From my place of residence in India, I participated very actively in the 1st virtual congress of general practice and family medicine in Portugal from April to June 2008 (www.congressovirtualmgf.com).1 More than 1600 family physicians from 65 countries attended symposiums, e-oral communications, e-posters, e-learning, discussion forums, and interactive sessions. New topics were posted every Monday and Thursday. The speakers’ fees and travelling expenses, and other expenses for participants were small for this paperless conference. All the organisation was done by email, and the conference had an overwhelming response. The 2nd virtual congress of family medicine and general practice will be conducted from September 2009. Registration will start in September 2009.
Competing interests: None declared.
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a681
References
- 1.Green M. Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can’t afford? Yes. BMJ 2008;336:1466 (28 June.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]