The European Young Family Doctor Movement (EYFDM), previously known as the Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM), is an organisation dedicated to supporting young family doctors (YFDs) in Europe.
A young doctor is a doctor in training for Family Medicine/General Practice and in the first 5 years after qualification as a family physician/general practitioner.
The seed of the movement was sown at the 2004 WONCA Europe conference in Amsterdam, at which the forum of young doctors was formed.
In January 2005, the first meeting of the young doctors representatives was held in Lisbon, hosted by the Portuguese NMO, and solidified the vision, goals, and objectives of the movement. The ideals for the Movement were set down in this meeting. The location, home port of Vasco da Gama, and the adventurous image, from where he set out on a voyage of discovery, contributed to name the movement after him. In this meeting it was also decided to create the pre-conferences of EYFDM (then VdGM) prior to the WONCA Europe conferences.
Four senior doctors present at the meeting in Lisbon 2005, crucial to the VdGM, in the picture to the right,
From left Luís Pisco (Portugal), Fons Sips (The Netherlands), Justin Allen (UK), Sakis Symeonidis (Greece).
The first pre-conference was held in Kos, Greece in 2005 and led to the recognition of the need for an organisational structure, funding and a website.
In a meeting in London in January 2006 the organisational structure was developed and Birgit Morre Pedersen (Denmark) was nominated the first president.
EYFDM (then Vasco da Gama Movement) official recognition and support by WONCA Europe at WONCA Europe Council Meeting in Florence, 27 August 2006.
- Growth and Milestones (2012-2015):
- The VdGM Fund was established in 2012 to support its initiatives.
- The 10th anniversary was celebrated in Lisbon in 2014, marked by a commemorative book.
- In 2015, the VdGM “Being Young Staying Young Award” was inaugurated, recognising outstanding young FDs.
- In October 2015 EYFDM was granted full recognition as a Network of WONCA Europe.
Today, the EYFDM continues to empower young FDs, facilitating networking, knowledge sharing and professional development through exchanges and events (including forum and pre-conference), projects (like the Bridge Project and Special Interest Groups), research and exchange awards.
The name change from VdGM to EYFDM reflects a more inclusive and descriptive identity for the organization.
Successful annual Pre-conferences (in the 2 days prior to WONCA Europe Conference) have been held ever since, including in 2013 – when the EYFDM (then VdGM) Preconference was held prior to the WONCA World Conference in Prague.
VdGM
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EYFDM
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