The final countdown to the 21st congress of the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Antwerp has begun. When you received this “Facts, Views and Vision in ObGyn”, only a few weeks separate us from the moment when the Flanders Congress and Concert Centre will open his doors for the more than 2000 gynaecologists and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry for the bi-annual meeting of the EBCOG.
Although EBCOG exists since 1996, it is still necessary to provide a concise overview of this unique European gynaecological organisation and its activities.
Every two years a scientific program committee works very hard to offer to all European gynaecologists an exiting scientific program with sessions arranged by all the major European specialist societies. EBCOG’s aim is to improve the health of women and unborn and newborn babies by promoting the highest possible standards of care. The core activities are education and training. Since the foundation there are now 35 countries represented on the Council. The officers want to improve by all means the relationship between EBCOG and its constituted national societies.
EBCOG is currently in the process of reviewing and developing it’s strategy and infrastructure. Some of the very important goals will be to develop training, education and research activity, to look at standards and methods of assessment, to consider ethics and medicolegal issues and to continue to develop as a common voice and representative of all gynaecologists and obstetricians in Europe. The consolidation of programs for continuing professional development is also an important objective.
This special edition of “Facts, Views and Vision” can be of great value to realise this strategy. As mentioned in the editorial, EBCOG will be the first organization to have the opportunity to share with us their values and goals in the first “Who’s Who” section of this journal.
The executive committee of EBCOG and all council members support with great enthusiasm the combination of Facts (which means pure and hard science), of Views (which means insights and convictions gained through experience) and last but not least Vision (which means where the future may germinate).
I want to insist on the words of my friend and colleague Jan Gerris, author of the editorial of the first issue, when he says that facts alone tend to be isolated in every narrowing niche of professionalism, that views alone tend to degenerate into strong opinions nobody is interested in and that vision alone tend to become a nightmare if it is unsupported by facts and a sharp view.
I really do hope, together with all my European colleagues, that EBCOG on one side and Facts, Views and Vision on the other side, will join, become friends and will work together in a harmonious future.
Johan Van Wiemeersch
Vice president EBCOG
