Rural round-up: Definition - collegial
This month's Rural Round-up is written by Dr Jo Scott-Jones, of New Zealand, who is also a WONCA Featured Doctor this month.
Read more about Jo here.
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Definition :
Collegial = “relating to or involving shared responsibility,
as among a group of colleagues”*
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The World Organisation of National Colleges and Academic Associations (WONCA) is founded on the concept of “collegiality.” The WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice (WWPRP) makes the sharing of responsibility for the support of rural doctors worldwide a reality in a number of ways.
The WONCA website provides links to the
“Rural Medical Education Guidebook” the “
Rural Heroes Project,” past conference presentations, and seminal documents such as the
Policy on Rural Practice and Rural Health and the
Durban Declaration “Health for All Rural People.”
Conferences, such as the one still open for registrations in Dubrovnik this April provide opportunities for family doctors from across the globe who share the challenges and pleasures of living and working in rural communities to get together to learn from, about and with each other for the benefit of their patients.
To register for Dubrovnik
Interested WONCA members can apply to join the “google list-server” email group. (email: john@johnwy.com) – there are over 200 rural providers involved regularly in discussions that vary between palliative care and how it is provided and funded in various countries, through conference preparation for workshops such as on the impacts of climate change on practice, and leadership. Discussions continue around inequalities and their impact on health outcomes and how to ensure policy makers “rural proof” their plans for health system changes.
WPrural@wonca.net Email to join google group
The WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice has a
Facebook page and Twitter handle @ruralwonca.
To share responsibility, you need to communicate and like most things in life it is clear that the more you put in the more you get out.
I hope the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice is giving lots of opportunities for people to “put stuff in” – it’s time now to participate.
Find out more about the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice
Jo Scott-Jones
New Zealand
*Oxford Dictionary of English
