This meeting was a joint meeting with the European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association EURIPA, with the title of the conference: ‘Research into different contexts in General Practice/Family Medicine: rural versus urban perspectives’. Next to theme papers from all over Europe, the usual free-standing presentations took place as oral and poster presentations. On the first day, the EGPRN workshops were on ‘Developing a research project for EU-grants’ (Malta Council for Science and Technology) and ‘Writing for scientific publication’ (editors of The European Journal of General Practice and the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care), both very well attended.
In the evening of 17 October, Dr Tonio Borg, EU-commissioner for Health, and Godfrey Farrugia, the Maltese Minister for Health, opened the meeting. Both gave their opinion on the importance of research for primary care, and expressed their support and sympathy for this meeting.
Keynote lectures were given by Professor Richard Roberts, the former President of Wonca World, and John Wynn Jones from EURIPA. The theme presentations included a report on e-health in Ireland by Ailis ni Riain, and a presentation by Sebastian Huter from Austria on the reasons of patients for visiting their GP's. Next to several fine freestanding presentations, including the one by former EGPRN Chair, Paul Wallace, from the UK on the use of internet in problematic alcohol consumption, the EGPRN meeting continued with the successful ‘One Slide Five Minutes’ session, in which a research idea can be presented and discussed with the audience. Some presenters also asked for international collaboration, and the Finnish researcher immediately got Slovenian support!
At the end of the day Richard Roberts summarized the day, and after that the practice visits to Maltese GPs took place.
The keynote lecture the second day of John Wynn Jones, from Wales, concentrated on good health care in rural areas, and the increasing difficulties in many countries to get GPs for these areas.
Afterwards again many interesting freestanding papers, and in the afternoon the highlight of the day: the poster presentations. Every time lively discussions and international interaction. Nineteen posters competed for the EGPRN poster prize: a free entrance to the next EGPRN meeting in Barcelona! This year, Thomas Frese from Leipzig, was the lucky one with a theme poster about vocational training in rural and urban practices. The students felt they learned more in a rural practice!
Next time the EGPRN meeting is from 7–10 May 2014 in Barcelona, with the theme: ‘Preventive Activities in Primary Care; an approach from clinical and health services research.’ Join us!
For information visit http://meeting.egprn.org/