Please see below for role descriptions. The deadline to submit applications for these positions is 20th August, and candidates will need to attend the council meeting on 16th-17th September either online or in person to present their application and receive questions from council.
Applicant Criteria and Process
The elections organisational policy can be found here.
Candidates should be a young doctor and a member of their NMO.
The required documents for election are as follows:
○ Curriculum Vitae
○ Motivational Letter
○ Proof of:
membership of their NMO
young doctor status
○ Essential letter of recommendation from their National Delegate (if the candidate is not themselves a National Delegate, or from their NEC if the candidate is a National Delegate themselves and their country has a NEC).
○ Up to three desirable letters of recommendation:
■ From their NMO
■ A maximum of two letters from other EYFDM members
Please contact secretary if you have any questions!
WEBINAR SERIES: In the lead-up to World Family Doctor Day, Monday 19 May 2025, WONCA’s Working Party on Mental Health is proud to present a global webinar series exploring the central role of family doctors in mental health care. These sessions reflect our campaign’s theme Building Mental Resilience in a Changing World and reinforce the message that primary health care is uniquely positioned to foster mental wellness. The series will explore how family doctors care not only for their patients, but also for themselves and one another.
Topics range from culturally sensitive approaches to mental health, to collaboration between doctors and patients, to core concepts that help clinicians and communities navigate adversity—such as coherence, suffering and hope, and the pursuit of meaningful well-being. A special session will spotlight the MDD Minds project, which has empowered thousands of primary care professionals to better manage depression and prioritize their own resilience. Join us and discover how family doctors, when supported and connected, are catalysts for healing across communities.
Self-Care for Family Doctors
Resilience Building and Mental Awareness (with WONCA Young Doctors’ Movement) Date: Sunday, 18 May. Time: 14:00 UTC.
Working Together for Change
How Family Doctors and Patients Can Improve Mental Health (with World Patients Alliance) Date: Monday, 19 May. Time: 12:00 UTC.
Key Concepts for Mental Resilience
Suffering and Hope; Coherence and Engagement; Eudaemonia and Ataraxia Date: Monday, 19 May. Time: 16:00 UTC.
Cultural Approaches to Mental Health
Tailoring Solutions to Local Communities (with International Federation of Medical Student Associations) Date: Tuesday, 20 May. Time: 10:00 UTC.
Addressing Depression in Primary Health Care
Lessons from the MDD Minds Project Date: Wednesday, 21 May. Time: 13:00 UTC.
FEATURED DOCTOR: This special World Family Doctor Day edition features Dr Sunil Abraham, a family doctor and faculty member at Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. In this interview, recorded at the WONCA South Asia Regional Conference 2025, he shares personal insights from working with underserved communities in India and Australia, and reflects on the emotional challenges of a career in medicine, and the importance of self-care, spiritual grounding, and mental resilience for family doctors.
Check the WONCA Playlist including President’s message and a performance of Three Little Birds, from Bob Marley and the Wailers performed by family doctors from across the globe:
RUN WITH WONCA: As we count down to World Family Doctor Day 2025, we’re inviting the global WONCA community to lace up and get moving together. Physical activity is one of the simplest, most powerful tools we have to support our mental wellness – and it’s even better when we do it as a community. That’s why we’ve launched the WONCA Running Club on Strava.
Join our Running Club: Strava is a mobile app that lets you track your runs, walks, or bike rides using your phone or smartwatch. It’s also a social platform where you can join clubs, follow friends, and cheer each other on. This year’s campaign theme is Building Mental Resilience in a Changing World. Our WONCA running club is a fun, low-pressure way to care for your own mental health, connect with colleagues, and feel part of a shared global movement. Join us here.
We are pleased to open calls for applications to the position of Treasurer on the Executive from Monday 5th May! Please find the role description here. Note that we have removed the requirement for EU/EEA residency.
This will be an online election:
the deadline to submit applications (see documents list below) to secretary is 2nd June 2025
these will be vetted and circulated to council on 3rd June 2025, who will have 1 week to submit questions
questions will be circulated to the candidates on 9th June 2025, with 1 week to submit responses
these responses will be shared with council and the vote opened on 16th, closing on 23rd June with the outcome announced.
Candidates should be a young doctor and a member of their NMO. The required documents for election are as follows: ○ Curriculum Vitae ○ Motivational Letter ○ Proof of membership of their NMO ○ Proof of young doctor status ○ An essential letter of recommendation from their National Delegate if the candidate is not themselves a National Delegate, or from their NEC if the candidate is a National Delegate themselves and their country has a NEC.
○ Up to three desirable letters of recommendation: ■ From their NMO ■ A maximum of two letters from other EYFDM members
Candidates will also need to submit a 3 minute video presentation to accompany their application.
Please contact secretary if you have any questions!
The 9th EYFDM Forum just flew by these last 3 days, allowing participants to expand and share their knowledge, expertise and insights both during the scientific programme and social events, while getting to know colleagues from all over Europe and even other regions.
It was a great event and we thank our hosts for making the first tri-national Forum.
Before the start of the event, the Council meet to discuss some important issues, namely concerns regarding conflicts, its effect on healthcare and its discussion within EYFDM and WONCA. Social Media Guidelines were discussed and approved and will be shared within the coming days. We also got a sneak peak of the next events – namely the Pre-Conference of the WONCA World Lisbon 2025 and 10th EYFDM Forum in Tallinn, Estonia 2026.
Group Photo of the 9th EYFDM Forum
Council Meeting
Photo from 2nd Gala Dinner
Photo from 2nd Gala Dinner
Photo from 2nd Gala Dinner
Workshop Dermatoscopy
Workshop Dermatoscopy
The prestigious Fons Sips Award was awarded to Raisa Álvarez Paniagua, nominated by Helena Alonso. We congratulate the colleagues also nominated: Fabian Dupont, İkbal Hümay Arman, Nick Mamo, and their nominators Stuart Holmes, Şeyma Handan Akyon and Kerry Greenan. This award honors outstanding work in the field of Family Medicine and the meaningful impact that has been made within the EYFDM community.
We thank everyone involved in the event – including HOC, staff at the different venues, participants, speakers, reviewers, colleagues that submitted abstracts.
We wish everyone a safe journey and hope to see you in coming events.
EYFDM’s President Daria Gheorghe talked with WONCA Europe and recently and interview was published. You can read all on the WONCA Europe website.
“How would you introduce EYFDM to our readers?
EYFDM – the European Young Family Doctors Movement – is one of WONCA Europe’s networks, dedicated to family doctors in the early stages of their career so either trainees or doctors during their first five years of training. Our aim is to foster connections between young family doctors whilst also promoting Family Medicine and we do so through our exchanges, Forums and preconferences. There is an overall feeling of friendliness and peer-support at our events that participants appreciate and which leaves them feeling even more motivated about our lovely specialty. With that being said, if there are any young doctors reading this that are still hesitating on participating in one of our next events, I strongly encourage them to attend as our amazing EYFDM community will welcome them with open arms!”
Are are just a few highlights:
There is an overall feeling of friendliness and peer-support at our events that participants appreciate and which leaves them feeling even more motivated about our lovely specialty
We wish for as many of our members as possible to attend our events but we know that this is a challenge for lower income country members
I think Family Medicine might evolve to an even more global patient approach through community health and social prescribing all whilst paying more attention to the social determinants in health.
The Bridge Project is an opportunity for young family doctors from across the world to work together on a project of their choice. The aim of the Bridge Project is to connect young family doctors and encourage communication and collaboration. The project gives you the opportunity to work on a research or quality improvement project in an area you are interested in and present the results at the WONCA conference. Previous projects have investigated diverse areas, including family medicine exchanges, prescribing, appointments and comparing healthcare systems. Family medicine doctors from many different countries have participated and worked together on projects. To get involved, you send an application explaining the area you are interested to complete your project in. This might be ‘elderly care’ or ‘safe prescribing’, it can bea nything you are interested in!
The Bridge Project team will then match you to other family medicine doctors from around the world who are interested in a similar project. We will then send you details of your Bridge Project Group, and you can start working together. We suggest that you have online meetings about the project, but there is nothing stopping you meeting in person as a group to work on the project. Ideas of what you could do might be comparing health care systems or prescribing processes, a quality improvement project in your clinics or even a literature review. You might even be able to publish the work in a journal!
The main thing is that getting involved with the Bridge Project will help you connect with new colleagues from all over the world, share learning and experiences.
End (submit you work by)-> 1st September 2025, prior to the WONCA World Conference 2025, in Lisbon with the possibility of presenting your final works in English.
Meetings in fixed group sessions will take place from April to September.
Its advised to have at least 4-5 meetings during that period to aid discussion & come up with a project.
Considering the proximity of the WONCA call for abstracts deadline the executive decided to extend the call for the position of Treasure to April 4th. As treasurer, you’ll play a key role in managing finances, ensuring transparency, and contributing to the success of our organisation. You can find all the details in the role description below.
The elections organisational policy can be found here.
Who Can Apply? We are looking for a young doctor who is an active member of their National Medical Organisation (NMO). If you’re passionate, driven, and ready to take on responsibility, we want to hear from you!
The required documents for election are as follows:
○ Curriculum Vitae
○ Motivational Letter
○ Proof of membership of their NMO
○ Proof of young doctor status
○ An essential letter of recommendation from their National Delegate if the candidate is not themselves a National Delegate, or from their NEC if the candidate is a National Delegate themselves and their country has a NEC.
○ Up to three desirable letters of recommendation:
■ From their NMO
■ A maximum of two letters from other EYFDM members
The deadline to submit applications for this position is April 4th 2025 – email to secretary
Election Day: The election will be held on 25th April 2025, during the Council Meeting in Luxembourg (or online). As a candidate, you’ll deliver a 3-minute presentation and answer questions from the council before voting begins.
In 2016, the Fons Sips Outstanding Achievement Award was created in honour of the contributions of one of EYFDM’s (at that time VdGM) founding fathers, Alphons Jacobus Ignatius. It was created in order to ensure that the heritage and history of the movement was not forgotten and in order to recognise great work and contribution of its members. The Fons Sips Outstanding Achievement Award remains first and foremost the chance for EYFDM members to appreciate their colleagues’ achievements and passion for Family Medicine, as well as their commitment to EYFDM community. It continues to be an award “by the members, for the members”.
The Fons Sips winner is the EYFDM Rising Star Award nominee for WONCA Rising Star Award 2025.
Nominations will be requested from the EYFDM members, therefore the nominator must be a “young doctor”, meaning family medicine/general practice trainee or within 5 years of completing the training.
Nominee must be:
A “young doctor”, meaning family medicine/general practice trainee or within 5 years of completing her/his training (the status must be still valid by the month of WONCA World Conference 2025)
A registered member of a WONCA Europe National Member Organisation
Documents
To nominate a colleague, please provide:
A letter of consent from the nominee saved as „Name of the nominee_Consent_ FSA2025″
Evidence of the nominee’s “young doctor” status saved as „Name of the nominee_Status_ FSA2025″
A completed template of a nomination letter outlining why the nominee should be considered for the award saved as „Name of the nominee_NL_FSA2025″
All documents and potential questions should be sent to our Awards Officer. All documents should be sent by the 31th of March 2025. The winner of the Fons Sips Outstanding Achievement Award will be informed about the results by 7th of April 2025 and the award will be announced during the 9th EYFDM Forum in Grand Region (25-27 April 2025). The winner of the WONCA World Rising Star Award will be announced during WONCA World Conference in Lisbon (17- 21 September 2025).
We are thrilled to announce that applications are now open for the position of Treasurer on the Executive Committee! As Treasurer, you’ll play a key role in managing finances, ensuring transparency, and contributing to the success of our organisation. You can find all the details in the role description below.
The elections organisational policy can be found here.
Who Can Apply? We are looking for a young doctor who is an active member of their National Medical Organisation (NMO). If you’re passionate, driven, and ready to take on responsibility, we want to hear from you!
The required documents for election are as follows:
○ Curriculum Vitae
○ Motivational Letter
○ Proof of membership of their NMO
○ Proof of young doctor status
○ An essential letter of recommendation from their National Delegate if the candidate is not themselves a National Delegate, or from their NEC if the candidate is a National Delegate themselves and their country has a NEC.
○ Up to three desirable letters of recommendation:
■ From their NMO
■ A maximum of two letters from other EYFDM members
The deadline to submit applications for this position is 28th March 2025 – email to secretary
Election Day: The election will be held on 25th April 2025, during the Council Meeting in Luxembourg (or online). As a candidate, you’ll deliver a 3-minute presentation and answer questions from the council before voting begins.
Please contact secretary if you have any questions!
