would report their opinions on the condition of pediatrics surgery in Iran to the European Board of Pediatrics Surgeons for approval.

The guests also visited the Markaz Tebbi Koodakan (Pediatrics Medicinal Center), and also Bahrami and Ali Asghar Hospitals, both affiliated to Tehran University of medical Sciences. 

Some parts of the report to the visit to the Paediatric Surgical training centers in Tehran, Iran

By: Prof. Gian Battista Parigi and Prof. Piotr Czauderna 

 Prof. Ahmad Khaleghnejad Tabari, President of the Iranian Society of Paediatric Surgeons (ISPS), invited the Union Europeene Des Medecins Specialites (UEMS) to have a visit of the Paediatric Surgical training centers in Tehran, to Tehran, to check their training system against European Standards and to attend their 21th Annual Congress, as well as to assess possibilities of future cooperation between Iran and Europe.

A delegation composed by the president and the secretary of the UEMS Section & Board of Paediatric Surgery, Prof. Gian Battista Parigi and Prof. Piotr Czauderna, visited Tehran from Wednesday 1^st May to Monday 6^th May, 2013.

Our evaluations will be limited to the four centers in Tehran belonging the three Universities (SBMU, IUNS and TUMS). Visited Children Hospitals are hosted in premises built from 40 to 3 years ago, and equipped with a wide array of items, not all state-of-the-art. All of them deal with many paediatric specialties, providing comprehensive care in highly complex cases; within Children’s Hospital surgery field is included also urology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and plastic surgery. They all have their own NICU and PICU, as well as outpatient and emergency depts. Minimally invasive surgical procedures are performed at various levels in three out of the four Hospitals.

Visited centers were: Mofid Children’s Hospital, Aliasghar Children’s Hospital, Bahrami Children’s Hospital and Children’s Medical Center.

The delegation was also kindly received by the Chancellors of the SBMU, Prof. Hassan Abolghasemi, and TUNS, Prof. Mohammad Reza Mansouri.

Paediatric Surgery training program started in Iran in 1977; National Board was formed in 1982, together with the Iranian Society. Iranian training system is structured in 4 to 5 years training in General surgery, followed by 3 to 4 years in Paediatric Surgery, where candidates are admitted only after Board Certification in General Surgery.

Overall evaluation of the Tehran training system in Paediatric Surgery has been highly positive; the training seems to be well structured, with clearly defined timetables including formal lecturing, journal clubs, mortality and morbidity meetings as well as other educational activities.

We found a deep interest from the ISPS and Board of Paediatric Surgery to cooperation with UEMS: the two fields, in which this could be implanted, according to our view and to some preliminary discussions with the Iranian colleagues, could be:

1. Hosting European examination part I and II in Tehran. The Examination could attend not only by Iranian candidates but also by candidates coming from nearby Countries for which Iran is already a regional center of excellence for training and treatment in Paediatric Surgery. This issue will be brought to the attention of the UEMS, Paediatric Surgery Section General Council taking place in June 2013. Professor has been already invited to participate in this meeting in order to present the Iranian training system in Paediatric Surgery.
2. Facilitate the Exchange of trainees in Paediatric Surgery between European Countries and Tehran, fostering the interactions between training institutions with modalities that will best suit specific needs. To this goal we have been assured that Iranian medical authorities will grant limited temporary registration to hosted European trainees allowing them to directly participate to surgical interventions under supervision of local Consultants, as well as taking care of all logistical problems involved in their stay including visa and accommodation. Financial issues linked to this project should be upon responsibility of the sending party, unless otherwise stated in the formal agreements.