• To apply for certification as F.E.B.S/UGI Surg (Fellow of the European Board /Upper GI Surgery) or F.E.B.T.S./UGI Surg (Fellow of the European Board of Thoracic Surgery/Upper GI) a candidate has to undergo a two-step quality validation process: Eligibility and Examination. Eligibility is a prerequisite for the Examination.

To apply for Eligibility the candidate must fulfill the following requirements:

• Eligibility for all exams run by the divisions of the European Board of Surgery and European Board Thoracic Surgery is open for candidates trained in one of the 27 European Union countries, a UEMS country (Iceland, Norway, GB and Switzerland) or an associated UEMS country (Armenia, Croatia, Israel and Turkey) or a country with UEMS observer status (Georgia).
• Eligibility for all exams run by the divisions of the European Board of Surgery and European Board Thoracic Surgery is also open to those candidates trained outside the UEMS-area provided that the relevant division is satisfied with the training and qualifications are equivalent.
• The candidate must be able to communicate in the English language. Examinations in the local national language(s) will be additionally provided at the discretion of the executive committee.
  A national CCST is a prerequisite.
• The candidate must provide a defined LogBook countersigned by an independent expert on every page.
  The LogBook must include general information (surgeon, hospital) and for any item the type of procedure and patient initials or hospital admission number (no information that allows identification of the patients' names). The content of the mandatory LogBook (minimum: 800 credit points) is published in "Upper GI Surgery – Knowledge and Skills".
• A candidate must have been working for at least two years in a senior position at a highly specialized center  with main responsibility in the Upper GI surgery as stated in Upper GI syllabus. The application should be within 5 years after taking up this position. Decision at the discretion of the executive committee.
• A candidate must  during the two years of employment have had at least one site visit of at least one months duration at another specialized center or 2 years employment at two different units  specialized in Upper GI surgery
• A candidate's individual LogBook with comparable layout and structure may be accepted for the Eligibility process on the decision of the committee.
• In any case the "LogBook Summary" in the EBSQ form is mandatory (the corresponding ECXEL file can be downloaded; in the table "Summary" the formulas for the automatic calculation are already provided)
• The candidate must have a total of 25 credit points based on the following criteria:
  • Participation in papers accepted in International Journals are mandatory
  • Participation at recognized international congress (4 points)
  • Participation at recognized international congress and with presentation (10 points)
  • Participation national congress (2 points)
  • Participation at national congress and presentation (6 points).
  • Participation at relevant International Postgraduate Course (6 points)
  • Publication (first authorship) in peer reviewed national surgical journal (10 points)
  • Publication (first authorship) in peer reviewed international surgical journal (14) points
• Candidates have to be recommended by 2 independent experts. One of the experts has to work in another region/country than the candidate.
• Candidates are required to pay the fees for Eligibility (Euro 300) and - if accepted - a further Euro 250 to cover the Examination to the EB-Upper GI Surg Administration Office. The Eligibility sum is to cover the costs associated with the processing of returned application forms by the central EB  office and are non refundable.
• All payments must be effected by the required deadlines and there are no refunds for (Eligibility) candidates who are deemed ineligible to sit for the EBQ Upper GI-Surg examination or do not succeed in passing the Examination. In the event that a candidate has paid for the Examination and does not attend the examination there will be no refund.
• Reapplication is possible for Eligibility and/or Examination.
• Successful EB Upper GI-Surg Eligibility and Examination candidates are awarded the title "Fellow of the European Board of Surgery/Upper GI Surgery – F.E.B.S./UGI Surg" or "Fellow of the European Board of Thoracic Surgery/Upper GI Surgery – F.E.B.T.S./UGI Surg".

The UEMS fellowship (F.E.B.S /F.E.B.T.S) represents a high-level validated quality control process and reflects certain knowledges and skills of a candidate.

The title F.E.B.-Upper GI Surg determines, that the person successfully proved to have validated knowledge  and skills, that in most cases by far exceed the requirements for the national CCSTs and allow him/her to successfully cover the field of  Upper GI Surg. in respective to the actual demanding according to the judging of the commission.

In the moment the qualification F.E.B.-Upper GI Surg has no automatic legal recognition in the E.U. or in any other country. The EBTSQ committee supports individual recognition of qualifications by the national authorities and the number of countries officially adopting the Board exam is continuously rising.

The fellowship does not implicate automatic allowance to work at own responsibility and does not automatically enhance participation in national social security systems of the E.U.

The future perspective of this European diploma is to been seen in unanimous legalization within the ongoing project of the European harmonization process of medical education.