The Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM)

The Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM)

The WONCA Europe network for new and future general practitioners / family physicians

The Vasco da Gama movement is the WONCA Europe Network for New and Future General Practitioners / Family Physicians. The movement was born at the 2004 WONCA Europe conference in Amsterdam.

In January 2005 at a meeting in Lisbon, the vision, aims and objectives were set down. The Vasco da Gama Movement was formally launched at the Kos WONCA Europe Conference in September 2005.

Successful preconferences have been held in Florence 2006, Paris 2007, Istanbul 2008, Basel 2009, Malaga 2010, Warsaw in 2011, Vienna 2012, Prague 2013, Lisbon 2014, Istanbul 2015, Copenhagen 2016, Prague 2017, Krakow 2018, Bratislava 2019 and Online in 2020. Our first dedicated VdGM Forum was held in Barcelona in February 2014, followed by Dublin in February 2015, Jerusalem 2016, Strasbourg 2017, Porto 2018 and Torino 2019. In October 2015 in Istanbul, for the first time we met with our fellow WONCA Young Doctor Movement counterparts from all over the world. We also had very fruitful World Pro-conferences in Rio in 2016 and Seoul in 2018.

Other noteable milestones in the history of VdGM include the establishment of the VdGM Fund in 2012, celebrating our tenth anniversary in Lisbon in 2014 along with publication of our 10th Anniversary Book, the inauguration of the VdGM "Being Young Staying Young Award" in February 2015, and VdGM being granted full recognition as a Network of WONCA Europe in October 2015. We have numerous programmes including Exchanges, Special Interest Groups and collaborations with all WONCA Networks.

For the future we are looking forward to preconferences in Amsterdam (2021) and London (2022), to a VdGM Forum in Edinburgh (2022), and to participating in the Abu Dhabi Global Conference and Pre-Conference in 2021.


 
 

Convenor / Chair

Nick Mamo (UK)

Email: [email protected]
Dr Nick Mamo is a qualified GP in Scotland, where he completed my residency in 2020. Dr Mamo has worked around the UK after studying Medicine in Malta (his home country).

Nick is especially interested in social determinants of health, and the impact of culture on health outcomes. He completed a Master of Science in Medical Anthropology and he intends to further explore social aspects of care and the ways in which communities can impact on healthcare and outcomes. He also plans to explore these through a PhD on Collaborate Care Networks.

Previously, he was also involved in IFMSA, and the national member organisation MMSA in Malta, where he set up and ran Peer Education Programmes in numerous areas, as well as the training office. He is also a part of Zero Generation with active involvement in the past in the Leadership Summerschool (for 3 editions), Youth Trainers Academy, Healthcare Leadership Summerschool and created and ran the Mind the Box Workshop on creativity.

“VdGM has been a part of my life since I started my GP residency in 2017, when I took on the role of Treasurer. I have also formed part of the new Good Governance Committee for the pilot 2 years”.


 

Co-Convenor or other office bearers

  • Nick Mamo, UK (President)
  • Katarzyna Nessler, Poland (Immediate Past President)
  • Kerry Greenan, UK (Secretary)
  • Nadia Toumi, Netherlands (Treasurer)
  • Ana Cristina Franco Spinola, Portugal (Policy Officer)
  • Marta Kurdzielewicz, Poland (Awards and Fundraising Officer)
  • Rocio Garcia-Gutierrez Gomez, Spain (Exchange Officer)
  • Ikbal Hümay Arman, Turkey (Events Officer)
  • Christian Rechtenwald, Germany (Image Officer)
  • Sonia Tsukagoshi, UK (VdGM Representative on the WONCA Europe Board)

Membership Open?

Vision and Mission

Objectives

The VdGM Aims

o To provide opportunities for all European New and Future GPs / Family Physicians to meet, learn from each other, and gain collegiate support.
o Be the voice of European New and Future GPs / Family Physicians.
o Improve education and research opportunities for NFGPs/FPs in Europe.
o Promote the discipline of general practice / family medicine (GP/FM) and to enhance the position of NFGPs/FPs in the medical world

Vasco da Gama Movement constitution

Activities

Exchanges

The Vasco da Gama Movement offers three types of Exchanges. Please select one of the following for further information.

- The Hippokrates Exchange
- Conference Exchanges
- Family Medicine 360°

Find out more about exchanges

Awards and Bursaries

VdGM offers a number of awards and bursaries to young and future GPs.

- Junior Researcher Award
- Hippokrates Prize
- Claudio Carosino Prize
- The VdGM Fund Bursaries

Find out more about awards and bursaries