Academic degrees Following the introduction of the BaMa-structure, the degrees of bachelor and master are awarded when successfully completing the following programmes:   professional bachelor programmes, organised by the university colleges   academic bachelor and master programmes, organised by the universities. University colleges in association with a university can also offer academic bachelor and master programmes. An advanced master programme also leads to the degree of master. After public defense of a PhD thesis, one obtains the degree of doctor. The specific teacher training programme leads to the degree of teacher. All cycles, programmes and activities of extra training at university level belong in the category of postgraduate programmes for which certificates can be issued.   Before the introduction of the bachelor-master (BaMa) structure by the decree of April 4, 2004 on the Structural Reform of Higher Education in Flanders, the decree on the universities of June 12, 1991 determined the academic degrees and diplomas within the system of candidatures and licentiates (KaLi): University programmes of the 1st and 2nd cycle lead in most cases to the degrees of candidate and licentiate respectively. Exceptions are medical studies (candidate-medical doctor, medical doctor and family doctor (GP)), pharmaceutical sciences (candidate-pharmacist and pharmacist), veterinary medicine (candidate veterinarian), applied biological sciences (candidate bio-engineer and bio-enigineer) and commercial engineering (candidate-commercial engineer, commercial engineer and commercial engineer in information sciences). The academic initial teacher training leads to the the diploma of "teacher" ("geaggregeerde voor het secundair onderwijs, groep 2") Within the advanced academic programmes we distinguish complementary studies and specialised studies. Complementary studies lead to the degree of Graduate in the complementary studies, specialised programmes lead to the degree of Graduate in the specialised studies. In the third cycle one obtains the degree of doctor after the public defense of a PhD-thesis. The doctoral training leads to a certificate.  All cycles, programmes and activities regarding refresher courses and continuation education come under the heading of post-academic training for which certificates can be issued. It is important to know that, based on Art. 128 para. 4 of the decree of April 4, 2004, the academic degrees of licentiate, commercial engineer, pharmacist, medical doctor, and the postgraduate degrees GAS and GGS, which the universities, the Exam Commission of the Flemish Community or the State Exam Commission have issued prior to the academic year 2004-2005, are the equivalent of a master’s degree. Those who hold these academic degrees are entitled to refer to themselves as having a master’s degree.Therefore, diplomas of licentiate, another 2nd cycle programme or an advanced academic programme also mention this additional title. The equivalence of degrees does not apply to the degree of candidate. Persons holding a diploma of candidate are not entitled to refer to themselves as having a bachelor's degree.