UEMO Advocates for Recognition of Family Medicine as a European Specialty at CPME Meeting in Athens

Calin Bumbulut, the immediate past President of UEMO and a member of the Romanian delegation to UEMO, represented UEMO at the CPME meeting in Athens on October 24-25.

He stated that recognition of the specialty as a European specialty remained our primary objective. The UEMO strategy, which we call the “dual path”, does not envisage the transformation of “specific training in general practice” into a specialty, but the introduction of a new specialty called Family Medicine/General Practice through the delegated act provided for in Directive 55 and the maintenance of the qualification of “specific training in general practice”, applicable to a decreasing number of health professionals in primary care. So far, 3 countries – Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Romania – have submitted or will submit the necessary notifications to the European Commission through their competent authorities. We still need 8 more Member States to do so, and we ask that other countries join this action.

Other topics discussed at the meeting included the European Commission Questionnaire on Biotechnology Law, Feedback on the European Commission proposal for a Council Directive on the structure and rates of excise duties on tobacco and related products (EU Tobacco Taxation Directive), Preliminary analysis of the CPME survey on how European countries support the mental health of doctors, Optimizing the provision of healthcare services, Analysis of the CPME survey on safe staffing levels, and the Results of the survey on medical confidentiality.