World Organization of Family Doctors - WONCA

18/07/2025

📬 The latest WONCA News is out now!
Your go-to update from the global family medicine community 🌍

✅ Meet the candidates for the WONCA Executive Committee elections
✅ 3 free webinars next week: social prescribing, integrative medicine & dermatology
✅ Rural health in focus – updates from EURIPA and looking head to New Zealand
✅ Featured Doctor: Amber Wheatley - British Virgin Islands
✅ Lisbon 2025: book launches, family-friendly planning & how to save on registration
✅ Share your voice in 3 global surveys on core values, patient safety & workplace equity

🔗 Don’t miss a thing – subscribe now and stay connected:
👉 https://mailchi.mp/wonca/18-7-2025

18/07/2025

FEATURED DOCTOR: AMBER WHEATLEY

What is it like to be a family doctor in a place where patients arrive by boat or plane, and the hospital is a sea crossing away?

Dr Amber Wheatley offers a candid and colourful glimpse into island medicine in the British Virgin Islands, where she practises across remote islands under the Caribbean sun.

In this interview, she talks about the joys and challenges of serving her home community, her leadership roles with WONCA’s rural and women’s working groups, the home remedies she grew up with, yoga headstands and more.

Read the full interview: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/member/WoncaPeople/WHEATLEYAmber.aspx

15/07/2025

🎤 Meet our Keynote Speaker - Dr Andrée Rochfort

- Director of Quality Improvement, Irish College of General Practitioners
- Assistant Clinical Professor, University College Dublin

Dr. Rochfort is a family physician with over 30 years of experience and a leader in quality, safety, and sustainable healthcare.

She was President of EQUIP (WONCA Europe's quality & safety network) until early 2025 and is a strong advocate for:
🌱 Planetary health
🧘‍♀️ Physician wellbeing
📡 Telehealth & lifestyle medicine

As a teacher, speaker, and editor, she is passionate about human factors in care, medical education, and empowering both doctors and patients.

📍Don’t miss her insights at in Lisbon!
https://www.woncaworld2025.org/keynote-speakers


World Organization of Family Doctors - WONCA WONCA Europe

15/07/2025

Social Prescribing in Cancer Recovery: A Global Webinar for Family Doctors

Family doctors understand that recovery after cancer is about more than treatment. It’s also about connection, purpose and support in daily life.

Join WONCA for a free global webinar exploring how social prescribing can help patients regain strength and confidence after cancer.

🗓️ Tuesday 22 July 2025
🕚 11:00 UTC
🔗 Register: https://eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/register/0NAPOvTGSF-uSUoKAzBkag #/registration

Speakers:
Dr Ferdinando Petrazzuoli (Italy)
Prof Joyce Kenkre (UK)
Dr Juan M. Mendive (Spain)

They’ll share real examples and advice for how primary care teams can support recovery by linking patients to community-based activities – from volunteering to social groups.

If you work in primary care, rehabilitation, or health policy, this webinar is for you.

This session is part of the SPACE Project (Social Prescribing for Active Civic Engagement), which brings together experts across Europe to make recovery more holistic and community-based. This project was co-funded by the European Union

📅 Tuesday, 22 July 2025
🕘 7:00 AM São Paulo / Buenos Aires
🕗 6:00 AM New York / Toronto
🕔 5:00 AM Mexico City / Chicago
🕓 4:00 AM Denver
🕒 3:00 AM Los Angeles / Vancouver
🕗 12:00 PM West Africa (Lagos)
🕐 1:00 PM Central Europe (Brussels, Madrid)
🕒 3:30 PM India (Delhi)
🕓 5:00 PM Thailand (Bangkok)
🕔 6:00 PM Hong Kong / Manila
🕘 8:00 PM Sydney

12/07/2025

NEW DATES FOR WONCA APR 2026

The organisers of the 2026 WONCA Asia Pacific Regional (APR) Conference in Iloilo, Philippines, have announced a change in dates.

Originally scheduled for 3–7 March 2026, the conference will now take place from 23–27 March 2026.

This decision was made in alignment with WONCA’s values of cultural responsiveness, inclusivity, and global cooperation, as the original dates coincided with the observance of Ramadan for many of our Muslim colleagues.

11/07/2025

🎤 Meet our Keynote Speaker - Dr Jim Campbell
🌐 Director of Health Workforce, World Health Organization (WHO)
🧠 Global leader in health systems, data & workforce strategy

Jim Campbell leads WHO’s efforts to support countries in building strong, sustainable health and care workforces — from education and employment to retention.

His work focuses on:
💡 Digital health & AI
🌍 Global collaboration
⚖️ Equity for women & youth
📊 Better workforce data

With decades of experience and recognition from top institutions, Jim brings a powerful voice to the future of global healthcare.

📍Meet him this September at in Lisbon!
https://www.woncaworld2025.org/keynote-speakers


🎤 Meet our Keynote Speaker - Dr Jim Campbell
🌐 Director of Health Workforce, World Health Organization (WHO)
🧠 Global leader in health systems, data & workforce strategy
Jim Campbell leads WHO’s efforts to support countries in building strong, sustainable health and care workforces — from education and employment to retention.
His work focuses on:
💡 Digital health & AI
🌍 Global collaboration
⚖️ Equity for women & youth
📊 Better workforce data
With decades of experience and recognition from top institutions, Jim brings a powerful voice to the future of global healthcare.
📍Meet him this September at in Lisbon!
https://www.woncaworld2025.org/keynote-speakers

World Organization of Family Doctors - WONCA WONCA Europe

11/07/2025

Webinar: Medicina Rural – A Pedagogical Commitment in Latin America

The session will explore how medical schools and training programmes across Latin America are designing education specifically for rural practice.

Practicing medicine in rural settings requires knowledge and skills that differ from those needed in urban environments. However, most health professionals —even those who wish to work in rural areas— can only access training in urban centers.
Institutions across Latin America have acknowledged this gap and have begun offering training opportunities specifically tailored to rural contexts.

In this webinar, speakers will share their experiences from different countries and regions.

📅 Date: Saturday, 12 July 2025
🕔 Time: 17:00 UTC
🌐 Register here: https://eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PnRRPc6ZTF-x1s-FiF08WQ

Presentations will be in Spanish and Portuguese, with real-time AI-translated captions available in English and other languages.

11/07/2025

Join Us for an Online Round Table: Chronic Pain and Integrative Medicine in Family Practice

Hosted by the WONCA Special Interest Group on Integrative Medicine

Family physicians are on the front lines of managing chronic pain—one of the most complex and pressing challenges in primary care. Join a panel of your colleagues with a special interest in integrative medicine for a dynamic online round table discussion exploring Evidence-Based approaches to chronic pain management.

The speakers will share their insight into how integrative strategies—such as, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, Homeopathy lifestyle interventions, meditation, mind-body therapies, and other complementary modalities—can be safely and effectively incorporated into everyday clinical practice.

Who should attend?

Family doctors interested in expanding their toolkit for managing chronic pain with a patient-centered, whole-person approach.

Let’s share insights, clinical experience, and practical strategies.

Date: Saturday, 26th July
Time: 11:00 AM UTC
Location: Online on Zoom

Register:
https://eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/register/9yveeAuTTYyHIZOjers-Dw

11/07/2025

Family doctors are invited to take part in the Global Family Medicine Community Survey, a joint initiative by the WONCA Core Values Project and Golden Nuggets of Family Medicine, led by Dr Florian Stigler. The survey offers a space to share your perspective on the values that matter in your context. Your input will help guide the future of the project and strengthen its global relevance.

👉 Take the survey: https://family-medicine.org/global_survey/

The WONCA Core Values Project, led by Immediate Past-President Dr Anna Stavdal with Professors Felicity Goodyear-Smith and Johann A Sigurdsson, has brought together colleagues across all WONCA regions to reflect on what defines family medicine.

Through regional workshops, online meetings and written contributions, the project has explored the shared values that shape how we practise, teach and advocate for our profession

The first phase of this project work will culminate in a new book, Core Values in Family Medicine: Inspiring Global Change, to be launched at the WONCA World Conference in Lisbon. The book brings together insights from across the globe and offers a powerful reflection on our common ground.

Read more about the project: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/GlobalFamilyMedicineSurvey.aspx

10/07/2025

Call for Applications: Chair of the WONCA Special Interest Group on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Deadline: 31 July 2025

More info:

WONCA is the World Organization of Family Doctors, with 118 Member Organizations representing over 500,000 family doctors in over 130 countries and territories around the world, and working in partnership with the World Health Organisation.

10/07/2025

Dr Fiona Bolden, Chair of Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network writes to introduce the 21st WONCA World Rural Health Conference, to be held in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand from 10–13 April 2026.

The conference will bring together health professionals, researchers, indigenous leaders, students and rural communities from around the world.

With the theme “Whānau Ora: Integrating Mātauranga Māori, Indigenous Knowledge with Rural Health for a Thriving Future”, the event will explore how traditional knowledge and modern practice can together create a more holistic and sustainable rural health system.

Over four days, attendees can expect keynote speakers, panels, workshops, social events and post-conference tours showcasing New Zealand’s natural beauty and cultural heritage. The call for abstracts is now open until the end of August.

Click for more details on the conference, abstract submission and registration: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/RuralConference2026.aspx

09/07/2025

PATIENT SAFETY SURVEY: Estimated time: 5 minutes.

How well are patients and families engaged in safety efforts in your practice?

This brief global survey, coordinated by the WONCA Working Party on Quality & Safety, aims to gather input from family doctors worldwide to understand the current level of patient and family involvement in improving safety.

The results will support WONCA’s contribution to the WHO Global Patient Safety Plan 2021–2030 and help build a baseline for future research.

👉

WPQS Patient and family engagement survey - Online Survey Software