Dear GP/FM colleagues,
Do not miss the 25th WONCA Europe Conference that will be held in Berlin, Germany on June 24 - 27, 2020.
We are very happy having received 1766 abstracts submitted by 1159 authors from 72 countries for the WONCA Europe Conference 2020 in Berlin. Now we are in the process of assessment and configuration of the programme. More than two hundred collegues from Europe are performing the reviews and super-reviews.
Unfortunately we cannot accept all proposed workshops but we will be able to accept most of the other proposals. Especially we are looking forward to facinating science slam sessions and case presentations by young GPs.
We believe to be able to compose an optimal and attractive scientific program based on your contributions. The programme at glance is already done and can be accessed here.
Above that we can offer a skills lab with 9 different stations. You can have access to each separately but this can only be booked on site.
Core values of family medicine- threats and opportunities is our main theme and the congress will help us to shape our professional future.
We are confident that this Conference will be enjoyable, of interest to all GPs as well as researchers and staff in our field and will provide a stimulating opportunity for networking with colleagues from across Europe.
Looking forward to meet you in Berlin
Erika Baum and Christoph Heintze
Registration
We would like to thank to those of you who have already registered for the early registrarion fee! For those who have not yet registered, there is still opportunity to register for a discounted regular registration fee.
REGISTER NOWMeet WONCA Europe 2020 Keynote Speakers
Interview with Donald Li
1. You are discussing new technologies and commercialisation in a special keynote lecture with Norbert Donner-Banzhoff and Jonah Yaphe. Could you give us some insights of your perceptions?
The use of new technologies to improve public health, as well as individual health and well-being, is growing rapidly. It has been publicly recognised, by WHO and others, as key to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3 on health and wellbeing. Nothing will ever replace the face to face contact and ongoing relationship built on trust, between family doctor and patient. As family doctors, we need to be at the forefront of designing best practice, not reacting to what someone else has designed. The opportunities of new technologies are huge – but so are the challenges. We need to ensure that AI develops in a direction which supports our goal to deliver quality primary care.
2. Is digitalisation a threat or an opportunity for primary care?
It is both! Our WONCA Executive and many of our members are involved in numerous ways in the development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to their practice. I am pleased that the WONCA Working Party on eHealth, chaired by Pramendra Prasad, is taking the lead on this issue on behalf of family medicine. It is much better that WONCA is involved at the outset, helping to steer and test-drive options so as to get the best possible solutions to problems, rather than coming to the party late and finding that the systems are not easy to change or adapt to life in primary care.
3. You are currently President of WONCA World – which are the main aims for your Presidency?
My Presidency began in October 2018 and finishes this coming October, when I hand over to the very capable hands of Anna Stavdal.
When I took over as President, I had a number of both internal organisational aims and external aims. Externally we have continued to advocate for family medicine as essential to achieving universal health coverage and a strong cost-effective health system. We particularly aimed to address equity for low income countries, and for those working to serve vulnerable and under-resourced communities – including migrants and refugees.
We have continued to grow our close ties with the World Health Organization, through involvement of most of our Working Parties and Special Interest Groups at regional and global levels of policy making, as well as on an individual basis when the WONCA Executive meet with WHO colleagues on a regular basis.
We have grown our work in Education, Research, Ethical Issues, Mental Health, Rural Health, Indigenous & Minority Group Health Issues, Classification of Diseases, the Environment, eHealth, Quality and Safety, Women and Family Medicine.
WONCA World has limited resources: we may be a large organisation but we run the global WONCA on a shoestring! During my presidency we have increased income through accreditation of medical practices and through accreditation of Academic Family Medicine Programs. Internally, we wanted to ensure that we provide added value for all our members. Some member organizations and regions still have unmet needs and require assistance in developing a robust primary care system and establishing family medicine. They require every bit of help from the privileged and prosperous organizations. WONCA has been developing mechanisms to coordinate and assist this effort.
4. How could we strengthen the role of GPs in national health care systems?
WONCA is a big family, made up of multiple colleges and Member Organisations. There is a wealth of knowledge in almost every Member Organisation about how family medicine should function within a health system. Keeping quiet or hoping for the best is not an option when there are louder and well-informed lobbyists promoting increasing numbers of hospitals and specialities. Harnessing the evidence - of efficiency and effectiveness of primary care and its impact on health and wellbeing – to inform and challenge governments is a legitimate role of a professional college. Nobody can guarantee that politicians will listen – it’s often not in their nature to do so. But presenting evidence in a clear way, reflecting impact on population health, is hard to ignore, especially if patients themselves are mobilised to support GPs.
5. What expectations do you have for the WONCA Europe Conference in Berlin?
I expect the discussions to be enthusiastic and respectful! I expect to learn more about how AI is developing across Europe. But more importantly for me, it is the chance to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones that I’m looking forward to.
Invitation to the Pre-Conference
…the future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
blowing with the wind of change…
The Scorpions: Wind of change
Dear (young) colleagues,
as every year when its time for WONCA Europe, there will be the chance to come early and participate in the pre-conference for young and future general pratictioners. The JADE (Junge Allgemeinmedizin Deutschland) and Vasco da Gama Movement cordially invite you to join us for a pre-conference on „Wind of change in family medicine“.
What to expect?
During the pre-conference we want to work on the meaning of family in times of changing family models and will discuss what this means for our daily practice. There will be key notes, group work and workshops. And lots of possibilities to get together with young general practitioners from all across Europe which is lots of fun.
When?
Tuesday June 23rd and Wednesday June 24
Where?
Kaiserin-Friedrich-Stiftung, Robert-Koch-Platz 7, 10115 Berlin, in the heart of Berlin, a 10 minute walk from Berlin main station.
What else?
There will be a pre-conference exchange on Monday June 22, 2020. You will have the chance to see what a Monday in a German general practioner’s life is like. You can find more more information here: https://vdgm.woncaeurope.org/conference-exchanges
How to register?
Please register through the main conference site: http://www.woncaeurope2020.org/young-doctors, the conference fee is 70€ only.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact the organizing committee via email: wonca2020@jungeallgemeinmedizin.de
We are looking forward to meeting lots of you at the Berlin pre-conference!
On behalf of pre-conference organizers
Hannah Haumann
MORE INFORMATIONBerlin - Volume 7
Charlottenburg Palace
The magnificent Charlottenburg Palace is located just out of the centre of the city. The beautiful palace hosts fine collections of china and paintings and is situated in the middle of a picturesque palace garden right next to the river Spree. If you don't fancy a walk in the park, you can feed your mind instead in the Charlottenburg museums located directly opposite.
Let Your Colleagues Know
Please send this page to any colleagues and friends who you think will be interested in attending the Conference.
Conference Secretariat
GUARANT International spol. s r.o. Na Pankraci 17, 140 21 Prague 4, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 284 001 444
Fax: +420 284 001 448
E-mail: woncaeurope2020@guarant.cz