On the 9th September, I was checking in at London Heathrow - the first time leaving UK borders since February 2020. The covid pandemic had somewhat reduced me from a global to a national GP with the restrictions placed on travel. So much so that I had almost forgotten what my previous globe-trotting life felt … Continue reading The Balearic meeting
Earlier this year, I was selected to attend the 2020 WONCA Europe Pre-conference Exchange in Berlin. Conference exchanges are one of the activities offered by the Vasco da Gama Movement – they usually involve spending a couple of days shadowing a GP from another country before attending a conference in that country. They are a … Continue reading How Can You Do a Primary Care Exchange in the Midst of Global Pandemic?
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend for these blogs to be seen as giving clinical advice nor as judging public health policy but rather to recount the lived experiences of family medicine physicians from across the world. I recommend you still follow your local guidance. Date of interview: 24th August 2020 Number of confirmed cases at … Continue reading COVID-19 – Kazhakstan – can social media replace government messaging?
Apologies for the radio silence! As some of you know, I have started a Masters in Medical Anthropology in October last year and I had three assignments to hand in in the space of two weeks in January! I'll definitely write up a blog post on how this is going and about how much the … Continue reading Erasmus exchange to Tolentino, Italy
So as some of you know, we won the bid to host the 7th Vasco da Gama (VdGM) Forum in Edinburgh 2021. To recap, VdGM is the young doctors movement for WONCA Europe which is the European network of family doctors. So I'm going to share with you how we are putting this event together - … Continue reading Preparing for the 7th VdGM Forum in Edinburgh #1 (14 months to go)
At the end of October, I attended the RCGP annual conference (RCGPAC) which is a great place to meet inspirational GPs. At risk of sounding like a RCGP poster girl, I really recommend you go because there are so many inspirational workshops and talks going on that it's an invigorating breath of fresh air during … Continue reading How to write an application
I'm not sure if anyone saw on our Facebook page but there was a post recently asking how to get involved with the Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM) and WONCA. I thought this was a really good question so I thought that I would put together as much information as I have gathered in the … Continue reading Getting involved with WONCA and VdGM – a European network of family doctors
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Chris Dowrick who I met whilst translating for a mental health workshop held in WONCA Asia Pacific in Kyoto earlier this year. He’s the Professor of Primary Medical Care at University of Liverpool but also the Chair of the WONCA working group on mental health and … Continue reading Mental health and international primary care – interview with Prof Chris Dowrick
What a week! I’m currently writing this on my way back from Kyoto (published on the day that I fly back to the UK) although admittedly I'm also slipping in and out of snooze mode whilst on the bullet train. I attended the WONCA Asia Pacific Region (APR) conference (15th to 18th May), not as … Continue reading Reflections on WONCA Asia Pacific, Kyoto Japan
At the end of April, I had the pleasure of being invited to Hiroshima university by Dr Yoshida to talk to the students about primary care. Being a country where patients have direct access to specialists, general practice/family medicine is a foreign concept and so it was up to yours truly to open the students' … Continue reading How do you explain primary care?
