Rural seeds at the WONCA Rural Health Conference 2022 in Limerick

Rural Seeds Conference Report - Limerick 2022

It was the first time in over two years that we could all meet in person for a Rural WONCA conference. It was also the first WONCA conference for many of our new Rural Seeds Ambassadors. We had the chance to learn about rural medicine in Ireland, exchange ideas with people from all over the world and network with peers.  Many thanks to our Irish hosts! 


Photo of Rural Seeds Ambassadors (left to right): Marcela Araujo De Oliveira Santana, Mayara Floss, Alexandra Ferrara, Celestine Todosia, Veronika Rasic, Mercy Wanjala, Pippa (Australian Student), Amber Wheatley

Highlights from the Conference

Keynote by Mayara Floss on Equity

Workshops

Rural Development for Rural Health - Connecting the Dots

This was led by Dr Mercy Wanjala, Dr Sneha P Kotian and Dr Veronika Rasic.  It explored the critical role that rural infrastructure and socio economic development play in access to healthcare in rural areas.  Participants discussed ways in which better collaboration across sectors (education, engineering, government, local business) may be better harnessed to improve infrastructure and access to healthcare.  They were encouraged to think beyond healthcare and medicine and look towards other factors that affect people's behaviors and health outcomes. 

How to Create Animated Videos to Promote Health Education and Empowerment in Rural Areas

This workshop was led by Dr Marcela Araujo De Oliveira Santana and it aimed to introduce participants to video creation.  Visual media can be a powerful tool to convey our message about the importance of rural health and bring more attention to health inequity. 


Rural Medicine Beyond 2025

This workshop was led by Dr Veronika Rasic and Alexandra Ferrara with the aim of exploring the future of rural medicine.  The discussion focused on challenges that we face in the next five to ten years and what issues need to be addressed to improve healthcare for rural communities.  
The outcome document can be found HERE.

Rural Café

The cafe was moderated by Dr Amber Wheatley and we had a diverse panel of students, young healthcare professionals, rural health experts. They reflected on their experiences of rural health education during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
You can watch the full Rural Café HERE.

At the end of the Rural Café we launched our next call for new Rural Seeds Ambassadors. You can apply HERE.  Applications are open until the 31st of July 2022.  

Find out more on Twitter @ruralseeds and Instagram @rural.seeds

By Dr Veronika Rasic
July 2022