Contact EURACT

E-mail

Phone
(32) 16 33 74 64

FAX
(32) 16 33 74 80

PORTUGAL

In general

The new Primary Care Law, which was published some months ago, is not yet in the field – the need was felt to create a Commission to accompany its implementation. We hope some of GPs arguments are to be given some credit.

BME

Universities are now starting to change their General Practice programmes – following what's already being done in two of the newly created, sixth year is to be more practical, residential. We hope the GP Departments are to be stronger.

VT

There are winds of change, too, in what comes to Vocational Training. Our Minister of Health just produced a new law, changing the former Internate (we had 2 years of General Residency). We'll possibly have two branches – Medicine and Surgery – of a 1 or 2 years residency period, followed by 3 or 4 years of specific training. The College is now studying the law (so are the GP Association, Syndicates, and ADSO), and will soon pronounce for or against it. Most of us are for the end of the general residency, and for the 4^th year GP training.

We have, for 2004, 182 new training places for General Practice. It's more than in 2003 (147), but only about 20% of the total. All the other specialties increased too.

CME

Nothing new to report.

Work done as a EURACT Council member

New Portuguese members have joined EURACT (a total of 3, including another “old” member reconnecting). Fees of these members have been paid to the National Representative, and will be taken to Leicester.

Institutional contacts have been finally made with EGPRW(N).

I was present at one important GP meeting (Sesimbra), and made another conference on New Definitions and Patient Centeredness. There was, as usual, a distribution of a text explaining all about EURACT. Plans are being made to induce replication of workshops on these matters – but only in Algarve, for the moment.

The EURACT/EQUIP CPD booklets were not enough; therefore there was the need to copy them. After that I sent them to 46 destinations, including: all Portuguese EURACT members; all the members of the College council; all the members of ADSO Executive Board; reference persons in all the Universities with GP Departments (all that have Medical Schools – 6). The last ones received 4 booklets each, to allow easier divulgation. Contacts were made with the EQUIP representative in Portugal (Dr. Luís Pisco), in order to initiate translation and further wider distribution of the document.

Documents on EURACT were prepared and sent to Madeira Authorities and to Merck Foundation, looking for support to the next 2004 Madeira Meeting.

Addenda

I have the painful duty to communicate the death of one of the first Portuguese EURACT members – Professor José Guilherme Jordão.

One of the initiators of Family Medicine in our country, Jordão was for long time the Director of the Portuguese Institute for General Practice (South).

A highly respected Professor in the Lisboa University (FML) GP Department, he was also a practicing GP, and the President of our Teachers and Trainers Association (ADSO).

In his early fifties, he passed away the 23 of August – sudden death.

All his friends and colleagues, and the Portuguese General Practice as a whole will miss him deeply.