WE Talk with WONCA Member-at-Large Candidates

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WE Talk with WONCA Member-at-Large Candidates

Join us live on Wednesday October 4, 19:00 CEST.

On this episode of WE Talk WONCA Member-at-Large Candidates will be joining our host Prof Thomas Frese. Below you may find more information about the candidates. Please join us to learn more about them.


Dr Maria Pilar Astier Pena

María Pilar Astier-Peña is a Spanish Family and Community Medicine Specialist and a Preventive Medicine and Public Health Specialist too from Spain. She belongs to SEMFYC (Spanish Society for Family and Community Medicine) and is the chair of the patient safety working party of SEMFYC (http://sano-y-salvo.blogspot.com.es/ and @sanoysalvoblog) and of the patient safety working party of SECA (Spanish Society for Healthcare Quality). She works as a frontline family doctor in a primary health centre in Zaragoza (Spain). She is an associated professor at the Medical School, University of Zaragoza since 2005 and mentor of residents of the Family and Community Residency Program of Zaragoza since 2009.

She is an active member of EQUIP (European Society for Quality and Safety in Family Medicine) of WONCA Europe. Her commitment to WONCA led her to leading the WONCA Working Party on Quality and Safety in Family Medicine for 4 years. She has actively collaborated with WHO (World Health Organization) to develop the Global Action Plan on Patient Safety 2021-2030 and to highlight the essential role of primary care and family medicine on building a safe healthcare system. She has also been promoting the World Patient Safety Day on September 17th every year with WONCA WP on quality and safety to strengthen the patient safety culture as a core competence of family doctors. She is now applying for a second term as member at large of WONCA.

She also belongs to WONCA WP on environement.

Her main research topics are Patient Safety in Primary Care and Clinical Reasoning Improving tools. ORCID Number https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3192-7672.

Social Media: Twitter: @PilarAstier. Linkedin: María Pilar Astier Peña


Dr Tariq Aziz

Born in 1956,passed matriculation from St Anthony's high School with ROLE OF HONOR and position in Lahore Board obtaining 'National Talent Scholarship, got highest percentage for the last one hundred years. Did FSC Premedical from Govt College Lahore (now university) with position in Lahore Board and again National Talent Scholarship. Passed MBBS from King Edward Medical College Lahore with Talent Scholarship in all professional exams throughout King Edward Med College (now university) Did house job from Mayo Hospital and related institutions in Medicine, Surgery,Cardiology Urology, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine.
Started general Practice in 1981 till today i.e. (40 years) Passed M.D (USA)1981 Passed MRCGP-UK (Int) 2008 and later got FRCGP (Int) (UK),got Fellowship from University of Wisconsin (USA) and became examiner for MRCGP from Royal College of GPS UK. Became Examiner for MCPS and FCPS from CPSP(College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. Became member of WONCA working party on Rural Health and contributed towards WONCA Rural Health Journal. Became Examiner at King Edward Medical College .Created First Family Medicine Dept in Punjab at FMH (Fatima Memorial Hospital) by creating 'Endowment Fund'. Worked as Chief of Family Medicine (Head of Dept) at FMH with successful Resident Training Program. Became Member steering Committee University of Health Sciences and developed Curriculum of Diploma and MD in Family Medicine at UHS (Parent University) of More than 90 medical Colleges.

Became Adjunct Faculty at Fatima Memorial Hospital and Med College and also Adjunct Professor at UHS. Became Secretary of Pakistan Society of family Physicians and later President of Pakistan Society of family Physicians .Became Direct Member of WONCA in 1990s and life Member of WONCA in 2018.Became President Elect in 2018 for WONCA SAR, and became President WONCA SAR in 2021.

Organized CMEs for Family Physicians on Weekly bases and later twice a week for the last thirty (30) years.Organized yearly International Conferences on Family Medicine for more than 30 Years.


Dr Steve Mowle

Steve received the MBE, which is a national UK honour, in the 2023 News Years Honours List for services to healthcare.

Steve has extensive board level experience within the RCGP and UK Charitable sector.

Prior to being RCGP Treasurer, he was formerly RCGP Vice Chair, External Affairs.

International Experience within RCGP, WONCA Europe and World.

20+ years Postgraduate Education experience within University of London/Health Education England/NHS.


Adj Prof Karen Price

Adjunct Professor Karen Price is the immediate past President of the RACGP, which included national director roles of the RACGP company.   She is the current Chair of the Host Organising Committee for the international World Conference of Family Doctors, WONCA to be held in Sydney, October 2023.  She has maintained a lifetime interest in WONCA and is a life member.  Karen is also a member of the Department of General Practice at Monash where she has submitted her PhD thesis on the role of peer connection in Australian General Practice. Karen was awarded the 2011 Monash Best new teacher clinical award, a 2016 FMCER Grant for her research, and in 2021 the inaugural Presidents award from the Australian Federation of Medical Women for health services leadership. As RACGP President she led the country through extensive national media engagement and Covid advice relevant to GP patients. She has been a practice owner and has retained a vital interest in the discipline of Generalism, the intersections with research advocacy and policy remain as salient as ever.  Karen has a board role at Melbourne University Board for research enterprise and innovation with Australia’s former chief scientist and chaired by the former national health minister. Karen continues to work in clinical general practice where the work of community family doctors really shines.


Dr Fang Li Zheng

I graduated from Zhejiang Medical University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in clinical medicine.  After graduating I became an internist and worked in a general hospital.  In 1998, I became the head of the Department of Family Medicine at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated to Medicine School of Zhejiang University, where not I only diagnosed diseases and treated patients, but also taught junior doctors and students.

I have been served as the Vice President of Chinese Medical Doctor Association General Practitioner Sub-Association and the chairman of the General Practice Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association for more than ten years.  

I have also been trying to contribute to Chinese family medicine by practicing clinical teaching and research. Our Department of Family Medicine became the first national standardized training program for Family Medicine residents, and was the unit where the master's and doctoral degrees of Family Medicine of Zhejiang University are located. In 2016, our Family Medicine residency training program achieved the first RCGP education certification in China.

I won the first prize of Zhejiang Province Teaching Achievement Award and the second prize of Zhejiang Province Science and Technology Progress Award for my teaching achievements. At the same time, the teaching model explored and built by my team has become a benchmark in China. For more than 20 year, I have been exploring the clinical and teaching practice of family medicine in China.

I have the membership of WONCA and have attended most WONCA APR conferences as well as WONCA World conferences to learn the experience from other regions. Most countries in APR of WONCA sharing the same problems including not only clinical problems in super-aging society, but also public health policy issues, the quality of medical education for student and doctors and the shortage of high-quality clinical research in primary care field. I think I will continue to work on these aspects with my WONCA colleagues in-depth.

Date: 
4 October 2023
Location: 
Virtual