A different training model for adolescent medicine: a PhD program in Turkey, where adolescent medicine is not currently a sub-specialty at this stage.

Adolescent medicine is currently not a certified subspecialty by the Ministry of Health in Turkey. Until recently, no subspecialty education was available for pediatricians interested in pursuing a career in this field. To compensate for the lack of training opportunities in the field, to meet the needs of adolescents and to increase research and strengthen scientific knowledge in the area of adolescent medicine, a doctoral program was established in 2004 by the Division of Adolescent Medicine under the Institute of Child Health at Hacettepe University in Ankara. This paper discusses the opportunities provided by the program, describing the pros and cons of such a course and what the program aims to achieve. This unique program provides pediatricians with extended postgraduate, subspecialty education in adolescent health care. We believe that the adolescent medicine PhD program at Hacettepe University could be a model for educating health care professionals in this field in other countries where there are not established fellowship programs.