European Scientific Contest

European Scientific Contest 2024

European Scientific Contest 2024

EuroNet MRPH Spring Meeting 2024- European Scientific Contest 🗣✏

You can present your project at the European Scientific Contest (ESC) during the EuroNet MRPH 2024 Spring Meeting, in Madrid!

What kind of project?

A scientific project you have contributed to: internship, thesis, master’s thesis, personal project, etc. All topics are welcome! ❤

Why?

This is an opportunity to practice your public speaking skills in front of a friendly audience, to give visibility to your work, and you can add this to your CV! 🚀

How will this work?

Oral presentation of the selected projects (10 minutes each) in the morning of May 11th.
Only one will win the ESC!

A jury of peers will select the projects that will be presented at the ESC based on  the quality of the abstracts and the originality of the topic:

  • Attractiveness of the summary, ease of reading 
  • Quality of the title, informative and corresponds to the content 
  • Coherent, balanced structure 
  • Clear objectives 
  • Explicit methodology (location of study, analyses, endpoints) 
  • Concise, precise results 
  • Clarity of the message conveyed in the conclusion 
  • Explicit spelling, acronyms 

What’s the Prize?

For the winner of the ESC: free accommodation and free social program for the next EuroNet Spring Meeting! 🏆

Deadline for submissions

The deadline for submissions is 23:59 CET April 14th,2024 .

For more information and sending your abstract follow this link–> https://forms.gle/oDH7Rs2feYATGUpa6

Spring meeting 2024

Spring Meeting 2024

The next EuroNet Spring Meeting 2024 is coming!

EuroNet Spring Meeting 2024

From opportunity to policy impact:
Public Health advocacy in action

Get ready to come to Madrid the 9-11th May 2024.
Pre-registrations are now open till March 30th–> https://forms.gle/p22NwgshKoE1nfJi6

This event will bring together public health residents from all over Europe, offering a space for the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and collaborations in the field of public health.

Topic

The main topic will be Public Health Advocacy.

This congress will address crucial issues related to the demand and promotion of policies and actions that strengthen public health. It is a unique opportunity to explore innovative strategies and essential tools to advocate for the well-being of our communities.

Here below you find a draft program of the EuroNet Spring Meeting 2024.

EuroNet MRPH Spring Meeting Draft Program 2024
EuroNet MRPH Spring Meeting Draft Program 2024

Venue

The Ministry of Health in Madrid will be the epicenter of our discussions and reflections. This iconic setting will provide the perfect backdrop for conversations about the present and future of public health advocacy in Europe.

Share your research

In addition to the fascinating plenary sessions and round tables, we are excited to announce the European Scientific Contest.
This is a great opportunity for residents to present their innovative work and contribute to the advancement of public health and compete for a prize!
More info at the following link –> ESC 2024

Follow us and collaborate

ARES MPSP (Asociación de Residentes de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública) is organizing the next EuroNet MRPH Spring Meeting.
We will publish information about the speakers, the detailed program and participation opportunities.
Click on the icons below to see the Organizing Committee Instagram page and website

https://www.instagram.com/springmeetingmadrid/
https://aresmpsp.es/spring-meeting-2024/

If you want to propose speakers or topics for the scientific program, or ideas for the social plan, send an email to springmeetingmadrid@aresmpsp.es

This conference is more than an event: it’s a platform for collaboration, learning and advocacy for public health in Europe.

Save the date and join us in Madrid for Spring Meeting 2024!
Pre-registrations are now open and will close on March 30th –> https://forms.gle/p22NwgshKoE1nfJi6

Winter Meeting 2023

Dear EuroNetters,
Time is ticking and the EuroNet’s Winter Meeting 2023 is almost here! 🤩

On Tuesday, December 19th, between 19:00-21:00 CET we will:
✅ Listen to the exciting keynote by Juliette McHardy, Consultant on the Commercial and Economic Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization. Juliette will talk about the strategies and tactics used by the corporate world to affect public health decision making
✅ Announce the newly elected Board and Leads of EuroNet for year 2024
✅ Present the Network activities and accomplishments in 2023

We look forward to seeing you for the last appointment with EuroNet in 2023! To join us, please register at:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdOGurDojGtcmGBNwekXs7wWwfcJo2z3C

Spring Meeting 2022

GREAT NEWS: EuroNet IRL meetings are back!

The Organizing Committee is pleased to invite you to Villeurbanne, Metropolitan area of Lyon, from the 12th to the 14th of May 2022 for the 2022 edition of the EuroNet Spring Meeting. This will be the first in-person meeting of EuroNet since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: another great reason not to miss it!

The theme of this year will be “Global Health: the path to implement policies”. You will have the opportunity to discover the process that goes from the identification of a Global Health issue to the implementation and evaluation of Global Health policies. Speakers coming from international organizations will be hosted to talk about different Global Health topics: evolution of the concept of Global Health, actors and stakeholders, indicators and priorities, policy evaluation, etc.

Various activities, such as plenary sessions, round tables, and workshops, will be organized to get the most out of this meeting.

Time to have fun will not be missing for sure. The SOCIAL PROGRAM will include a city tour, a Eurovision party and of course food (let’s not forget that Lyon is the French capital of gastronomy).

To put it in a nutshell, if you are interested in knowing more about Global Health, in meeting people coming from all over Europe, in growing your network, in visiting an amazing city, and in having fun, then you should not hesitate to click on the registration button.

CONGRESS PROGRAM: please find HERE a preliminary version of the program. An updated version will be available in the following weeks.

Final Program

CONGRESS REGISTRATION: was closed on the 30th of April 2022.

ACCOMMODATIONS: You can find accommodation options and information in the event’s practical information guide, available HERE. SOCIAL PROGRAM: Contact us if you want to participate to the social program. ESC – EuroNet Scientific Contest: Interested in sharing your research work on Public Health topics with the network? You will have the opportunity to participate in the EuroNet Scientific Contest and to present your work during the congress. Please note that the topic of your work can also be on Public Health themes not related to Global Health.

The rules of the contest are available here.

Registrations for the ESC was closed on the 4th of April 2022.

SPRING MEETING PRACTICAL INFORMATION: You can find information about how to reach Lyon, public transportation, and accommodation options in the event’s practical information guide, available HERE.

If you are coming by car, do not forget car sharing!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

–          Facebook Spring Meeting event gathering all the information.

–          EuroNet MRPH on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

–          Email us at meetingeuronetlyon@gmail.com

See you in Lyon,

The Organization Committee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEFybbwnejU

Torino Spring Meeting 2019

Between the 11th and 13th of April we had our Spring Meeting in the lovely city of Turin, Italy.

There were interactive workshops, plenary sessions, working group meetings and a rich social programme! All that can be expected from a EuroNet meeting 🙂 It was a wonderful event, and we're so grateful to have shared these moments with all the attendees. See you soon for the Summer Meeting! Stay tuned for dates and location... soon...

Meanwhile, below you may see some of the pictures taken during the meeting. A big thank you to Jona Blatnik, a Slovenian resident, for her pictures.

Winter Meeting Report – Velika Planina 2018

For a brief moment Ljubljana was the center of European public health. From November 29th until December 1st it hosted the biggest European public health conference. The EPH conference is – among other things – a meeting point for residents, recent residents and those who wished they could still remember how it felt like to be a resident.

But they are simply too far into their careers and those feelings and memories are getting harder and harder to recall. Let us all take a minute of mindful meditation to sympathize with our experienced colleagues.

Having an event of such a scale hosted by one of the EuroNet MRPH member countries made a solid case for organizing one of the regular meetings EuroNet members cherish so much in Slovenia. Many residents from EuroNet countries were attending the conference and we could feed two birds with one scone if we organised the winter meeting back-to-back with EPH.

The only problem, if we can put it this way, was that most of the residents planning to come to the winter meeting were experiencing the city of Ljubljana, listening to presentations, and sitting in lecturing halls already for at least 4 days of the EPH conference. We assumed they could use a change of scenery and so we decided to organize the winter meeting in a secluded snow-capped mountain not that far away from our green capital. And so we booked buses, funiculars, chairlifts (yes, chairlifts) to take us up to the mountain called Velika planina where chalets with wood-burning fireplaces awaited us and kept us warm for the 3 days we’ve spent there.

Programme of the meeting had a clear focus on EuroNet inner workings and projects of our fellow residents. General assembly was split in two parts this time. We started the meeting with a dinner and continued with the first part of the general assembly in the same restaurant which happened to be the only closed space on the mountain big enough for 45 people to occupy at the same time. The second day was the day when majority of work was done. First on schedule were pitch presentations where some of the work EuroNetters are involved in was showcased.

Topics covered ranged from surveillance of communicable diseases, public health advocacy initiatives to ethics of vaccine hesitancy. Afternoon sessions kicked off with working groups focusing on internship facilitation, communication and research activities. A new format of session was introduced during the meeting as we conducted the first ever EuroNet-athon (mimicking the well-known hackathon format). Three teams were tackling three challenges of further EuroNet growth identified by a committee comprised of old and new board members. Winner of the EuroNet-athon was announced during the second part of the general assembly.

Even though not everyone followed our advice on warm clothing and footwear we managed to end the winter meeting with 0 casualties. We would even go as far as to say that the winter meeting we held at Velika planina was a big success. The idyllic location and the programme of the meeting had little to do with it.

It was a big success primarily because of the people who attended. And with this in mind we are looking forward to new success stories ahead. Because EuroNet MRPH is nothing more than people that represent it.

And, to borrow a line from the great James Brown, those people look like success, smell like success, feel like success and they make success happen.

The Euronet Organizing Committee Slovenia

EuroNet Summer Meeting Report – Valencia 2018

Summer meetings are always a special one: President’s word about the Valencia meeting

Summer meetings are always a special one. Two years ago, for the first time in EuroNet’s history, we decided to spend a few days in a Dutch farm. Last year, we managed to bring 30 Euroneters to a tiny village on the top of an Istrian hill. This year, it was the turn of Valencia.

We decided that, given the time and the venue, a relaxed format of meeting would be more appropriate. Yet, there are always three goals which must be achieved in a meeting: to improve EuroNet, to learn something and to have fun with other colleagues. Thanks to the work of the organising committee, all three were achieved. Presentations by Rocio Zurriaga, Robert Otok and Sara McQuinn taught us about the past of our network and how to look to the future by strengthening our partnerships with key European organisations such as ASPHER and EUPHAnxt. These were followed by our usual working group sessions. This year, we also introduced an innovative format of group discussions, whose outcomes you will be able to read in this report.

Nevertheless, this meeting will be always remembered as the meeting where Turkey joined our network. We are already the biggest network representing medical residents in Europe. However, expanding EuroNet is always an objective. By strengthening EuroNet we increase our capacities and become more influential. In this context, the admission of Turkey is a huge step forward. We are all really looking forward to meeting and learn from our Turkish colleagues.

But a EuroNet meeting would not be a EuroNet meeting without fun, and the Spanish committee (and Julio particularly) are experts on this. We enjoyed some fantastic days in which water buckets, paella and the beach were among the highlights.

Whether you are an established euroneter or someone hearing from our network for the first time, I hope you enjoy this report and, if you want to join us, do not hesitate to contact the board or your country representatives. I hope that you are able to join us on our next meeting, which will take place in Slovenia at the beginning of December. See you there!!

Alberto Mateo
2018 EuroNet President

A paella for fifty: a word from the Organising Committee

In 1936, during an excavation on a hill near Kujut Rabua, a Hamlet southeast of Bagdad, members of the Iraqi State’s Railway Department found a tomb covered with a slab of Stone. The archaeologic recovery that ensued resulted in a magnificent number of small, decorated objects dated as far back as 248 a.C. . Among these were several odd looking recipients, shaped like a vase and light yellow in color. In these recipients they found fixed copper cylinders with iron rods in them. These objects would later be identified as crude batteries used for electroplating small objects and nicknamed the “baghdad batteries”, predating modern electroplating technology by almost two millennia.

We took on the challenge of organising the 2018 summer meeting with mediterranean optimism. We would start with Croatia’s victory against England (no disrespect to our british colleagues, but Croatia is a charming underdog with a little to no imperialist background) and finish on Sunday night by lighting a cigar after tapas with the last meeting survivors à la The A Team’s John Hannibal Smith exclaiming “I love it when a plan comes together”. Fade to black.

Unfortunately the world is a wild place full of real problems. It is physically impossible to make an A+ paella for fifty. Despite the different issues that were faced, organising this event was a blast. Sharing your city and hosting for colleagues and friends is a great experience that we are grateful for and we recommend. It also, as is usual in EuroNet meetings, produced several unique moments, some of which we would like briefly mention: Turkey’s historic entry in EuroNet. Croatia making it to the finals. The experimental discussion groups as a way of exploring common interests and generating ideas. The weird bar. Several impressive memes were also produced during this meeting: Angelo’s very big data, Euronet pushing me to achieve my fullest profesional potential and Clement and Antoine’s rather odd bed meme.

Back to the Baghdad batteries. Lost knowledge is a real thing. As good as we are in keeping a record of things, humanity sometimes has the tendency of starting things from scratch rather than stand on the shoulders of giants. We saw a glimpse of this during Rocio Zurriaga’s intervention on the beginnings of EuroNet, particularly in regards to the structure of assemblies. Meetings have varied greatly in the last couple of years. This is understandable considering the association’s impressive expansion (There is word that despite history’s lessons we will take on Russia in winter). We would however like to echo the feeling of discontinuity that was expressed by some during the meeting. Creative licenses set aside, there is perhaps a need to produce a template of what a meeting should look like, what sections should constitute one and what are the objectives or the expected interactions at the assemblies. At this point, the size of the association certainly justifies a quality control approach.

Next meeting couldn’t be more of a contrast with the last: from the mediterranean Playa de la Malvarrosa to snow covered cottages in the slovenian alps. The idyllic setting along with the coinciding EPH in Ljubljana and the guaranteed hosting qualities of the Association of Public Health Residents of Slovenia truly makes this one a no brainer. We hope to see you all there.

In words of our fellow JF Monteagudo, “together we are stronger”; and as  Professor Miroslav from the Andrija Stampar school of Public Health said one night:

Health to All.

The 2018 Valencia Meeting Organising Committee


Points of view: Ireen and Desmond

This summer I finally had the opportunity to join my first EuroNet MRPH meeting. Due to a lot of enthusiastic stories of my colleague (Lilian van der Ven) about EuroNet-meetings my expectations were sky high. And I can tell you that Valencia did not disappoint me at all!

On the first day of the meeting I have learned a lot about Public Health initiatives in Europe. There was a presentation about
EUPHAnxt (Sara Mc Quinn). Rocío Zurriago Carda, former president of EuroNet MRPH, taught us some history of our association. It included a very impressive movie of several former members, who are now working in different fields of Public Health all over the world. It showed me the importance of this network and the family-like involvement of all the individual members. Together we are stronger!
We were asked to use our brains and creativity in the working groups of internships, research and communication. I attended the one about internships. Did you already know that EuroNet MRPH facilitates internships throughout the continent? Read everything about it on the websiteCansu Erden Cengiz told us everything about the Turkish Public Health system and their network of residents. It led to an unanimous YES during the voting, which means that Turkey is now the 10th country joining the EuroNet MRPH. Together we are stronger!

The second day of the meeting started with a presentation of the new ethical statement of the association (Maria Francesca Manca) and an interesting update about the research working groups (Damir Ivankovic). Afterwards Robert Otok, the director of
ASPHER, presented the work of the association and the professionalization. There were discussion groups of several very interesting topics, like big data. The day ended with a fun movie contest to promote EuroNet MRPH. A lot of attendees told their individual positive experiences with this network, some of the attendees introduced the EuroNet-song ‘Viva EuroNet’, but the winner was Juan Francisco with a short movie with a very clear message: ‘Together we are stronger!’.

Beside the serious topics during the meeting, Julio Munoz did a very good job to show us all the best things of Valencia. He organized good weather, so we could enjoy the beach and the sea after the meetings. He arranged the 2018 FIFA World Cup for some international competition between the different EuroNet countries. He taught us some very useful Spanish sentences, like ‘Please try to keep the hamster alive’. He found the best restaurants to have shared dinner and the weirdest bars to have some good fiestas toda la noche. He took his profession as an audio tour guide very serious, so nobody could get lost, unless they were not listening of course. He constructed cycle paths throughout Valencia, so the Dutchies couldn’t stop smiling while riding their bikes. He showed us the biggest pan of paella I have ever seen, and the best paella I have ever tasted for breakfast. And even during the last night he arranged a huge firework show to let Valencia know that the EuroNet MRPH-meeting has officially ended. Muchas gracias Julio!

After another short night of sleep, it was time for me to fly back home. I’m really glad that I was able to attend this meeting and thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, the interesting presentations and all the fun. Luckily there will be more meetings and thanks to the preview of Matej Vinko of the winter meeting in Slovenia, I know it’s going to be another awesome weekend. Are you joining as well? Always remember this: together we are stronger!

Ireen Feenstra
Public health resident in the Netherlands


The recent Euronet meeting in Valencia proved a great opportunity to network with European colleagues. During the meeting I enjoyed listening to committed and enthusiastic public health residents from other European countries give their perspectives on their training and educational experiences. I also learned of some excellent practical initiatives that have been developed by Euronet including the internship programme which I believe will help interested public health residents strengthen their knowledge and experience in various areas of public health.

It is clear that Euronet is a growing organisation which is helping to connect public health residents across Europe. I would encourage any public health resident who is interested in Euronet to come along to the next meeting and take the opportunity to meet and develop links with European colleagues.

Desmond Hickey
Public health resident in Ireland


Discussion Groups Reports

Big Data
We organized a discussion group on themes related to Public Health Informatics (PHI), especially Big Data, during the Euronet Meeting in Valencia. Our group attracted much interest, becoming one of the biggest discussion group during the meeting.

The participants were involved in discussions about hot themes in the application of informatics and advanced data analysis to health problems: for example, what are Big Data, Electronic Health Records, machine learning and its possibilities and limitations, using geographic data for health planning, the range of possibilities for population studies allowed by the use of internet usage data, like search engines data, social network data (the so-called Digital Epidemiology), etc… We discussed such topics alternating request for information, personal experiences, and discussion of Public Health implications.

We also focused on the ethical implication of Big Data; we considered how essential is to get access to precise and rich data for better health programming, but much care must be taken regarding how this data is treated, stored and distributed. We made some examples, like being theoretically possible to identify specific persons using even anonymized data, or that insurance companies and employers could use genomic data about one person and treat them differently on a hypothetical risk of disease. We also discussed a bit regarding the new European law for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and its implications for research purposes. It was also remarked that data digitalization without enough technical expertise could lead to data losses or worse to exposition to informatic attacks (e.g., ransomware). We cited how the technology called Blockchain, the backend of the bitcoin, that works by creating encrypted, redundant, decentralized copies of the modifications of the data can be a solution to health data management, interchange, and security. It was also discussed that too much privacy in certain settings could hinder the development of research that would be beneficial for Public Health but not possible in these days for privacy and corporate concerns. One example are the limitations on access to Google Search and Twitter data that would allow to follow health discussion and even identify possible cases of disease a lot faster than usual surveillance systems.

These discussions led us to wonder if training provided by our Public Health Schools on this matter is enough and coherent with the rapid evolution of information technology. We thought about creating a Euronet working group which aim is to map the presence of informatics courses in Public Health training schools along Europe and evaluate which topics are covered and whether the program is up to date with the latest development. Finally, we created a WhatsApp discussion group where people can share material about the application of informatics to Public Health.


Climate Change
The climate change discussion group started small but gradually grew in members by the minute as word reached the street that it was “pretty hip”. The discussion included both the public health related outcomes of climate change and the actual activities that influence the climate change phenomenon.

The broadness of the discussion prompt was thoroughly explored. Here are some of the ideas that received more attention:
-How droughts and reduced access to water, can make the resources an object of conflict and a cause of population displacement.
-The expected rise in sea levels as another cause of population displacement and its effect on medical infrastructure.
-The social and economic impact of extreme events and the probability that countries with little experience on these events may be underprepared for a potential hit.
-Changes in vector and pathogen habitats that result in the displacement of diseases towards unsuspecting countries in colder, drier climates.
-The grim effect of both heat and cold waves that result in increased mortality.
-The pollution of the seas, the effects of microplastic and the current initiatives to tackle these issues.
-The effects of increased air pollution on suicide rates, perhaps due to an exacerbation of patients’ symptoms.
-The surprising fact that climate change hinders animal growth, thus resulting in smaller and smaller animals every year.

Two distinct outcomes resulted from this discussion. 
On one hand there is the question of whether EuroNet MRPH can or should do anything to contribute in the fight against Climate Change. A campaign was proposed to promote awareness within and beyond the association. This, to an extent, can be considered a current “work in progress” in the form of a carbon footprint estimation project proposed for the Valencia Summer Meeting; the idea of which is to estimate the amount of emissions caused by our means of transportation and how much it would actually cost to neutralize such an impact. The other outcome is the proposal of a working group on one of the different discussed subjects. The lack of easily accessible data was observed although there are some free to access resources on things like rainfall, meteorology or air pollution. The review of different national policies in countries represented in EuroNet and beyond was also suggested.

Although a specific line of work was not identified, climate change turned out to be an issue that leaves no one indifferent. This fact along with its pressing nature make it an excellent research theme for members of the association.


Nutrition
The working group discussed food and nutrition problems and related issues in order to get together, share ideas and present possible solutions. The case of in vitro meat opened the debate, and talking about its environmental and animal welfare arguments for development got us thinking about the cultural aspect of food as well. The group concluded it to be not a solution to the excessive meat consumption, but a complement to traditional burgers, expanding consumer choices. However, the different food demands (kosher, vegan, etc) of present days can be seen as a threat, because of the sustainability issues and cultural aspects. Food becomes less of a bridge and more of a problem when in the same community/society there are different schools of thought and very different food demands. Insect eating was another issue that raised the debate on why food is such an important part of our cultural heritage, and got us discussing how it would be really difficult to change mindsets, and on it taking a number of generations to accept this practice. The present practices are unsustainable and we don’t believe this practice, needing such a long time to produce results, would be a primary solution for the environmental concerns.

When talking about food one can never ignore the way food is actually being grown and produced. We talked about environmental concerns, such as the amount of land needed to feed animals for consumption, and the fish farming policies that make the fish grow faster but with loss of nutrition properties. Permaculture, seed biodiversity and the Monsanto problem were also discussed. We also discussed how the new diets/alternative eating styles are having both a positive and negative impact on health, positive or negative depending on the consumption of unprocessed or highly processed foods, respectively, and sustainability, depending on sourcing of the food (local vs imported).
We then talked about how the future diet would look like, bringing up the subject of the vegetarian and the reducetarian diets. This would definitely have an impact on the fish and meat economical sector, both on the implementation phase (to get people into these diets) and the maintenance phase (keeping these diets going for generations). The policies needed to reduce the consumption of these products would probably be around creating quotas for producers and new taxes for consumers.

The subject of the Common Agricultural Policy, implemented since the 60’s came to discussion regarding the previous subject. We talked about how this set of policies was created to solve the problems at that time, and that we now need to reduce subsidization gradually for the meat industry, to raise the subsidization for food & veg companies and tax the consumption following different rules.
The need for vending machine policies and the tax on sugar closed the working group session, and different participants talked about their countries present concerns and policies.


Fake Therapies
The discussion group was very participative, and was greatly nourished by the contributions of many residents in whose countries the health policies are very varied in these subjects. One of the central aspects of the talk was the daily medical work that the doctor must do in Hospital or at the consultation room, with a patient user of fake therapies. It became clear, that many times the physician lacks the time and the opportunity to explain (or even, argue) with the patient, but it’s always important to provide a support and understanding (never blame the patients for being scammed nor ridicule them for their choices). At least, it would be great to refer to places where the information is clear to clarify his/her doubts. It would be interesting to have a list of websites or pages where the societies talk informatively and rigorously about the most common pseudotherapies (Homeopathy, Chiropractic, Reiki …).

The participants talked about the various media strategies recently carried out in different parts of the world, on campaigns against anti-vaccine movements. For example, the case of the United States was brought up, where several anti-vaccine videos were published, dramatizing the danger and the health risks of young women who were vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus. Since they had a lot of social repercussion, the fire was fought with fire and the societies in favor of vaccination made a very similar type of video dramatizing the positive effects about safety and efficacy of the same vaccines, achieving even greater diffusion. Issues about the Health policy from various countries were also discussed (fines to parents in Australia, the requirement to present the vaccination cards for schooling in Italy, etc.)
Finally, experiences were exchanged on specific cases of users of pseudosciences and the legal perspective of many of them in Spain, through the legal gaps and jurisprudence of specific events.

 

Next Meeting: 1-3 December 2018, Velika Planina!
See you there!

 

Euronet MRPH Spring Meeting in Nancy

Almost one year on from the Strasbourg meeting, EuroNet MRPH is back in France! The 2018 Spring meeting (occurring disturbingly early in March, from 7th to 10th) was hosted by the beautiful city of Nancy. It was excellently organised by a Nancy local, Hélène Rossinot and the French EuroNet MRPH National Commission, on the theme of prevention and health promotion.
The meeting was hosted in the Nancy Museum Aquarium, a natural history museum including over 60 aquariums and a zoology gallery. But, to avoid any fishy business, the sessions were held in the Lucien Cuénot amphitheatre, originally created in 1933 and beautifully restored with the original furniture in 2013.

1st day

The morning session of the meeting’s first day was dedicated to EuroNet working groups. After an the motivating opening welcome message by our President, Alberto Mateo, the participants split in four working groups. “Promoting Public Health as a career choice” working group was led by Damir Ivankovic. It was mostly a brainstorming exercise on how to promote Public Health among medical students, delightfully sprinkled with philosophical insights. Further discussion is needed to determine what role EuroNet could play in this matter, and if this should be formalized with a permanent working group. A second group was led by Matej Vinko, EuroNet MRPH Vice-President, aiming to edit the position paper “On the future of Public Health in the European Union”, as the deadline was that same day. We are proud to say that this was a success. A third group was the “LGBT+ Residents’ Health and working environment” working group, led by Damiano Cerasuolo. It carried on the work already started in Lisbon, during the Euronet winter meeting, by reviewing a questionnaire medical and Public Health residents concerned by this subject across Europe. The last group, led by our communication lead, Gloria Raguzzoni, set up a plan to improve the way we promote our internships and discussed innovative ways of improving our communication channels.

The afternoon session commenced with the official inauguration of the meeting, in the presence of local authority head figures. The welcome speech was given by André Rossinot, president of Grand Nancy Metropole, Laurent Hénart, mayor of Nancy, Bruno Boyer from the Conseil National de l’ordre des médecins (National Board of Doctors), Auldric Ratajczak from the Agence Régionale de Santé Grand Est and François Werner who is in charge of the coordination of European policies in the Grand-Est region and vice president of Nancy Metropole.

Then followed the round table “Local prevention policies” that saw the participation of François Werner, Auldric Ratajczak and Marie Catherine Tallot deputy mayor of Nancy in charge of health. The talk focused on the strategies set up by the ARS (the local health agency) and the local institutions to promote health projects, addressing main issues and needs of the population.

2nd day

The theme of the second day of the meeting was prevention in hospitals. First, we had the presentation of the “Health Promotion Corner in the Hospital”. Le cercle sens & santé is a “think-to-do-tank”, created in 2014 as an ideas generator and processor. Its goal is to develop better hospitals of the future (www.cerclesensetsante.com). Prevention actor club is an association created in 2014 whose main goal is to transform waiting times in hospitals into recreational time and provide opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles, providing “Health for all” in the hallway. Example of activities included Zumba; yoga and cooking classes in hospitals; monthly activity program; leaflets; a photo booth with the prevention slogan; banners for public health campaign promotion, to name just a few. This project is undergoing a trial phase and will be launched in May at Paris HealthCare Week. We then had a round table with a hospital infection control committee responsible officer, occupational health physician and Nancy’s Hospital manager to discuss the risks of occupational diseases in hospitals and preventive measures.

The afternoon was dedicated to the traditional assembly of the association. Lois Murray, from the UK, presented a possible EuroNet partnership with EuroNGOs for sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy opportunities. It is an organization in which she worked and proposed to be the liaison lead. We then shared ideas for EuroNet participation in World Health Day. Finally, the climax of the meeting was the presentation of the candidacy of Valencia to host the 2018 summer meeting. It was thoroughly prepared by Julio Muñoz, and although he was not present, it is safe to say this performance will be remembered for decades and will inspire future generations of EuroNeters.

Social events

As part of the social programme, we had the chance to explore the beautiful city of Nancy and discover a bit of its rich history. The main square is the famous Place Stanislas, sometimes humbly referred to as “the most beautiful square in the world”. It is named after Stanisław I Leszczyński, former Ruler of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and father-in-law to King Louis XV of France), who acquired the Duchy of Upper Lorraine, of which Nancy was the capital, after the War of the Polish Succession in 1737.

On the first evening, we were invited to a typical French restaurant called “Vins et tartines”. We tasted different kinds of toasts and local wine. We were also encouraged to taste some local whisky, and a liquor of a fruit called “Mirabelle” (which literally means “beautiful to see” by the way). Damir pointed out that this schnappsy liquor with a fancy name is basically what they call šljivovica in the Balkans, which is not considered fancy at all. After that, the whisky/liquor-resilient comrades went to wander around to experience Nancy by night.

The second evening took place in another typical French restaurant, where we had the chance to taste some fine cuisine. Despite a poultry problem, it was a very nice experience. As the night was still young, most of us went out once again to enjoy Nancy by night. There was music, there was fire, and people danced like they got out of jail, together in a beautiful communion of the nations!

To conclude, it was once again a wonderful meeting, thanks to Hélène and the French National Commission, for all the organisational efforts, thanks to the welcoming people of Nancy and thanks to the wonderful residents who attended it!

Damiano Cerasuolo, Damir Ivankovic, Gisela Leiras, Clément Massonnaud, Lois Murray

EuroNet MRPH Spring Meeting – Nancy 2018

EuroNet Spring Meeting will take place in Nancy from 8th to 10th March!
The main theme will be prevention. Join us and discover the many ways of promoting prevention policies!

On the first day, we’ll start by our working groups. Then, the official inauguration will take place at 13.30 (don’t miss it, there might be surprises!). Afterwards a round table of experts will discuss local prevention policies in a city. How do a metropolis, a city, a regional health agency all interact to develop prevention policies on a territory in France?

Then you’ll see two examples of prevention projects, lead by different actors: a company and an association.

On the second day, we’ll talk about prevention in hospitals. How to educate patients? But also, how to reach healthcare professionals with prevention?

In the afternoon, a very exciting part: a member of the French parliament will talk about France’s view on Europe and public health, on how to develop a social Europe and how to better European health policies. Then two members of the ETHIK IA group of reflexion (a national group of experts on Artificial Intelligence) will discuss the impact of big data and AI on the future of Public Health in Europe.

Finally, Saturday will be of course our traditional EuroNet day.

You like the program? You’ll like the social events even more!

From typical French breakfasts (hello baguettes and croissants), to lunches in typical restaurants, your stomach surely will be happy!

And  in this beautiful and very festive city (can you imagine, 50.000 students for 100.000 inhabitants??) I promise you will remember the trip ; )

So stop hesitating, fill in the registration form and book your flight/train right now!

Welcome to NANCY!

Hélène
Organizing Committee

Summer Meeting 2017 Agenda

EuroNet MRPH Summer Meeting 2017 will take place in Motovun, Croatia from July 6th to 8th. Morning sessions will be dedicated to the association assembly (“the house-keeping”) and we will participate to the conferences and debates of the Summer School of the Croatian Public Health Association on Thursday and Friday afternoon.
Three days filled with new ideas, projects and ambitions. We’ll talk Public Health but we won’t forget the jovial spirit of every EuroNet Meeting! You’re still on time to join us!

Please find the full Meeting Agenda here.

If you have any question, do not hesitate to contat us at meeting @ euronetmrph.org or euronetmrphcroatia @ gmail.com.