Successful WONCA APR 2019 in Kyoto, Japan

Photo: opening remarks

WONCA APR 2019 was held from May 15 - 18, 2019 at Kyoto International Conference Center, hosted by the Japan Primary Care Association. Total number of participants was 1643, from 46 countries, from all over the world.

The theme of the WONCA APR Conference 2019 was ‘Medical generalists: bringing forward a brighter future.’ Under this theme, three keynote speeches, seven plenary sessions, more than 50 workshops and symposia, and more than 500 oral presentations, as well as posters, were presented.

Throughout the conference, I believe, we could share that Primary Care is the bedrock of the healthcare system. The discipline of Primary Care delivers the workforce, research evidence and strategic vision for practice and policy.

This year’s WONCA APR Conference was the second time Japan has hosted, the previous one being in 2005. The marked difference from the previous conference was great engagement of many young physicians at the conference, both from Japan and abroad.

Photo: Amanda Howe leads "We are the Champions" at the gala dinner

Because May 19 was World Family Doctor Day (FDD), we advertised the day during the conference, through comments from the various persons including Prof Amanda Howe, immediate past president of WONCA, Prof Michael Kidd, past president of WONCA and Prof Meng-Chih Lee, current president of WONCA APR.

Although many participants have already given us positive feedback, we have sent the questionnaire to know the overall evaluation and are waiting for the responses.

The next WONCA APR Conference is going to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, 23-26 April, 2020. We are looking forward to getting together again there.

kindly yours,

Prof Nobutaro Ban
Representing the Japan Primary Care Association
Chair, Organizing Committee, WONCA APR 2019 Japan

Professor and Director
Medical Education Center
Aichi Medical University School of Medicine

Editor's note: Prof Nobutaro Ban and his team are to be particularly congratulated on both an excellent conference and the regular updates in the lead up to the conference, informing the WONCA family about the coming event.

Photo below: YDM preconference