IPCRG news from Bucharest – May 2019

6th IPCRG Scientific Meeting – Bucharest, Romania

Almost 150 respiratory interested colleagues from 30 low, middle and high income countries gathered in Bucharest, Romania for the 6th biennial IPCRG Scientific Meeting hosted by Dr Cristina Isar and Dr Catalina Panaitescu from the Romanian Primary Care Respiratory Group, RespiRO (RespiRO, supported by the National Society of Family Medicine (SNMF) and the National Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, CNSMF). Both early career and established researchers took this valuable opportunity to share and discuss their work with a willing and very interested peer group:

  • 69 abstracts submitted
  • 58 abstract presenters 
  • 11 posters 

The one-day programme, designed by the Scientific Programme Committee chaired by Dr Andrea Neculau from Transilvania University, Brasov, Romania, split over two half days also included presentations on why Primary Care Respiratory Research is the place to be by Professor Hilary Pinnock.

 
Bucharest gave the IPCRG group a wonderfully warm welcome and everyone attending took full advantage of the learning, networking and social opportunities that the meeting offered. Thank you to all those who contributed their valuable time, effort and energy to making the Scientific Meeting the success it was and of course, to all of those who attended.
 
The biennial IPCRG Scientific Meetings are now a well-established opportunity for the primary care respiratory research community and if you or your local group are interested in hosting the 2021 Scientific Meeting, please get in touch with conferencediretor@theipcrg.org.

IPCRG Qualitative Research school in Bucharest, May 2019

The WONCA SIG, International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) identified that an important learning needed for many primary care researchers is how to develop a qualitative research protocol, and, integral to that, how to select and implement an appropriate method.  

Therefore as a prelude to our 6th Scientific Meeting in Bucharest in May, showcasing primary care respiratory research, we ran our first IPCRG Qualitative Research School. This was designed and delivered with co-leads of the NIHR Breathe Well programme at the University of Birmingham, Prof Peymane Adab and Dr Rachel Jordan, also Chair of the IPCRG Research Sub-committee, and Dr Alice Malpass, University of Bristol and a member of the IPCRG Research Expert Faculty.  

The one day programme, split over two days to allow overnight thinking and planning time, included the theory to support practical sessions on developing the research question and selecting a method; developing a topic guide and interviewing skills.

Over 40 delegates from low, middle and high income countries attended, supported by a team of expert IPCRG mentors. The feedback has been extremely positive with 80% of respondents rating the research school as excellent. 

Nine teams entered the competition, with a prize of a EUR 10,000 project grant and ongoing mentoring from Dr Malpass. The judges were impressed by how much had been achieved in the time available. 

Prize winners: Sergiu Chirilă and Adriana Antohe, Romania for their proposal: Exploring Romanian young adult perspectives on using heated tobacco products following exposure to direct marketing methods
Highly commended: Tara Ballav Adhikari, Nepal; Andrea Neculau and team, Romania