This is a fledgling site that hopes to make rural exchanges available for medical students.  This is in cooperation with WRMSN (World Rural Medical Students Network) which was recently initiated and is being led by Mayara Floss.  Looking for hosts in Europe. 

The Claudio Carosino Prize

claudio- portrait.jpg

In 2011 Dr Claudio Carosino, an Italian Rural General Practitioner, an active member of EURIPA and a member of the Executive Committee was murdered by one of his patients.  In memory of Claudio the Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM) and EURIPA created a prize for the best completed Hippokrates exchange to a rural practice.

 Hippokrates is an exchange programme for medical doctors specialising in Family Medicine/General Practice and junior Family Doctors/General Practitioners (within 5 years of completing specialty training). The programme is supported by WONCA Europe and by the European Academy of Teachers in General Practice (EURACT). 

The aim of Hippokrates is to encourage exchange and mobility among young doctors in the course of their professional development as General Practitioners, thus providing a broader perspective to the concepts of Family Medicine at both professional and personal levels. The Vasco da Gama Movement is the WONCA Europe Working Group for New and Future General Practitioners and with EURIPA is trying to encourage more young doctors to become rural family doctors.

Young doctors have to apply to participate in an Hippokrates Exchange with one of the participating practices.  To be eligible for the Claudio Carosino prize the exchange must be to a rural practice.  MOre infromation is available on the website for the Vasco Da Gama Movement.

However, there is still a need for more rural practices to participate in the scheme and also for GPs to promote the scheme to their young doctors and trainees.  So far the countries listed below have confirmed rural host practices participating in the Hippokrates Exchange Programme:

·         Croatia

·         Finland

·         Hungary

·         Italy

·         Netherlands

·         Romania

·         Slovakia

·         UK

For more information or to add your practice and participate in this amazing experience of exchanges offering GP trainees and young GPs the possibility of knowing the great art of being a rural GP, please contact either:

Dr Veronika Rasic, Beyond Europe Coordinator and EURIPA liaison person: beyondeurope@vdgm.eu