[Continuing medical education in andrology : Continuing education between wish and reality]

Andrology as a research topic has been well established for a long time - but andrological medical care has developed only recently. Medical doctors and scientists founded the German Society of Andrology (DGA) 35 years ago with the intention of promoting this field of medicine. Andrological skills are well established in the educational programme for residents in urology.The new regulations established in 2003 for residents in urology and certified urologists offer the chance to subspecialise in andrology. This specialisation constitutes progress, as patients now have a much better opportunity for identifying the andrologist as a competent partner for problems with fertility, hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction. Andrology comprises more than infertility - it covers the whole field of reproductive health in a broader sense: hypogonadism including genetic disorders, ejaculation disorders, erectile dysfunction, family planning and late-onset hypogonadism are included in the subspecialisation. There are minimum prerequisites concerning knowledge and skills that have to be fulfilled by urologists, dermatologists or endocrinologists. Surgical andrological procedures are better established in European than in German educational programmes. The educational programme has to be performed within 18 months; 6 of these months can be completed during residency training in urology.The importance of andrologists particularly in the setting of reproductive medicine is more than obvious: the Federal Medical Council clearly defines that an andrologist has to be involved in fertility centres performing assisted reproduction. According to the data compiled by Jens Jacobeit, responsible member for medical training of the DGA, 929 andrologists had achieved their certification in Germany at the end of the year 2009. The qualifying andrological postgraduate training is a duty and at the same time a chance for the urological community to professionally cover this field of subspecialisation in the future.