Young Family Doctors gather in Estonia for the largest, most digitally-forward forum to date.
On the last 2 days of January, the 10th EYFDM Forum took place in Tallinn. This meeting is organised by and for young family doctors as a standalone event that keeps the spirit of the movement going between the meetings that take place during the pre-conference that precedes the annual WONCA Europe Conference.
As the largest EYFDM forum to date and the first forum to take place in a North European/Baltic country, 359 participants from 29 countries took part in the exciting scientific programme that included keynote lecturers and panellists. 24 workshops and 42 oral presentations were given out during the conference.
The keynote sessions covered diverse themes, including genetics, the multidisciplinary team within family medicine, digitalisation as well as teaching and research opportunities within our speciality. These were delivered by world-leading speakers, Prof. Ruth Kalda, Prof. Thomas Frese (WONCA Europe president), Prof. Alex Harding and Prof. Lili Milani. A panel session with Dr. Daria Gheorghe, Prof. Anna Stavdal, and Dr. Gerhard Grents stimulated further discussions.
The social programme was filled with events for each of the 3 nights, giving participants the chance to get to know the city and local culture. These included a live band, traditional Estonian dancing as well as a medieval themed meal. Other social highlights were the ‘lantern city hike’ through the atmospheric Old Town of Tallinn. On Sunday, some people even braved a dip in the icy sea, followed by a sauna visit!
These opportunities to forge countless memories, form new connections or see old friends form a key part of the events as after all, Family Medicine is very aware of the benefit of cooperation and the importance of relationships.
Before the Forum, the EYFDM Council meeting took place (https://eyfdm.eu/website/uncategorized/10th-forum-in-tallinn-council-recap/ worked on and approved the Statement on Family Medicine as a Speciality. The council also endorsed the WONCA Europe Statement on the Recognition of the Speciality of Family Medicine / General Practice in the European Region, as well as Climate Emergency Statement and made some changes to our bylaws, ensuring we keep our governance up-to-date as we develop as an organisation.
Lastly some updates about upcoming events were shared, such as WONCA Europe Paris 2026, the 11th EYFDM Forum Malaga, Spain (registration and abstract submission are now open) as well as the collaboration with EuroPrev Madrid with a pre-forum.
Collaboratively written between members of EYFDM executive and Tallinn HOC