Short message from the President

Hello all!

A more detailed newsletter will be sent around in January 2022, but before we all take our well-deserved Christmas and New Year break, I wanted to summarise some activities and highlight some important dates.

First, I wanted to thank the past-President Anne Courouce and outgoing Board member Fernando Malalana and to welcome to the ECEIM Board Carla Cesarini (the new ECEIM secretary) and John Keen (the new ECEIM treasurer). Jessika Cavalleri (the new ECEIM vice-President) and Ruth Morgan (chair of the Education and Credentials Committee [ECC] review committee) are remaining on the Board.

Due to circumstances beyond the Congress Committee’s control, the date of the 2022 ECEIM Congress is now the 28th-29th October. The Congress Committee is pursuing the possibility of holding the Congress and AGM both in-person and live online, with more updates to be given in the New Year.

The Examination Committee has confirmed that as of now, the exam will proceed as planned during the first week of February 2022, with the exam results expected to be released on February 5th. Because of the potential effect of the increasing COVID-19 positivity rates on travel and social restrictions throughout Europe, the exam candidates and resident supervisors are advised to stay in close contact with the exam committee regarding any potential changes that may occur between now and the exam.

An online EBVS meeting was held online November 9th-10th 2022. There may be a potential increase in EBVS College fees at the end of 2022 or 2023 due to increased activities and additional staff hired which may have a knock-on effect on ECEIM membership fees. In addition, EBVS has created a data sharing and best practice communication platform for all colleges to share information (procedural SOPs, guides to making decisions etc…). EBVS is also seeking new committee members for the Communication Committee, Standards & Quality Assurance Committee and Flexible Pathway Committee. At the moment, ECEIM has no EBVS committee representatives so if any ECEIM Diplomate who has previously been on at least one ECEIM committee would like to be nominated, please contact Lisa (president@eceim.info). The next EBVS meeting will take place 27th-28th April 2022 in Greece.

An online ECEIM Board meeting was held on December 17th 2021. Educational and operational topics were discussed, with a focus on the review of theECC. Ruth Morgan is overseeing this review, which is focusing on re-evaluating Diplomate recertification and residency training/credentials. The committee is made up of many volunteers (thank you!) and has been divided into two sub-committees, one evaluating Diplomate recertification and one evaluating residency training/credentials. A survey has recently been sent to all ECEIM diplomates with the information to be used to assist in re-evaluation of Diplomate recertification. Please complete this survey by the middle of January 2022! The aim is to have a final written recommendation of changes submitted to the ECEIM Board by March 2022 with the view of then taking any changes to the April 2022 EBVS meeting for approval if required.  The next ECEIM Board meeting is planned for January 2022 with the focus being on updating the ECEIM website and IT.

Finally, I wanted to thank all committee members and chairs, congress and webinar contributors for their hard work and outstanding effort at keeping the ECEIM College moving forward during the last almost two years of COVID-19 misery! I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year!

Cheers!

Lisa

ECEIM President