KOPČAVAR GUČEK, Asst Prof Nena
Slovenia - Co-convenor SIG Family Violence
Nena is the new co-convenor of the WONCA Special Interest Group on Family Violence (SIGFV).
What work do you do now?
I am employed as a full time family practitioner in the Community Health Care Center of Ljubljana in Slovenia, of which I am also the spokesperson.
I am also a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ljubljana, currently as Assistant Professor. For years I have been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, as a teacher and as a mentor and have been a member of research groups at my clinic and at the department. Since 2005, I have been one of the supervising doctors with the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. I am an Aviation Medical Examiner.
Other interesting things you have done?
Family violence and workplace violence in the healthcare environment occupy a lot of my time and interest. Since 2017, I have chaired the interdisciplinary committee for preventing violence at the Medical Chamber of Slovenia.
Linked to the topic of violence, I am very interested in communication, motivational skills, alcohol addiction, prevention and have been involved in several research projects and educational activities in those fields.
I was appointed as the Slovenian delegate to UEMO in 2004 to 2017, and was Vice President from 2010 to 2014. From 2010 to 2017 I served as a liaison officer between WONCA, UEMO and European Forum of Primary Care. I have been a member of the board of Slovenian Family Medicine Association since 2005 and am currently on the board of Alzheimer Slovenia.
I am a reviewer for the Slovenian Science Citation Index journal- Slovenian Journal of Public Health (since 2012) and for the European Journal of Family Medicine (since 2013).
What is general practice like in your country?
In Slovenia, as in many other countries, we have a shortage of family doctors. On one side, we are valued very much by patients, but there are organisational and financial challenges. Family medicine in Slovenia has experienced remarkable advances in professional, education and research aspects in the past years. We are hoping to decrease the exhausting administrative burden and to have more time for our patients in the future. We believe that positive changes in this direction would attract more colleagues into the domain of family medicine, which has never ceased to astonish and attract me.
Your interests at work and privately?
Professionally, I very much enjoy teaching, supporting young colleagues and organising educational events. Communicating with patients, even if so challenging, is still in the centre of my interest, and I am learning, every day. From every patient.
I enjoy volunteer work, and served time as president of the Inner Wheel Club in Ljubljana.
In my spare time, I love to cook, and I find gardening and physical activities most relaxing. I cherish sharing time with my family. Family to me is the highest value.