One month ago we still had hope. Hope that we could have another fruitful EURACT Spring Council Meeting in Kiev; that we could make plans for the future, could move forward; that we could have a chat, a drink with our EURACT colleagues and friends. Unfortunately, we had to be realistic because the world changed: it locked down and became still in one way. In another way, for us as caregivers and teachers, it has never been so busy: new challenges, new ways of working, new threats and hopefully new opportunities. 

Now that Jo Buchanan has handed over her presidency, we had to celebrate and honour her. And I, as the new EURACT president, should have been before Council to see them all, to ask for their trust and to enjoy the warmth of the work we do together and the friendship we feel. 

A new start that feels like a false start. But luckily we can also say that we postpone our plans of celebration, meeting and working; we are not cancelling it. We should keep that in our minds and hearts. So, at the end, we have hope again: that we will manage, we will be strong, new opportunities will arise and we will meet again!
In the mean time, next to our patient and student care, we still can have a look at the future of EURACT and what we can do for the European GP teaching community. That means we can move forward to work on what we already had planned and started but we should also see how EURACT's work changes in light of this pandemic situation. 
Therefore, we took the difficult decision to postpone our 3rd EURACT Medical Education Conference to 24-25th September 2021. We agreed with our Hungarian Council Member, Péter Vajer, that the conference will still take place in Budapest, and that our Autumn meeting 2021 will also be there. 

For the continuity of our organisation it is important to stay connected with all our EURACT members. We will ask Council Members to keep you informed, and ask if you need anything and if EURACT can support you. We welcome your questions or suggestions – please pass them on to your Country Representative. One of the opportunities that we will take with EURACT, to support you as European GP/FM teachers in your work towards students/trainees/GPs, is giving you insight on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe and offer you tips & tricks. Together with the task groups' chairs we started to work on 2 surveys: one quick survey to gather practical information on covid-19-related care in all European countries and another one investigating current situations, good practices and threats related to GP/FM education within this crisis.

As Jo Buchanan suggested, let us make 'EURACT will survive and strive!' our motto. We will do that together!

Take care,  Nele Michels - EURACT President