Swiss Academy of Psychosomatic and Psychosocial Medicine (SAPPM / ASMPP)

Swiss Tradition

Psychosomatic medicine has its own long-standing tradition in Switzerland. The internist and psychologist Paul Dubois (1848-1918) is excellent example of an important pioneer in our field. Since the early 1980s Psychosocial Medicine is a compulsory subject in the university curriculum in Switzerland. In 2008 the Swiss Academy for Psychosocial and Psychosomatic Medicine (SAPPM) was created as an umbrella-organization integrating different societies and institutions sharing activities in this domain. SAPPM is authorized to deliver the medical subtitle of «specialist in psychosomatic and psychosocial medicine». Today, there are around 920 registered SAPPM-members, which accounts for around 2.3% of the physicians in Switzerland. Psychosomatic medicine is firmly established in primary care, rehabilitation, and university hospitals.

Interdisciplinary specialization title

Medical expertise in psychosomatic and psychosocial medicine is certified in Switzerland as a second title that can be acquired in addition to a specialist title of choice. This broad approach by different specialist’s titles reflects a Swiss understanding of psychosomatic medicine as an interdisciplinary discipline. There are accredited training institutions in Italian-, French- and German-speaking Switzerland that offer training curricula for obtaining the specialization title. In the outpatient as well as in the inpatient sector, the title is required for psychosomatic treatments to be billable. The holders of the specialist title are authorized to prescribe psychotherapy. All these prerequisites enable the privilege of working full-time as a psychosomatic specialist in Switzerland.

Our aim
The aim of SAPPM’s post-graduate and continuous trainings is to strengthen psychosomatic and psychosocial expertise in primary care, hospitals, and specialist practices. In a highly fragmented modern medical system, it is essential to reintegrate organic medicine into the context of the human’s subjectivity. Therefore, our goal is to improve diagnostic and therapeutic expertise in dealing with patients with functional physical complaints, chronic somatic illnesses, and somatic-psychological combination disorders. Our work is sustained by the results of excellent researchers and dependent on persistent political activity.

PD Niklaus Egloff, Jan 24