Primary care, including the medical discipline of family medicine (general practice) is the cornerstone of many healthcare systems in Europe. Its potential is large: 80% of all reasons for encounter can be addressed in primary care. A holistic approach to differential diagnosis, treatment of common disorders, prevention as well as management of chronic diseases, and coping with multi-morbidity and poly-pharmacy are some of the key features to describe the specific content of family medicine.
Primary care research provides the evidence base for guidelines, important tools for implementation of medical knowledge into practice. They reduce unwanted variability in care delivery, set targets for quality of health care delivery and support medical education and continuous professional development. An increasingly multicultural society, technological developments and evolving genomic knowledge are new challenges for primary care research. General practice is a fast developing academic discipline, with an increasing output of scientific publications in all European countries.
The European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN) promotes research excellence and supports researchers in general practice/family medicine. The establishment of a research tradition in primary health care has been inhibited by the relative isolation of practitioners and difficulties in obtaining adequate funding, protected time and training . Even in university departments the competing and often conflicting demands of clinical, teaching and administrative commitments remain a problem. Organisations such as EGPRN are important as catalysts for sustaining enthusiasm and for providing personal support.
EGPRN (formerly known as EGPRW, European General Practice Research Workshop) is an organization of general practitioners and other health professionals involved in research in primary care and family medicine. Its aim is to provide a suitable setting in which to discuss and develop research in primary care; to foster and co ordinate multinational studies, to exchange experiences and to develop a validated scientific basis for general practice. In addition, EGPRN also offers general practitioners a chance to meet foreign colleagues prompting local and international research collaboration.
Anyone involved or interested in primary care research is welcome at EGPRN meetings. Young researchers are are especially supported to present their work. Currently EGPRN has more than 400 individual members from more than 30 European countries. EGPRN is governed by an Executive Board (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and four members), supported and elected by a General Council of the National Representatives of each member country. The Council and the Executive Board meet twice a year. Three Committees support the Executive Board: the Educational Committee, the Research Strategy Committee (RSC) and the Electronic Communication Committee.
The University of Maastricht, offers strong support as the central administrative office for the activities of EGPRN through the EGPRN Co-ordination Centre which is located in the department of General Practice.
Official meetings are held in spring and in autumn in different volunteer countries. They are hosted by the national representatives.
The meetings (two full days of scientific papers) include sessions on a pre determined conference theme as well as free standing papers. Other presentation formats are "one-slide/five-minutes" presentations and "guided-poster sessions".
At all these meetings a "workshop format" is maintained, so that all proposals for research, whether the work is in preparation, in progress, has definitive study results, is published or unpublished can be presented in an atmosphere, which although it offers constructive criticism, is also friendly and safe. Special emphasis is laid on the discussion of every presentation, which for this reason always last 30 minutes (15 minutes presentation and 15 minutes discussion). Abstracts of the meetings are published twice a year in The European Journal of General Practice. Other EGPRN activities are linked to these twice yearly meetings.
EGPRN, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, national colleges and academic bodies, organizes "International Courses on Research Methodology in PHC", offering the expertise of an international teaching staff.
EGPRN represents a powerful research framework in Europe. Many international studies have been (and are) carried out by groups of GP researchers through the EGPRN network. EGPRN also published strategies on research and on education for research. |
