10 October 2024

Dear friends, here is my short speech, at this Ceremony you wanted to offer me. I
have promised 4 minutes not more, I have it here on a paper being my last really
“official speech” in a EURACT Council, so not to forget some of the key points I
want to underline you as important in my life in EURACT and for EURACT so that
you know how was working here in these long years. It was a different way to work,
not only in Committees as BME, ST and CME, but working in groups divided as
chapters by chapters. It was the “historical period” we created what now permit you
to run better with a Family Medicine recognised at European level and organising
Courses as Leonardo, Seminars, Snowball Symposia, Educational Symposia. Also, I
want to let you know how much EURACT did for me, pushing and supporting me
strongly and exactly in my personal specific attitudes.

In EURACT Council as National Representative since 2001, in the time of discussion
and writing the WONCA European Definition of Family Medicine! Soon after, for
seasons on the EURACT Educational Agenda (involved in 4 chapters) and soon after,
on the EURACT Performance Agenda, and so on with many papers as the Check List
for Course Organizers, and many EURACT Statements for ST and for BME between
2002 and 2022.
Personally, at just all WONCA Congresses from 1996 till 2007, always with
presentations, seminars, workshops. In these seminars and workshops, involving, and
more times, famous colleagues such as Amanda Howe, Chris van Weel, Michael
Boland, Christos Lionis (Christos maybe six times), Mike Pringle, Roger Jones,
David Jewell, Paul Wallace, Igor Svab, Job Maetsmakers,
Participated in presence at all EURACT Councils since 2001 till 2019, when Covid
arrived ….and also, I got Lymphoma High Degree Fourth Stadium … I am in
"miraculous" remission, but constantly being present online at works for EURACT,
in Madeira, Bled, Dubrovnik.

In Executive Board, being nominated for three consecutive times, it was an important
personal and professional experience.
Chairing BME Committee since 2006, as BME Committee we all worked together
reflecting on researches, questionnaires, papers to get international good publications
with the range of about 1 every 3 years, just as a Council’s 3 years term period. You
know the topics: from ECE (two times, in 2009 and recently, Minimal core
curriculum, Mapping of European departments, How to strengthen when they were
not, Standards in BME etc etc.

It was phantastic to be involved totally in the realization of EURACT First
Educational Conference at Trinity College in Dublin (I remember Janko and me at
the river in Porto during a Council, writing at a café the first draft for organizing this
new event!) and so well for the Second EURACT Educational Conference in Leuven.
Exciting to be delegated to change part of EURACT By-laws in 2005- 2006, with Job
Maetsemakers.
For years, I used my journalistic easiness to periodically write articles and papers for
EURACT in EJGP and BJGP and BMJ (look at the strong friend editors I indicated
before).
It was another great experience to be also active member of EGPRN, participating
with accepted presentations at least once annually for years, mainly involved for three
years' work in writing the "Burn – out syndrome: EGPRN Survey, publications so
much quoted during all these years. As EURACT delegate representative, at
EGPRN Meeting in Lille and also in Heraklion. As EURACT Expert, in 2017,
contracted by WHO to work for a New Curriculum for Family Medicine in Greece.
Kindly invited to take personal presentations as EURACT known person, in Ankara,
Skopje, Sarajevo, Antalya, Jerusalem. Kyiv, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi.
Happy for success in pulling in EURACT Councils: Republic of Moldova and
Republic of Kazakhstan.
I thank you so much, so many phantastic memories about the work and the life in
EURACT and the team’s spirit and the constant friendships, some so alive for years
in the years. And I hope, but I'm sure, that you, as EURACT, will get continuous
progresses and a new EURACT’S Policy to foster European Family Medicine.

Francesco Carelli
EURACT First Honorary Member