PTF Certificate

Goals and principles of the Polish Phlebological Society Certification Programme

Phlebology has become in Poland, as in other countries, an interdisciplinary field practised by doctors of various specialties. The absence of a specialisation in phlebology means that doctors' training is based on gaining practical knowledge while working in hospital departments (most often surgical, internal medicine or dermatological) dealing with patients with venous diseases, as well as while working with patients consulted on an outpatient basis in outpatient clinics contracted by the National Health Fund (NFZ) or in private practices.

This undoubtedly practical knowledge is supplemented by participation in congresses and in the still relatively few courses on diagnostic and therapeutic issues in phlebology. Extremely desirable, although difficult to enforce, is expanding one's knowledge based on domestic and foreign textbooks and current publications.

The development of phlebology that has occurred in recent years has meant that this discipline covers an increasingly wide spectrum of diagnostic and treatment possibilities. However, scientific progress in phlebology requires us to keep expanding our knowledge and improving our skills to ensure an appropriately high standard of the services we offer.

Modern phlebology requires both experience and knowledge that allows the patient to be offered an appropriate method of treatment. Of course, it should be borne in mind that it will be increasingly difficult to acquire to the same extent all the skills associated with treatment in a phlebological office or clinic (from performing Doppler examinations through surgical procedures, EVLT, RF, compression therapy or sclerotherapy).

Mindful of the need to ensure an appropriate standard of services in surgeries, private practices and hospital departments where members of the Polish Phlebological Society work, the Society offers doctors who practise phlebology in their daily work the opportunity to obtain a certificate from the Polish Phlebological Society.

The certificate would be awarded to doctors who have documented their experience in phlebological practice (diagnosis and treatment of diseases dealt with by modern phlebology). Obtaining the certificate will also be facilitated by documented scientific and organisational activity in national and international phlebology.

The Polish Phlebological Society wants the certificate to be a confirmation of both knowledge and practical skills, as well as a high standard of expertise in phlebology as a science, among those who hold it.

The certification programme is not intended to restrict the practice of phlebology. On the contrary, as a Scientific Society, we intend to promote training and educational activities in this area. Following the example of other Scientific Societies (e.g. the Society of Aesthetic Medicine and Anti-aging), we want the obtained certificate to be a confirmation of the knowledge, experience and skills of the doctor who received such a certificate.

We would like doctors with certificates, and thus the necessary qualifications, to be the showcase of Polish phlebology, providing patients with an appropriate standard of care.

The certificate will be granted for a period of 2 years after the application has been submitted and approved, with the possibility of renewing it after this period. The condition for renewing the certificate will be documenting, in the period preceding the submission of the application for extending the validity of the certificate, activities aimed at expanding one's knowledge and skills (courses, participation in congresses, conferences, training, publications and others - according to the certification regulations).

We hope that, similarly to what happened in other Scientific Societies, the certification programme will result in an increasingly higher level of knowledge, experience and skills in phlebological offices throughout the country. Inviting you to submit applications and obtain certificates, we encourage you to further expand your knowledge and skills.