WONCA E-Update
Friday 23rd March 2018

WONCA News – March 2018
The latest WONCA News (March 2018) is available on the WONCA website with all news, views and information.

Core Competencies of Family Doctors in Mental Health Care
A reminder to readers about the latest document produced by WONCA’s Working Party on Mental Health: “Core Competencies of Family Doctors in Mental Health Care.”  As Professor Chris Dowrick, Chair of the Working Party, reminds us:

As family doctors, we frequently come into contact with patients with mental health problems. But many of us are uncertain about what family doctors should be able to do to help them. So, the WONCA Working Party for Mental Health has produced guidance on what can reasonably be expected of all trained and qualified family doctors, working in primary care settings in any part of the world, when caring for people with mental health problems. 
To read more on the core competencies, and to access this important document in full, click on the link at http://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/CoreCompetencies.aspx

WHO Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm
Medication Without Harm: The third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge will propose solutions to address many of the obstacles the world faces today to ensure the safety of medication practices. WHO’s goal is to achieve widespread engagement and commitment of WHO Member States and professional bodies around the world to reducing the harm associated with medication. Medication Without Harm aims to reduce severe avoidable medication-related harm by 50%, globally in the next 5 years. Dr Maria-Pilar Astier-Peña, Chair of WONCA’s Working Party on Quality and Safety in Family Medicine, represented WONCA at an important meeting at WHO HQ recently. Read more about this initiative.

Kyle Hoedebecke: My experience working in Korea
Kyle Hoedebecke, inaugural chair of Polaris, the WONCA Young Doctors’ Movement in North America, has been working in South Korea for two years and here he talks of his experiences. He is clearly thinking ahead to the WONCA World conference coming up in Seoul in October.

Taiwan Family Medicine Research Award: Application Deadline Extended to 30th April.
The Taiwan Family Medicine Research Award (TFMRA) was established by the Chinese Taipei Association of Family Medicine in 2008. TFMRA offers a prize of USD 1,500 each to three young family physicians for the excellence of their research, to enable them to attend the WONCA World Conference in Seoul. The TFMRA winners are encouraged to present their research papers (if abstract is accepted) and to accept their award from the President of the Chinese Taipei Association of Family Medicine at the WONCA World Conference.

One out of the three award winners must be from the Asia Pacific region. 

For further details of eligibility and how to apply, go to the WONCA website.