There are only twelve accredited centres in Europe in total that train transplant surgeons to perform liver and kidney transplants. UZ Leuven is the only accredited centre in Belgium. UZ Leuven was awarded the accreditation owing to its excellent medical results and because it performs sufficient operations each year to be considered a centre of reference.
The accreditation was awarded by the European Union of Medical Specialists (EUMS) following the submission of a dossier and a visit by EUMS auditors to the abdominal transplant surgery and coordination department.
The training of new transplant surgeons will be provided by four members of staff from the abdominal transplant surgery department, prof. dr. Jacques Pirenne, prof. dr. Diethard Monbaliu, prof. dr. Ina Jochmans and prof. dr. Mauricio Sainz.