News
‘Nice was nice!’
The last EGPRN Conference, held on 19–21 May 2011 was hosted by the University of Nice, France. The theme was: ‘Relevant outcomes measures in General Practice research into chronic diseases’. More than 130 colleagues from over 25 countries participated. Before the conference, a three-day ‘Basic Research Course’ was held. Many participants attended the pre-conference workshops on Thursday, i.e. ‘Asking Focused Research Questions’, ‘Cluster randomized controlled trials’ and ‘How to choose appropriate study methods?’ Furthermore, two collaborative study groups held their meetings: ‘The WoMan Power’ project and a new initiative for a collaborative study on ‘Depression and loneliness in late life’.
The opening lecture on Friday morning by Professor Dominique Huas (France) reviewed the rise of general practice research in France. Next, Professor Frances Griffiths (UK) outlined the importance and the usefulness for clinicians, to listen to patients and discern how to tailor their treatment. On Saturday, Professor André Knottnerus (The Netherlands) gave us some clues in choosing an already validated instrument or creating a new one yourself.
Two intensive days of lively discussions followed. Denis Pouchain (France) presented a multifaceted intervention aimed at improving health outcomes of high-risk hypertensive patients without affecting their quality of life. The ‘One slide 5 minutes’ presentations illustrated well the difficulties in defining relevant outcomes in diabetes mellitus (Liljiana Laranjo), low back pain (Aline Ramond) and quality of care (Giannoula Tsakitzidis). Thomas O'Dowd taught us that ‘bullying’ among nine-year old children was quite frequent, but depended on whom you asked: the child (39.9%) or the primary caregiver (23.5%) Likewise, Anthony Heymann showed differences in outcome between patients and primary care physicians in their perception of the risk of hypertension. Laure Fiquet (France) won the poster prize with her project on elaborating quality of care indicators in chronic disease with the participation of patients: it is worthwhile but time-consuming. On Friday evening, thanks to the hospitality of our French colleagues, we enjoyed the—as always very popular—‘local practice visits’.
The number of participants, the quality of the discussions and the poster sessions, but also the good atmosphere and the sunny weather made the meeting a success: Nice was nice! You will find more details in the abstracts of the meeting published in this issue of the European Journal of General Practice and at http://www.egprn.org.
Substantial revision of the EGPRN Fee System
In Nice, the EGPRN Council approved a new fee system, which is valid from June 2011 to June 2014. The fee system comprises two types of membership fees (individual and institutional) and fees for participation in EGPRN conferences. Members can join meetings at reduced costs (−50%). Furthermore, reductions are available for students, vocational trainees, direct Wonca members and colleagues coming from low-income countries. All we say here is: we have substantially reduced our membership fees. Curious? Visit http://www.egprn.org. Advantages of both institutional and individual membership are illustrated there as well. To mention one: individual members have free online access to the EJGP.
EGPRN at the Wonca Europe Conference, Warsaw, Poland, 8–11 September 2011
At the Wonca Europe Conference in Warsaw, EGPRN will present the following workshops:
(1) ‘Translational medicine and patient safety in Europe (TRANSFoRm): developing the primary care infrastructure to support research based on electronic health records in Europe’ (Jean Karl Soler);
(2) ‘Collaborative diabetes studies in PHC’. (EGPRN/PCDE: Etienne Vermeire (EUROBSTACLE) and Pinar Topsever (EUCCLID));
(3) ‘What do medical students and educators think about the discipline of family medicine and how does it influence career choice? An international cross case comparison’ (Teresa Pawlikowska).
(4) ‘EGPRN: Capacity building through courses, workshops and meetings—what's in it for you?’ (Teresa Pawlikowska); and
(5) ‘Research into cardiovascular disease in general practice’. (EGPRN/EPCCS: Christos Lionis, Xavier Cos and Richard Hobbs).
The upcoming EGPRN conference in Krakow, Poland, 13–16 October 2011
The theme of the upcoming conference is: ‘Infectious Diseases in Primary Care; managing the interface between the person and the community’. The meeting will provide an opportunity to learn about diagnosis and management of common infections, including the challenges associated with the prescription and use of antibiotics. Keynote lectures, oral presentations, and poster sessions will serve as vehicles of current knowledge. Contributions on individual patient care, practice management, research design, and successful cooperation within multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss, network and exchange experiences. Krakow is a friendly city that has a unique atmosphere for both scientific study and historical sightseeing. There are many direct flights from European capitals to Krakow, and there is a convenient train and bus transportation from Balice Airport to the centre of the city. More information at: http://meeting.egprn.org.