From the President: April 2023

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May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
“Forever Young” by Bob Dylan

YOUNG DOCTORS in WONCA

A colleague recently referred to WONCA’s young doctors as “the future of Family Medicine.” The young doctors’ irritation at what he had intended as praise surprised him. “We’re already active – today,” they objected. “We’re part of the team that’s building our profession now.”

I fully agree! Generations of young family doctors have participated in WONCA during our organization’s fifty years and have come of age along with us.

The impressive history of the Young Doctors in WONCA deserves to be told:

Over the last 20 years, Young Doctors Movements (YDMs) have been established in all of WONCA’s seven regions, contributing to the increase in the number of member organizations. For WONCA, ‘young doctors’ are those in their “first five years of practicing as a Family Doctor, OR in training as a Family Doctor, OR are medical students.” Anyone who meets these criteria is entitled to membership in YDMs and to attend WONCA conferences at reduced fees. WONCA members who don’t fit the definition are not eligible to join YDMs.
Of course, there is no such exclusivity in the other direction: All members of WONCA, regardless of age, training status, or length of practice, are welcome to participate in WONCA governance and professional development activities.

The Young Doctors Movements Take Shape

The first YDM was established in 2004 in Europe – in Lisbon, Portugal, which explains the name its members chose initially: the Vasco da Gama Movement. By 2009, the Asia Pacific region had established their movement, Rajakumar. The next year, 2010, the South Asia and South America regions followed suit under the names, The Spice Route, and Waynakay. In 2013, our EMR and Africa regions established their Al-Razi, and AfriWon movements. In 2014, North America followed with their Polaris. A WONCA-affiliated network for “young rural doctors in training” called Rural Seeds was launched in 2017. Then, in 2022, the Vasco da Gama Movement became the European Young Doctors Movement.

The YDMs Develop

It became clear that, for the voice of the young doctors to be heard in our global community, they needed to be represented on the Global Executive Board. After a trial period began in 2013, the decision was made to change the bylaws, assigning a permanent place on the Board to a representative of the Young Doctors in WONCA. One by one, six of the seven Regional WONCA Boards allocated a seat to a Young Doctors representative and changed their bylaws accordingly. The only exception is WONCA North America whose regulatory system differs from those of the other regions.

Each of the Young Doctors Movements has its own governance structure. They organize regional as well as global pre-conferences. Increasingly, representatives of the YDMs are being included in Working Parties, and in Special Interest Groups. Liaison arrangements among WONCA networks and the regional YDMs have been established since 2022. We’ve also seen young doctors step up to the podium as keynote speakers at both regional and global conferences.

Contributions

Even before the COVID 19 pandemic, young doctors began leading the way as early cyber tools adopters. They organized digital webinars, meetings, forums, and conferences, enabling greater linking of the far-flung global WONCA networks.

They had already recognized the possibilities for professional exchanges that a broad global network provides, and have gone on to make creative use of them. A good example is the Family Medicine 360º (FM360º). It was established in 2013 and described on their website as:
…a global exchange program for those in Family Medicine/General Practice training and in the first five years of Family Medicine practice. It enables participants to spend up to four weeks visiting the Primary Health Care system of a different country, and includes host practices from all over the world. It is based on learning objectives, thus providing it with educational content.

And there are more. For example, ASPIRE:
…a program of YDMs launched to enhance young Family Medicine doctors’ connections with the global Family Medicine community by means of educational workshops, conferences, and research, [increasing] involvement with the national and regional organizations, as well as WONCA World…[This allows] young doctors to contribute to improvements of Primary Care in a global setting.

It’s easy to see why I’ve dedicated this entire Newsletter to the young doctors of WONCA!

Now, A ‘Core Values’ Request

Each and every time I engage with people who are different from me, I’m reminded just how much diversity adds to a professional community. More than we may realize, we are products of the culture and the times in which we were raised. Our differing experiences create and reinforce differing perspectives and expectations, and, to some extent, different values. We share a mutual responsibility to recognize, acknowledge, and respect this diversity of assumptions and priorities, including in our professional life.

In the March WONCA Newsletter, I launched a global brainstorming process focused on the ‘Core Values of Family Medicine’. My request here is that the YDMs place that topic on the agenda when planning their meetings and conferences during this time.

We want our exchanges to make relevant and useful contributions towards our aim: developing and maintaining a common understanding of our field. To achieve that, all our voices must be heard. I am looking forward to the input that the Young Doctors in WONCA will bring to the process!

Please share your views and reflections. Write to us at [email protected].

Finally, I want to thank you, WONCA’s Young Doctors, for the effort you invest and the contributions you make toward building the Family Medicine of now. Yes, and also of the future. Ours is a joint venture for Family Doctors – young, old, and in-between.

Dr Anna Stavdal
WONCA President