Report of the 2nd Pre-congress seminar of EuGMS Athens 2020 congress
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The second pre-congress meeting of the Athens 2020 EuGMS congress entitled ‘Geriatric patients in need of chronic care: from community to institution and back’ took place in Thessaloniki on 22-23 November 2019. Professor Finbarr Martin, president and I, in my capacity of Academic Director, represented the EuGMS and took part in the program, with well-received presentations, in addition to Professor Athanase Benetos, president elect, and Professor Anastassia Kossioni, member of the Academic Board, who are also members of the Hellenic Consortium for Geriatric Medicine.
There were around 150 participants with different backgrounds, all involved or with interest in the care for geriatric patients. The presentations were partly in Greek and partly in English. The international round table ‘Challenges in implementing integrated care: how to promote the geriatric approach in the primary care in the Balkan countries’ in which representatives of Albania, Croatia, Greece, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey took part, provided well-prepared presentations on the current status of undergraduate and postgraduate education in geriatric medicine, preoperative risk assessment of geriatric patients and assessment of the functional status of people older than 80 years with geriatric syndromes in the respective countries. The discussions were vivid and very relevant for the participants of the round table. The meeting undoubtedly opened the door for further mutual initiatives in order to foster geriatric medicine and spread education, research and professional expertise and excellence across the Balkan countries.
A paper based on the presentations regarding the current status and perspectives of geriatric medicine in the Balkan countries will be prepared for publication in EGM.
Moreover, in the margin of this pre-congress conference, the academic director, the president, and members of the local scientific committee led by Professor Yiannis Ellul (Athens 2020 Congress president) and Professor Athanase Benetos, worked further on the preparation of the invited part of the program for the Athens 2020 congress. We were excellently supported as usual by Ms. Benedetta Bellotti, EuGMS administrative secretary.
The draft of the program, already at this stage, promises another high quality and attractive EuGMS congress.
The meeting was excellently prepared and took place in the attractive Mediterranean Palace hotel in the centre of the city. The global impression has been very positive.
The hospitality of the Hellenic Consortium for Geriatric medicine was warm and in every sense impeccable. On behalf of the EuGMS officers who participated in meeting I hereby express my sincere gratitude to the local organisers and in particular to Mrs. Evi Voudiklari.
Professor Mirko Petrovic, Academic Director