The 7th and 8th of February will be remembered as historic days in the development of Family Medicine in Europe. In those days, the 1st Vasco da Gama Movement Forum was held in Barcelona with more than 160 participants and 40 speakers!
The title of the forum was “One Strong Voice for the Family Doctors of the 21st Century”. The programme was focused on the topics of the future of Family Medicine, like Emergency Medicine and Out-of-Hours Services, Mobility, Career Development, Research Skills and Emerging Technologies and had the presence of important personalities from WONCA such as the WONCA President Elected Dr. Amanda Howe and the WONCA Europe President Professor Job FM Metsemakers.
President Elected Dr. Amanda Howe at the joint opening ceremony of the 1st VdG Movement Forum and the XVIII Jornadas de Residentes de la semFYC (© Dr. Raquel Bravo)
IFMSA had the opportunity to have an active participation during all the Forum and it even organized a workshop with more than 40 participants with the topic “Medical Students in Primary Health Care – Opportunities and Prospects”, being coordinated by Agostinho Sousa (IFMSA Liaison Officer for Medical Education issues) and Sebastian Huter (AMSA-Austria).
During the workshop we discussed how to improve Primary Health Care education in Medical Schools and their curriculum; how to raise medical students interest in PHC; how to improve the access to exchanges in PHC in Basic Medical Education and how to improve the access to exchanges in residents in General Practice/Family Medicine. After discussion we agreed on the key messages:
– There is the need for a big commitment in the learning and teaching in communities and not only in central hospitals
– Better support for mobility of students and young professionals
– Improved collaboration between students and professionals related to Primary Health Care.
IFMSA Workshop Group Picture: “Medical Students in Primary Health Care – Opportunities and Prospects”
IFMSA is committed in promoting even more the importance of PHC and a new way of teaching that approaches the students to their communities, find new ways of expanding the IFMSA exchanges to more PHC settings and support other initiatives of young professionals related to their mobility, such as the Hippokrates Exchange.
IFMSA would also like to congratulate the amazing Organizing Committee of the 1st Vasco da Gama Movement Forum and the Vasco da Gama Movement for the invitation to participate in this important forum of discussion!
Organizing Committee of the 1st VdGM Forum
With best regards,
Ivana di Salvo, IFMSA Liaison Officer for Research and Medical Associations
Agostinho Sousa, IFMSA Liaison Officer for Medical Education issues
Sebastian Huter, Member of the Austrian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) and the Young General Practitioners of Austria (JAMÖ)
Recent Comments