The 2012 Preconference
The Vasco da Gama Movement organizes an annual meeting just a day before the Wonca Europe Conference, in which participants coming from all over Europe have the exceptional opportunity to communicate, convey their own points of view and broaden their horizons while learning from other countries, cultures and contexts. The theme of this year's Preconference was ‘The Art of Being a General Practitioner’ and was introduced in the Visionary Speech by the treasurer of Wonca Europe, Carl Steylaerts. In his inspiring lecture he used the ‘Blue Bird,’ the Belgian play by Maurice Maeterlinck, as his basis to convey the messages of profession, hope and humanism.
Clinical work and everyday decision-making may challenge GPs/FPs, who act on a contextual and attitudinal foundation, besides adopting a scientific approach. This consideration triggered participants, who were divided into small working groups and were invited to interact and share their own insights and experiences on how they achieve a state of equilibrium between the art and science in their profession. The groups explored how the evidence-based medicine can co-exist with the empathy and patient-centred approach and elaborated extraordinary ways to illustrate their viewpoints.
The Vasco Da Gama Movement Fund
During the preconference, Sven Streit, the past Chair of VdGM, announced the establishment of a special Fund, which aims at aiding the trainees and junior GPs/FPs who are unable to attend the annual Preconference and Wonca Europe Conference due to financial restrictions. The idea of the institution of such a fund was born from the observation of the unbearable inequalities and the on-going economic crisis, which distress our continent and prevent many colleagues from joining international activities. With the hope that our message will be a strong one and reach out to National Colleges, Scientific Associations and Junior GP/FM Associations, we welcome donations from all the interested parties. The very first one was made by JHaS, the Swiss organization of trainees and junior GPs/FPs. For further information on the Fund, please visit www.vdgm.eu or contact us at [email protected].
Introducing the 2012 edition of the HippoCrates and Carosino Prizes
In memory of Dr Claudio Carosino, an Italian Rural General Practitioner who sadly died in 2010, the Vasco da Gama Movement and EURIPA are offering a prize of €700 for the best completed Hippocrates Exchange in a rural practice in the period of 2011–2012. There will be up to two additional Hippocrates Exchange Prizes for the exchanges that have been completed within Europe at either a rural or urban practice during the aforementioned timeframe.
The applicants are invited to submit their expression of interest to [email protected] by 30 November 2012. The applications will be assessed by a panel appointed by VdGM, EURIPA and Wonca Europe. The prizes are only redeemable if they are used to attend the WONCA World 2013 Conference in Prague on 25–29 June 2013. Further information and conditions of eligibility for the prizes can be found at http://tiny.cc/carosino2012.