FIGO GUIDELINES FIGO guidelines for training residents and fellows in urogynecology, female urology, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery Morton A. Stenchever, Diaa E. Rizk, Gabriele Falconi, Oscar Contreras Ortiz ⁎ At the 2006 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) World Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a task force was appointed to develop guidelines for training residents and fellows in urogynecology (also known as female urology and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery). The task force consisted of members from a number of countries and its objective was to develop standards for training that could apply worldwide. In doing this, the care of women with pelvic floor disorders could, it is hoped, be improved. The report gives basic, general outlines for training that are not overly extensive or too narrow, so that they may be implemented in countries with different grades of development of this discipline and different characteristics of medical training and healthcare resources. The following report is the result of the task force's deliberations. FIGO task force report on standard guidelines for training residents and fellows in urogynecology, female urology, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery Task force members: Morton A. Stenchever, Chairman, USA Diaa E. Rizk, Egypt Gabriele Falconi, Italy James Hsieh, Taiwan Stavros Athanasiou, Greece Ajay Singla, USA Jacques Corcos, Canada Eghon Guzman, Chile Diana Galimberti, Argentina Tom Hasaart, Netherlands Adolf Lukanovic, Slovenia Hans Peter Dietz, Australia 1. Background Pelvic floor disorders that include urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse are very prevalent conditions in women and frequently require surgical treatment. As the population ages in many countries of the world, the need for healthcare services to treat these conditions will increase. The care of such patients has been managed by a variety of different physicians including gynecologists, urogynecologists, urologists, and colorectal surgeons with referral patterns varying in different countries, regions, and even locales. Levels of expertise, training, and experience have also varied greatly in many cases. In some countries, attempts have been made to develop guidelines for subspecialty training for gynecologists and urologists in what has been called “female pelvic medicine and reconstructive pelvic surgery.” While the management of more serious pelvic floor disorders probably should be handled by such subspecialists, many such conditions can be managed by generalist gynecologists or urologists who are properly trained. In fact, this growing public health issue is too large to expect that enough subspecialists could be realistically trained to meet the needs worldwide. Thus, training in the management of these conditions should be a part of the training for gynecologists and urologists. The International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) is the leading organization in the field of obstetrics and gynecology that globally oversees women's health. Therefore, it is appropriate that this organization develops guidelines for training generalists and subspe- cialists to manage pelvic floor dysfunction conditions. These guidelines should be standardized to be universally acceptable in order to allow health authorities, academic institutions, and accrediting bodies to establish and measure the educational objectives of the training programs equally on regional, national, and international levels. The development of standard guidelines will assist in promoting global standards of care for women with pelvic floor disorders, enhance scientific knowledge through research, and encourage international exchange between all healthcare providers working in the field. The practice of health care in women in general, and of pelvic floor disorders in particular, varies widely throughout the world and is dependent on cultural, socio-economic, demographic, reproductive, and professional factors. However, physicians treating women should have the same knowledge and skills. It is hoped that by setting the minimum training standards at all levels of medical education, the highest possible quality of care can be ensured for women worldwide. The task force appreciates that the training standards will differ according to each country's healthcare resources, health service delivery infrastructure, and economic facilities. Therefore, these standards may be modified for low- and moderate-resource countries. The primary objective, however, is to establish worldwide guidelines for resident/ general physician training in urogynecology, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery that should be the MINIMUM acceptable standards. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 107 (2009) 187–190 ⁎ Corresponding author. University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail address: ortizgin@elsitio.net (O.C. Ortiz). 0020-7292/$ – see front matter © 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2009.08.001 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijgo