Summary: Second Winter School Saas-Fee 2012

January 15 to 21

Thirty seven residents came from Europe, Israel and the North of Africa to participate at ‘ESIM Winter School’ in Saas-Fee in Switzerland. The young internists were recruited from 17 countries through their national society of internal medicine. Grants from UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) and from FDIME (Foundation for the Development of Internal Medicine) made it possible for residents from Tunesia and Morocco to attend. The scientific programme included regular lectures, workshops and two clinico-pathologic conference (CPC). The CPC and case presentations were, as last year, the favourites of the residents! Prof. Ramon Pujol and Prof. Pedro Conthe have greate experience in presenting cases to make them a criminal story. The short cases presented by the residents were prepared before attending the meeting. They were of high quality, the presentations outstanding and the discussion very stimulating! 

The lecturers came from nine different European countries. The opening speech was held by the president of EFIM, Prof. Ramon Pujol from Spain. illustrated the growing importance of internal medicine these days, when patients are often old and polymorbid. The residents learned a lot about ‘how to start writing a scientific paper’ from Professor Pierre Mannucchi. All the other topics, of course were very stimulating too. The evaluation by the residents supports this comment. Lectures were: Professional issues facing internal medicine (Dr Werner Bauer), hypercalcemia (PD Dr. Cristoph Henzen), atrial fibrillation (Dr. Christoph Davidson), presentation skills for the internist (Dr Shirley Rigby), pathologic liver function test (Prof. Stefan Lindgren), problems of high altitude and extreme temperature (Prof. Marco Maggiorini), gender and autoimmune disease (Prof. Daniel Sereni), difficult situations in clinical practice (Dr. Anke von Sengbusch), thyroid nodules (Dr. Jan Willem Elte), chronic kidney injuries (Dr. Belén Redal-Baigorri).

At noon, there was always some sport activity scheduled. Visiting the biggest ice pavilion in the world in the glacier of Mt. Allalin, walking from Saas-Fee to Grund, going up to the Gornergrat in Zermatt viewing the famous Matterhorn. The sunny blue sky made this trip to a special event! On the last day of the school, strong winds came up. The sledding programme had to be cancelled. Anyway, walking was still fun! As we did last year, the residents evaluated the programme of the winter school. They enjoyed the scientific part but also the fantastic spirit and camaraderie.