It´s a great pleasure for me to relate my experience throughout the EUREP, which took place in Prague from 2/9 to 7/9.
Together with Rigo from Mexico, we were lucky to win the scholarship granted by the CAU to participate in this meeting that has been held for more than 20 years with residents from all over the world, generally in their last year of training.
To begin with, I must point out that from the moment I was informed that I was one of the winners of the scholarship, members of the CAU maintained fluid communication with me via email answering all my questions. They contacted me with the European organizers who advised me on the steps to follow for registration, always with a very good predisposition.
With the money given by the scholarship I was able to pay for the plane tickets and the accommodation at the hotel where the course was held.
I arrived in Prague 2 days before the course began and I had the pleasure of exploring this beautiful city and some of its surroundings.
The day before the course began, the accreditation was carried out. I was given 5 booklets containing the slides of each class to facilitate follow-up.
On September the 2nd, Dr. Liatsikos welcomed the more than 300 residents present and told us about the history of EUREP and how we were supposed to manage during the following days. Although most of the participants were European, there were people from all over the world.
We were divided into groups of approximately 35 people each and assigned to a classroom. We would be together every day and it would be the teachers who would rotate each day in different classrooms.
Every day, the course started from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with breaks for coffee and lunch. Some days the routine changed: for instance, we had 2 free afternoons. One of them, we participated in a BBQ with Karaoke, which took place near the Prague Castle.
Regarding the hands-on training, we were assigned one specific day and time, where we could handle the training (in my case laparoscopy and URS) supervised by a specialist in that area and at the end of each exercise they would give us a feedback.
The level of the course was excellent as well as that of the professors who taught each topic, many of them members of the committee that writes the EUA guidelines. The topics were very comprehensive and laid out in a logical and easy to follow. We had room for comments, queries and why not jokes!
It was an amazing experience in both social and academic matters. I met people from all over the world, learned from them, we shared experiences about our training and had lots of fun.
I must admit that I didn´t know about the EUREP course before applying for the scholarship. However, now I do nothing but recommend it!
I opened my mind about the possibilities that we may have elsewhere, always with the gratitude of having been trained at the Hospital Alemán in Buenos Aires, which has the level of many other European centers.
I will always be very grateful for the opportunity given to me to participate in this event.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
MD. Florencia Frascheri, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
