The first edition of this Meeting at Luz (Encontro na Luz) – held on November 12 and gathering mostly General Medicine and Family physicians (GMF), but also from other specialities, some belonging to Hospital da Luz network and others practising in different health units – registered high levels of participation and very positive reactions among the participants. The good reception given to the initiative means that the next encounter of the kind is already being planned for 2023. The main goal was to bring together physicians of General Medicine and Family (GMF) in Hospital da Luz network and physicians working outside this institution, so as to share experiences and new approaches in primary health care. The day was exclusively dedicated to primary health care and was divided between a theoretical session and a practical training in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, at the Simulation Centre of Hospital da Luz Learning Health. “It was a high quality meeting, with excellent theoretical presentations and practical sessions. To be held annually”, states José Roquette , the president of the Superior Clinical Board of Luz Saúde, who integrates the committee organizing this Meeting at Luz. “We realised that this is a very appealing format for our colleagues: a full day debating clinical topics that we face in our activity and which increasingly require a multidisciplinary approach, with the family doctor having an active participation, as coordinator of the care strategy; and afterwards, practice in a simulation environment”, highlights on its turn João Sequeira Carlos , the GMF coordinator of Hospital da Luz Lisboa, who was also part of the organizing nucleus. “The balance is clearly positive and we are much motivated to hold a second meeting, in 2023. We intend it to be an annual encounter, the major meeting of Hospital da Luz on primary health care” , he adds. The practical training sessions were held at the Simulation Centre of Hospital da Luz Learning Health , the largest in Portugal and one of the largest in Europe, with latest-generation technology mannequins, that allow the training of clinical approaches and procedures in a safe and realistic environment. Each participant was enrolled in two practical sessions, among the following options: Satellite symposium on new therapeutic approaches to migraine; Clinical case of atrial fibrillation; Gastroscopy (simulation scenery and follow-up of non-oncologic case); Syncope and sudden migraine (simulation of urgent clinical cases); Cardiac insufficiency. Here, the participants “had to propose diagnostic and therapeutic hypotheses, then having the unique opportunity to train some techniques, such as endoscopy”, recalls João Sequeira Carlos. The Meeting at Luz (Encontro na Luz) is destined to all internists or specialists, in GMF or other specialities, with interest in the area of primary health care. Hospital da Luz thanks all the participants, sponsors and trainers of this first edition. The Meeting at Luz will return in 2023! All those interested in this kind of training events may follow up all the activity of Hospital da Luz on social media and in the respective training courses platform ( UpEvents ).
