gms | German Medical Science

As much as we like to regard Europe as one region, we have to recognize the differences within that region. The landscape and temperatures are different from North to South, and the commitment to Europe differs from East to West. Each country has its own health care system, none perfect. Countries, even regions have their own culture, and migrants have brought their own culture with them into our communities. Diversity is what we have to accept even if we believe in some kind of uniformity. Although the position of family doctors may be different in all of Europe, we have our common core values: Generalist, Patient-oriented/Personal, and Continuous. Our European Definition of General Practice/Family Medicine describes our competencies, very much alike the CanMEDS. In our daily practice where we care for patients we are challenged by eHealth, multi morbidity, polypharmacy, evidence based medicine, shared decision making, genetics, prevention. We have to become proactive instead of waiting until the patient presents him/herself at our consultation. Chronic diseases and certainly genetic testing will bring the family much more in the picture. We once thought that we had almost eradicated communicable diseases, but the Ebola outbreak has shown us that we need to be vigilant. Measles is becoming a real health problem, not only in Germany. How do we act in the public debate? Do we prepare ourselves good enough for all these challenges by being an active life long learner, who has the flexibility to change? The final question is: who looks after us?