It has been held on April 29 and 30 in person in Astorga, León.
The Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (Semergen) has celebrated its II Congress of Rural Medicine Semergen, on April 29 and 30 in person in Astorga, León.
Francisco Martínez, president of the Organizing Committee, has pointed out that they wanted to “pay tribute to and claim the place that rural medicine deserves in a sustainable way, providing it with adequate personal and economic means, promoting the scientific-technical quality of the care provided, while claiming the improvement of working conditions”.
with close to 150 subscriberswith a broad participation of resident doctors and adjuncts, con more than 45 communications presented and around 20 speakersreaffirm the interest of family doctors in updating their knowledge and continuing their training.
The president of Semergen, José Polohas highlighted that the intention was to offer “a congress that addresses the problems of the emptied Spain and Rural Medicine, we want to take advantage of this meeting to see each other once more and to be able to contribute ideas to continue advancing together”.
Program
The scientific program of the Congress has dealt with current issues related to Rural Medicine and with the motto “Rural Medicine: Exists and Resists”. Specifically, clinical issues, care management, training of the resident doctor in rural areas, as well as the difficulties of access to care and the decrease in professionals in this environment have been addressed.
Molecular diagnostic technologies
Another aspect addressed was the introduction of the new rapid molecular diagnostic technologies, devices that allow viruses such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or COVID-19 to be identified in a few minutes ‘at the foot of the patient’. “The new technologies allow the laboratory to be ‘closer’ to the Health Center and auxiliary offices”, which means “a true revolution in Primary Care”, has affected Francisco Javier Sanz García-Donato, coordinator of the GT of New Technologies of Semergen.
“Devices like this allow us to move from a centralized test analysis model to a decentralized one at the patient’s side. It allows improving the ability to make immediate decisions in patients with respiratory pathologies, prescribing more appropriate treatments and saving costs in the form of successive visits or referrals”, he points out.
Similarly, the Dr. Manuel Linares Rufo, coordinator of the Infectious Diseases GT, Migrant, Vaccines and Preventive Activities (IMVAP) of SEMERGEN emphasizes that “there is no doubt regarding the great benefit and usefulness of the introduction of new rapid molecular diagnostic techniques, especially in those rural areas farthest from population centers”.
“We are facing tools that have come with the pandemic to stay and that will help to streamline and add value to the clinical practice of health professionals in areas that traditionally have long diagnostic delays or lack of access to certain techniques,” he adds.
