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Council meeting - Madeira, Portugal, April 2004 Report of the Meeting

Council Reports Contents

Wednesday 21 April 2004

Pre-Council Executive Board Meeting

The Executive Board met before the Council Meeting and discussed the following issues:

• The fee for Organizations in Collaboration and the policy for this status were discussed. Two proposals will be presented to the Council for discussion.
• The proposal for a Teachers' Conference will be presented to the Council. This conference could be organized annually in conjunction with the Bled course. This year a pilot conference will be organized.
• WONCA Europe has approved the second key informant project. Prof. Heyrman will introduce it to the Council.
• Prof. Svab and Agnes Goethuys will review the members' booklet to be ready for WONCA in Amsterdam. Agnes Goethuys will organize printing.
• The Web-site update is still a problem. The Web group will be obliged to present a short report to the Council. Dr. Allen (or Prof. Vainiomaki), Dr. Yaphe, Dr. Simeonidis and Dr. Carelli will arrive one day before the Århus council meeting and will re-arrange the web-site.
• The Leonardo–EURACT course is ready and will take place for then first time this year in Poland. EURACT can invest income from the Leicester meeting for subsequent courses. The Member Services Committee will explore ways to implement future courses.
• New committees will be created during the first session of this Council Meeting and will work for the next three years. The Council members will have an opportunity to move to a new committee.
• Prof. Svab will chair the “5 minutes 1 slide” session. Dr. Simeonidis will chair the session on developing hot topics.
• The EB proposes a joint election of the President for the next two years – Dr. Justin Allen for one year and Dr. Egle Zebiene for the next two years.
• Three new EB members will be elected during the ongoing Council Meeting. Dr. Adam Windak will lead the election procedure during the Council Meeting.
  

Session 1: Country reports

The Council Members discussed their reports in pairs while waiting for the arrival of a few Council members delayed in transit. After the paired discussions, Council Members reported to the plenary about the situation in their partner's country. In the meantime those who were delayed joined the meeting and shortly reported on the situation in their countries. The full texts of their reports are available as Annex 1. Five new members introduced themselves to Council:

Prof. Olga Kuznetsova from St Petersburg is the first Council Member from Russia. She works as the head of the Department of Family Medicine at the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education.

Dr. Monica Lindh is the new Swedish representative. Her special fields of interest are patient-centered medicine and the lifelong learning concept. She has experience from work in South Africa. She is now the director for postgraduate training in a small city in Sweden.

Dr. Wolfgang Spiegel is the new Austrian representative. He runs a private practice in Vienna. He is involved both in research and education in the field of family medicine.

Dr. Samira Herenda is the new Council Member from Bosnia & Herzegovina. She is the assistant professor at the Department of Family Medicine at Tuzla University. Her special fields of interest are communication and continuous professional development.

Prof. Benedikt Horn is the new Swiss representative.

After the presentation of new members Prof. Heyrman informed the Council about the key informant project funded by the European Society. The overall aim of this project is to inventory the situation in education of family medicine in Europe. This time EURACT is focusing on CPD. In the future other areas will be selected.

At the end of the session the President described the program of the Council Meeting. He stressed the opportunity to change membership of the working committees and asked all the Council Members to consider their involvement in the future work of EURACT. He also informed Council about the election of the President and three new EB members, to be organized before the end of the meeting.

Thursday 22 April 2004

Session 2: Establishing committees

As a new Council was elected, new working committees have to be created. According to the previous arrangements the following committees were established:

Name of the Committee	Members
Basic Medical Education Committee	Y. Yaphe, F. Carelli, S. Wilm, B. Horn, J. Metsemakers, W. Spiegel
Specific Training Group	R. Maagaard, O. Kuznetsova, J. Szabo, M. Lember, B. Gay, L. Rrumbullaku, D. Fores, F. O'Kelly, M. Lindh
Member Services Committee	E. Zebiene, A. Windak, A. Simeonidis, J. Allen, I. Svab, F. Gomes
Continuous Medical Education Committee	P. Vainiomäki, J. Heyrman, B.Wanrooij, M. Vrcic-Keglevic, S. Herenda, E. Jurgova, I. Popa

Absent members are expected to join one of the committees during the next Council Meeting in Århus.

Session 3: Committee work

The whole session was devoted to the work of 4 standing committees. At the end leaders of the committees presented following, short reports to the plenary.

BME – lead by Yonah Yaphe
The group produced the checklist for doctors accepting BME students in their practices. The document is going to be attached to the course materials for Leonardo EURACT course in Zakopane. After the course it will be reviewed and hopefully published. Another issue raised was cross-cultural teaching of family medicine. The group is looking forward to the Bled course, where they will collect a lot of useful material for further work. The group considered also other issues like assessment methods. The full text of the report is available in Annex 4.

VT – lead by Roar Maagaard
There were several issues discussed during the meeting. The idea to create a forum for the exchange of trainees in Europe is going to be explored in future. The second item was the discussion on differences in financing of VT across the Europe. The VT group completed the work on the questionnaire on selection of trainees in various countries. This questionnaire will be distributed by e-mail. Another issue discussed was the assessment of training schemes in Europe. The question is whether it is possible to get the same quality product after 2 and 5 years of training. The group will discuss it further. The full report is available in Annex 4.

CME/CPD – lead by Paula Vainiomäki
The document on CPD was published together with EQuiP. The group is seeking an effective strategy for its implementation. The group discussed possible ways to assist family medicine teachers involved in CPD. They considered production of a booklet on this subject. The group is thinking also about the landscape document on accreditation of CPD activities, which exist all over Europe. The full text of the report is available in Annex 4

Member Services – lead by Egle Zebiene
The group discussed the sponsorship procedure for training courses, organized under the patronage of EURACT. There is no application for sponsorship course of CNGE. There are many applications for Bled course. It was decided to stop the bursary program for the CNGE course and to keep the current form for the Bled course. The group discussed in detail the Leonardo–EURACT course in Zakopane. This course is ready and will be piloted in May 2004. After the pilot the final version of the course materials will be produced and published by the Leonardo da Vinci project, run by the College of Family Physicians in Poland. These materials will be available for the dissemination process, which was also discussed. It was decided that the course should be repeated at least twice - in 2005 and 2006. The applicants will get 6000 euro per course from the EURACT budget if they collect participants from at least 4 countries. They will also get a complete package of educational materials from the Leonardo da Vinci project. The full text of the report is available in Annex 4.

Session 4: Educational Agenda

Prof. Jan Heyrman described the work done until now on the document. He stressed that the document has to be ready before the WONCA Conference in Amsterdam. Leaders of the chapters should prepare the final version of their chapters by May 15, 2004. Several Council Members, especially those who were not involved in the previous work, gave comments on the current version of the document. Afterwards the Council split to three groups working on specific chapter.

Session 5: “5 minutes 1 slide” presentations

• Towards mutual collaboration between the Greek and Turkish Associations of Family Medicine. Dr. A. Simeonidis introduced this idea as an early example of regional collaboration in Europe. Several forms of collaboration were considered. One possibility is the common organization of a future Leonardo EURACT course.
• From core competence to curriculum. Dr J. Allen reported on difficulties met by GP teachers in the UK when they start to construct curriculum out of the core competences. He is interested in experience of other countries in this field. He also expects the need for further review of the core competencies in future.
• The Bosnia and Herzegovina experience in teaching family medicine. Dr. S. Herenda described her experience and involvement in building the discipline in her country. She stressed positive role of Canadian support and personal involvement of Prof. Muharem Zildic.
• Increase of membership as a challenge for EURACT. Dr. F. Carelli described his efforts to increase visibility of EURACT in Italy and Europe. He stressed the need for such an action in different countries and areas, resulting also in more EURACT-marked publications.
• The American Future of Family Medicine Project. Dr. Y. Yaphe introduced the project of the American Academy of Family Physicians on the future of family medicine. There is a document published in Annals of Family Medicine in April 2004 which is similar to our Definition and Educational Agenda. This document may be of interest for our future work.
• New approach to vocational training in Russia. Prof. O. Kuznetsova introduced the concept of decentralization of training in Russian Federation. This is rather new approach in this country. She believes that it can facilitate the access to the courses for many GPs.
• EURACT project on Higher Professional Education concept. Prof. J. Heyrman reminded us of the project on HPE and the plan arising from the Utrecht Conference. We planned to create special task force within EURACT, which has not occurred. Dr. Arthur Hibble – a British EURACT member – developed a special questionnaire to clarify the situation in this field. Council Members have been asked to complete it.
  

Friday 23 April 2004

Session 6: Business meeting

• The report of the Leicester meeting was discussed. The issue of the members' booklet was raised. Some members, especially new ones, do not know this document. Agnes will distribute it on request.
• The President reminded the Council that there is an open offer for organization of the Leonardo–EURACT course in 2005 while 2006 is already booked by Portugal. It was agreed that in order to receive EURACT and Leonardo da Vinci project support, groups of four teachers from at least four countries should participate in the course.
• The President presented his report summarizing his activities during the period since the last Council Meeting. He introduced the idea of a European conference of teachers to be organized by EURACT. The pilot conference will be organized this year in conjunction with the Bled course and the idea will be evaluated afterwards. The President discussed the report from the WONCA Europe Executive, which was distributed before the Council meeting. There is an increasing space for network involvement. EURACT will be expected to contribute more to the WONCA meeting in Kos Island in 2005. Some Council members noticed that the report and the decisions of EB about conferences do not change the existing situation. However we, as a teaching body, have to be more aware of our responsibility for educational content of the European conferences. It was agreed that the President is going to declare our readiness to contribute more in the letter to be sent to WONCA Europe EB.
• EURACT is going to be involved in Young Doctors Program, which is going to take place before the WONCA Europe meeting in Amsterdam. Six Council members are directly involved in this project. Most of them are happy with the project's development. They suggest that this kind of project should be organized before each European conference. Final evaluation will be possible after the end of the project.
• There is some confusion about publicizing EURACT workshops for WONCA in Amsterdam. It was decided that all abstracts accepted for the Amsterdam conference submitted on behalf of EURACT should be sent to Agnes. She will prepare a leaflet with titles and slots in the program.
• The three-network collaboration was discussed. Work on specific subjects and ideas is the best way to collaborate. Good examples are collaboration on the CPD document and on the New Definition. The Council supports this option.
• The Honorary Treasurer presented his report. Our financial situation is good especially due to significant income from the Leicester meeting. This gives us more flexibility in planning our future activities. The full report is available in Annex 2.
• Adoption of the policy for composition of the EB was proposed. The President proposed that we invite the chairs of the working committees to all EB meetings, including the residential meeting, usually held in winter. The Council accepted this proposal.
• The selection of the committee chairs was discussed. Several options were proposed. Nomination of the chair by the committee was approved. New chairs of the committees will be appointed during the next Council Meeting in Århus.
• The Co-option policy was discussed. Several options were discussed. No final decision was made. It was decided that further discussion on the topic will take place in Denmark. Dr. B. Wanrooij keeps her status as an observer till the end of 2004.
• The President informed Council that he is ready to stand for election for presidential office, but he can keep the post only till the end of spring Council Meeting 2005. He also presented the EB recommendation that dr. Egle Zebiene to take over the post for the remaining period of two years. The Council elected dr. J. Allen as EURACT President until the spring meeting in 2005. Due to lack of time further decisions were not made and the discussion was adjourned and postponed until the following day.
  

Saturday 24 April 2004

Session 7: Business meeting – continued

• The session started with a review of the decisions taken during the last session. The President explained once again the reasons for his decision to stand only for the first year of the coming term of the presidency. He explained that he has done so for health reasons and because of an increased workload. He described the origin of the current working style of the Council and EB. He reminded Council that three places in the EB are available for election now. The Honorary Secretary gave the summary of the decisions taken by the EB in order to secure a successful presidency for the upcoming term. An important and emotional discussion followed. This discussion touched on several aspects of the working style of the Council. Two specific proposals were formulated: 1) the EB proposal to vote for E. Zebiene and other candidates, 2) to postpone the decision till next year. The first proposal got 11 votes and the second one 14 votes. The election of the new President for the years 2005-2006 was postponed till the next Council meeting. It was agreed that candidates for President in 2005-2006 should be presented to the secretariat of EURACT at least 1 month before the Århus meeting. The candidacy should be supported by at least two other Council members. A CV and short vision of his/her duties within the organization should accompany the application.
• The next item was the election of the EB members. The candidates were proposed as follows:
  1. Prof. Paula Vainiomäki
  2. Prof. Jan Heyrman
  3. Dr. Mladenka Vrcic-Keglevic
  4. Dr. Iuliana Popa
  5. Prof. Job Metsemakers
  6. Dr. Francesco Carelli
  
  The Honorary Secretary conducted the election procedure. He was assisted by dr. B. Wanrooij and A. Goethuys. The following candidates were elected as new Executive Board members:
  1. Prof. Jan Heyrman
  2. Prof. Job Metsemakers
  3. Dr. Mladenka Vrcic-Keglevic
• After the election the functions of EB were discussed. The Council members presented several options and views. Finally an ad hoc committee lead by Prof. J. Metsemakers, with participation of Prof. P. Vainiomäki, Iuliana Popa and F. Carelli, was appointed to formulate a discussion paper on the future work of EB.
• 111 new members were approved by the Council:
  

  Belgium 4	Lithuania 1
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 12	Malta 2
  Cyprus 6	Netherlands 13
  France 1	Norway 6
  Germany 5	Poland 2
  Greece 20	Portugal 10
  Island 4	Romania 1
  Ireland 12	Switzerland 1
  Italy 5	Slovenia 1
  Latvia 3	UK 2 + 1 organisation in collaboration.

There are 616 EURACT members in total.

Session 8: Educational Agenda – continued

The Council divided into three groups and worked further on the items of the educational agenda.

Session 9: Future plans and meetings

Places, dates and programs for next Council meetings were presented and discussed. The schedule is as follows:

Time schedule for future Council meetings

At the end of the session, Dr. Yonah Yaphe reflected on different aspects of the current council meeting. The excellent organization and quite effective work of the council were stressed. All Council Members expressed in turn their feelings about the meeting. They underlined extremely good organization and the efforts made by the host of the meeting, Dr. Luis Filipe Gomes.

The President closed the meeting with four reminders to the Council members:

• Please read Council documents provided.
• Please respond to Council e-mails.
• Remember to provide nominations for the post of President.
• Think about the challenge to organize the Leonardo–EURACT course.
  

Post-Council Executive Board meeting

• Educational Agenda – The deadline for chapter leaders to submit the final version of their chapters is May 15. Prof. Jan Heyrman and Dr. Justin Allen will write the final version of the introduction. The Glossary: Jan will write this with the help of Mladenka by the end of May. The finished document should be ready for Amsterdam. Prof. J. Heyrman will take 200 copies to Amsterdam. The document can still be modified before printing. Feedback during and after Amsterdam will be obtained. The final version will be approved in Århus. The implementation strategy should be developed there as well.
• The continuation of the Leonardo–EURACT course needs a more active approach. The options for 2005 are Bled or Turkey. The decision should be taken in Århus.
• The application of the Czech-Slovak meeting for financial support to cover the council meeting expenses was discussed. Several options were discussed. It was agreed that fees of EURACT members should not be spent on organization of Council meetings. It was stressed that one of primarily duties of every Council member is to organize a Council meeting at least once and to gather necessary financial sources for it. The EB is aware of increasing difficulties in this field and that is why an option of common organization of the meetings by two countries was accepted. Finally it was decided that no money from the EURACT budget will be available for Council Meeting organization.
• Further representation of EURACT in the EB of WONCA Europe was discussed. It was decided that Dr. Justin Allen will remain as a temporary EURACT representative to the European Society. He is going to discuss it with Philip Evans and Igor Svab.
• Evaluation of the Young Doctors Project was discussed. Dr. A. Simeonidis agreed to report to the Council about this initiative. He will prepare a short written report for Århus meeting.
• The co-option policy will be included in the discussion paper to be prepared by the task force working on the EB responsibilities.
• The EB recommends publication of the checklist for teaching practices accepting the BME students as a EURACT booklet. Council members will be asked to comment on it. If no major comments are received, 2000 copies will be printed for the Århus meeting.
• The idea of the questionnaires review committee has been abandoned. The questionnaires developed by the committees do not need further approval. Any other questionnaire needs to be submitted to the EB for approval before distribution.
• Council Members will be asked to publicize the teachers' conference following the Bled course. Agnes will send a reminder about it.
• Dr. J. Allen will prepare a discussion paper about further use of the New Definition. The document will be ready for discussion during the residential meeting of the EB in 2005.
• Prof. Jan Heyrman will develop the discussion paper about HPE for the residential EB meeting in 2005.
• The Web group consisting of Prof. P. Vainiomäki, Dr. A. Simeonidis, Dr. R. Maagaard, Dr. F. Carelli and Dr. Y. Yaphe will meet prior to the Århus meeting. Dr. Roar Maagaard will secure facilities (computer, Internet link) for the meeting of the group.
• The business meeting of the next Council Meeting in Århus will start on Wednesday afternoon.
• The liaison persons for the meeting are:
  Dr. A. Simeonidis – Århus, Autumn 2004
  Prof. J. Heyrman – Czech Republic, Spring 2005
  Dr. M. Vrcic-Keglevic – Austria, Autumn 2005
• Reimbursement of the travel expenses:
  

  1. Eva Jurgova	796	x 90%	= 715
  2. Iuliana Popa	600		= 540
  3. Llukan Rrumbullaku	553		= 500
  Total	1949	x 90%	= 1755

Summary of EURACT Council and EB decisions – Madeira 2004

• The members' booklet must be ready for WONCA in Amsterdam.
• The pilot EURACT Conference for Teachers in 2004 will be held in Bled.
• The meeting of the web-site group will take place prior to the Council Meeting in Århus.
• 6000 euro is available for Leonardo–EURACT course organizers in 2005 and 2006 each, if they collect teachers at least from 4 countries.
• The members' booklet is available through Agnes.
• The President is going to send a letter to EB of WONCA Europe about EURACT involvement in future conferences.
• Abstracts of EURACT contributions for WONCA Congress in Amsterdam should be sent to Agnes.
• The committees will elect their chairs in Århus.
• Dr. B. Wanrooij stays on as an observer till the end of 2004.
• Dr. Justin Allen is elected as EURACT President till the end of spring Council Meeting in 2005. Election of the President for the remaining part of the term is postponed till the Århus meeting.
• Prof. Jan Heyrman, Prof. Job Metsemakers and Dr. Mladenka Vrcic-Keglevic were elected as new EB members for period of 2004–2006.
• A task force led by Prof. J. Metsemakers was formed to develop the discussion paper on the functions of the EB.
• 200 copies of the Educational Agenda will be printed for Amsterdam conference.
• No financial support can be guaranteed for future Council Meeting organizers.
• Dr. J. Allen is temporary EURACT representative in WONCA Europe.
• The written report on Young Doctors Project will be available for Århus.
• ·The request for comments on checklist for teaching practices will be distributed before the Århus meeting.
• No further approvals for questionnaires developed by the committees.
• Discussion papers on several topics will be developed in near future.
• Liaison persons for next three Council meetings have been appointed.