I first heard about the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee of Sexual Medicine (MJCSM) when I applied for the first European exam on sexual medicine (2012). At that time it was clear that something had to be done in the field of sexual medicine in order to make it a more solid profession and to exclude many caregivers and physicians who simply claimed they are trained sexologists or specialists in this field, without really having any academic background or accreditation for it. So finally, in order to eliminate this phenomenon, the MJCSM (which I then learned that it is working under the auspices of the European Union of Medical Specialists) and the ESSM – was agreed upon creating a new type of certificate: ‘ Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine (FECSM)’. Becoming a fellow means you have successfully passed an exam which represents a wide and high level of knowledge in the field of sexual medicine and that certifies to treat patients with sexual problems. It is my personal belief that in about a decade, no serious-minded caregiver or physician will avoid undergoing this exam. But the exam is only the basics, and as in all medical disciplines, practical training allows one to really be able to provide good care and high level professional advice. Since the declared objectives of the MJCSM are to promote and harmonize the highest level of Sexual Medicine in Europe –one of the ways for achieving them is by setting educational standards for training institutions and the maintenance of such standards.
Our unit has both a male and female sexual dysfunction clinic and has a multidisciplinary staff of urologists, gynecologists, a family practitioner, nurses (male and female), sexologists and physiotherapists. We also have a male health clinic and a male infertility service as part of our unit’s service. Additionally we perform surgery in the field of sexual dysfunction in both sexes and we have unique services such as clinics active during afternoon hours and innovative treatment options such as shockwave therapy. We have staff that is very experienced in the field of sexual dysfunction; all are GCP accredited, our nursing staff is able to provide nursing needs and training for treatments such as injection therapy ore the use of vacuum constriction devices. Our staff has many years of experience in education and training, we also initiate research and our staff participates in local and multi-center clinical studies.
This is why I thought our unit should apply, contribute and be part of accomplishing goals of the MJCSM. Since we have only been accredited as an MJCSM training center- not much has changed yet from the point of view of the institution.
There were no real difficult steps in the process for the accreditation- I had to introduce and explain about the services we are able to provide but nothing out of the ordinary. I would recommend any Center that sees itself adequate, even in only part of the services mentioned- to apply, since I believe that the future of Sexual Medicine as a unique discipline really depends on the high level of knowledge, service and research that we can provide to our patients, and this can be achieved only by high level training.
Prof. Ilan Gruenwald
