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ESSM
Today
able for ESSM members on the ESSM website
(www.essm.org/science-and-publications/the-essm-manual-of-sexual-medicine)
.
3.
EFS/ESSM Syllabus of clinical sexol-
ogy:
In collaboration with EFS, the ESSM
educational committee developed the
EFS/
ESSM Syllabus of Clinical Sexology
. This
textbook covered all the aspects of sexology
and served as an information source for sex-
ologists and candidates for the ECPS exam.
The Syllabus is also available to the ESSM
members on the ESSM website
(www.essm.
org/science-and-publications/the-efs-
and-essm-syllabus-of-clinical-sexology)
.
4.
ESSM preparation course:
A 3 days in-
tensive course on Sexual Medicine is tak-
ing place each time prior to the MJCSM and
ECPS examinations. This course provides an
overview of all the Sexual Medicine topics in
curriculum along with the exam-taking skills.
The objectives of the course are not limited
to revising the Sexual Medicine knowledge
but also to improve the clinical skills of the
candidates.
5.
The ESSM School of Sexual Medicine:
This
school has been initiated in 2007 under the
leadership of Dr. John Dean. In the recent
years the school become very popular all
around the world, and some students are
supported with scholarships from the ISSM
and the EFS. ESSM school alumni turned
into key opinion leaders in the field of Sexual
Medicine in their countries with increasing
amount of time devoted for the care of pa-
tients with sexual concerns or dysfunction (3).
The future of Sexual Medicine and
clinical sexology
In spite of the significant progress that we have
achieved through the last 5 years, we are aware
of the fact that it is only the beginning of a long
marathon. Considering the multi-dimensional as-
pects of the Sexual Medicine, there is a need for
postgraduate sexual medicine education cent-
ers, which provide specific and well-constructed
training program dedicated to Sexual Medicine.
To overcome the need for acquirement of the
right attitude as sexual medicine physician or
sexologists, the MJCSM designed an online log-
book
(www.mjcsm.org) for establishing a mentor-
fellow interaction which provides an excellent
opportunity for collaboration. This logbook offers
the possibility for each exam candidate to record
his/her clinical, educational, and scientific experi-
ence in the field of Sexual Medicine. Fellows with
certain clinical and educational experience ac-
cording to MJCSM criteria, are invited to become
a supervisor and to contribute to the education
of the future fellows.
Moreover, the MJCSM initiated a certifica-
tion program for standardization of the sexual
medicine education centers all over the world.
Currently, we have 4 certified sexual medicine
training centers and we wish to increase their
number. We are willing to have at least one edu-
cational center in each European country where
fellows will be able to get clinical and scientific
experience in their own language (4).
Sexuality is an important component of quality of
life, each patient deserves to have the possibility
to discuss his/her sexual complains or problems
with their physician. Therefore, there is a need
for acquisition of basic knowledge in sexuality.
We wish that basic sexology/sexual medicine will
be included in the curriculum of each medical
student in each medical faculty in each country
in Europe, so future physicians will be able to
practice it in their own language.
The figure bellow summarize the current activi-
ties and future targets (white text = currently
available and yellow text = in development).
References and information sources
1. Reisman Y, Eardly I, Porst H eta la.
New de-
velopments in education and training in
Sexual Medicine
.
J Sex Med 2013;10:918-
923.
2. Lowenstein L, Tripodi F, Reisman Y et al.
EFS/ESSM-certified psychosexologist
with mark of excellence
.
J Sex Med
2014;11:2141-2142
3. Lowenstein L, Reisman Y, Tripodi F. Oxford
School of Sexual Medicine: How are we
doing.
J
Sex Med 2015;12:59-65
4. Bitzer J, Reisman Y, Lowenstein L.
Center
of excellence for Sexual Medicine
.
J Sex
Med 2013;10:2127-2128.
5. Porst H & Reisman Y editors.
ESSM Sylla-
bus of Sexual Medicine
.
Medix: Amsterdam
2012
6. Reisman Y, Porst H, Lowenstein L, Tripodi F,
Kirana PS editors.
ESSM Manual of Sexual
Medicine
.
Medix: Amsterdam 2015.
7. Kirana PS, Tripodi F, Reisman Y, Porst H edi-
tors.
EFS and ESSM Syllabus of Clinical
Sexology
.
Medix: Amsterdam 2013.
ESSM and MJCSM education & certification:
Where we are now and where we want to be