NEWSLETTER

ISSUE NO.2 · 2020 · VOLUME 1

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THE VASCO DA GAMA MOVEMENT: FOR YOUNG AND FUTURE FAMILY PHYSICIANS​ ​NEWSLETTER 2020 ISSUE 2

LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF

VDGM AND WONCA RESOURCES

Webinars sharing the experiences of family doctors worldwide

WONCA Iberoamericana livecast on COVID19 (Spanish/Portuguese) ​https://bit.ly/2UM0qMO
The Global Family Physicians Response to COVID19. ​https://bit.ly/33RXkv3
WONCA trial livecast ​https://bit.ly/2xtmwM9

Resources (clinical and communication and wellbeing)

VdGM folder of useful resources ​https://bit.ly/3byUj5d
Blog following the perspectives of family doctors worldwide ​www.globalgpproject.com

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THE VASCO DA GAMA MOVEMENT: FOR YOUNG AND FUTURE FAMILY PHYSICIANS​ ​NEWSLETTER 2020 ISSUE 2

VdGM Well-being Support Project

Dear all

Welcome to the ​VdGM COVID19 Well-being support project.

We will be hosting online open sessions to offer intercollegiate support at this difficult time.
We have consulted with primary care and mental health colleagues to ​gather well-being
resources​ (shared in this newsletter) ​and to ​create safe spaces​ for supporting your mental
well-being. This will be a reflective and evolving process which will respond and learn from
experience and feedback as we implement it.

A word of caution: VdGM is not and can not be responsible for your mental health and
wellbeing and whilst we encourage you to utilise the resources we offer, please seek help
from your local mental health services if you are struggling.

There will be 2 basic types of session on offer:

1) Relaxation Sessions

2) Well-being discussion groups

The sessions will be ​40mins​ long and operate through the ​Zoom​ Platform which you can
download for free here: ​https://zoom.us/download

Each session will have a unique joining code which will be shared on VdGM social media
ahead of the session.

We will also be using the polling functions on ​mentimeter​ to gather quick inputs and
immediate feedback. You can access mentimeter via the following link and when you join the
session you will be given an access code: ​https://www.menti.com

Please familiarise yourself with these platforms prior to joining the groups.

Let’s break down for you how these groups will work:

Relaxation Sessions

These sessions will be facilitated by experienced practitioners who have graciously offered
their services to support us in these difficult times. These will not be discussion groups but
guided sessions for you to listen and unwind. There may be the opportunity to ask questions
at the end of the session. They will include topics such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga and
other relaxing and calming activities.

For those who cannot make it to these, we will be uploading some parts of the sessions
(such as mindfulness exercises) onto our YouTube channel and Facebook page.
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Well-being discussion groups

These supportive and reflective discussion groups will operate on a drop in basis. You may
attend once, always or anything in between. They will be loosely based on concepts of
Psychological First Aid and Balint adapted to suit the needs of this unique time and our
evolving situation in primary care.

The sessions are NOT intended to be counselling sessions or psychological debriefing. They
are also NOT intended to pressurise people to talk about nor analyse their situation. They
ARE intended to provide support and comfort, reduce stress and foster adaptive coping.

Well-being discussion group outline

1) Intro​ to ground rules and session

2) Check in round:​ a silent moment to share some words to describe how you are
feeling (on mentimeter) generating a collective word cloud. This allows us to share
quickly, anonymously, honestly and uninfluenced by others.
3) Focused sharing: ​people then volunteer to share how they are feeling in relation to a
covid related scenario and how they have been managing or coping with their
emotions (max 5 min to share)
4) Reflecting and Supporting :​ here we can ask questions and share reflections. In this
section we attempt to comfort and console, signpost to possible resources we may be
aware of, consider useful coping strategies, offer connection and social support and
normalise emotional responses.
5) Repeat the cycle​ as many times as people as wish to volunteer to share or as time
permits
6) Check out round:​ another round of mentimeter to share how we are feeling now,
generating a check out word cloud. Then if time 1-2 sentences each shared out loud
what people will take away from this session and try/ apply/investigate/experiment
with etc.

Well-being discussion group ground rules

1) We understand these sessions are for discussing well being and coping strategies
NOT clinical management and we will not being quizzing/critiquing people’s clinical
decision making
2) We understand that everything shared in these is protected by confidentiality
3) We are not here to judge each other
4) We are here to listen respectfully and openly
5) We are here to ask open questions that may assist each other with adjusting our
perspective
6) We recognise we all cope in different ways and may be at different stages of change
and grief cycles
7) We will not talk over each other and we will wait until the facilitator has indicated it is
our turn

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8) We understand this is not a psychological debriefing and should not involve a detailed
description of the events that caused distress, rather an opportunity to share how we
are feeling and coping.
9) We understand that we are not trying to provide counselling or psychological analysis,
simply comfort, support, connection and social solidarity.
10) We will all be given the opportunity to share and express ourselves at the discretion
of the facilitator

Before and After:

Word Clouds from one of
the Well-being discussion
group sessions last week.

Initially we will run ​one Relaxation Session and two Well-being discussion groups
weekly. ​See below for details timings and joining links:

Tuesdays 8pm GMT/ 9pm CEST Well-being discussion group join via Zoom link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/594477436​ Facilitated by Sonia Tsukagoshi (VdGM Liaison to
Wonca Europe Executive)

Wednesdays 7pm GMT/ 8pm CEST Relaxation sessions join via Zoom link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/739617175
Facilitated by Nick Mamo (VdGM treasurer) joined by various special guests each
week.

Thursdays 9pm GMT/ 10pm CEST Well-being discussion group join via Zoom link:
https://zoom.us/j/6791192936​ Facilitated by Claire Marie Thomas (VdGM Immediate
Past President)

If you would like to ​volunteer to become a Well-being discussion group facilitator ​please
contact us with your name, country and contact details at ​info@vdgm.eu​ with the email
subject heading ​“COVID19 Well-being”

We hope this offers you some useful outlet and connection in the weeks and months ahead.
#VdGMTogether ❤ Warmest Regards, Sonia, Nick & Claire

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THE VASCO DA GAMA MOVEMENT: FOR YOUNG AND FUTURE FAMILY PHYSICIANS​ ​NEWSLETTER 2020 ISSUE 2

Meme of the Week

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