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I reported on the fourth European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) conference in Geneva in 2006 in the President’s column last year.

While I have moved on from being President of the BGS, it has been a great pleasure that I still remain a full Board Member of the EUGMS, representing the British Geriatrics Society.

Firstly, the good news, you are all members of the EUGMS by affiliation from the BGS. There has been a strong British tradition of participation in the Society with Brian Williams being one of the founding members and a former President of the Society. The scientific meetings and congresses that have been run so far have been excellent and have contained a strong British presence thanks to the tireless work of Alan Sinclair in his period of office as Academic Director of EUGMS. Any members who have attended the meetings will realise that they have been first class and very clinically based. The two secretaries of the Society, Karen Anderson Ranberg, Des O’Neill (very familiar to all of us in the BGS), are actively pursuing promoting geriatrics opinion into European policy.

Karen has started an inititative to facilitate geriatricians visiting units in other countries. They are, at the moment, trying to recruit three centres from the UK, but members should be aware that if they would like to explore what is going on in a different culture and country in Europe, there is a developing network whereby one can spend a sabbatical time in another unit in Europe.

The next conference is the third symposium of the European Union Geriatric Medical Society and takes place on the 28th - 29th September 2007 in Frankfurt. It has been organised by Professors Hahn and Hans Werner (Hans is the Treasurer of the EUGMS). The society alternates symposia on specific topics with congresses in which are major meetings covering all of geriatrics. The symposium this time covers Infection in the Elderly and has an impressive line up of speakers. The meeting is recognised for CME and should prove a really valuable and interesting symposium. I would strongly encourage members of the BGS to attend and help develop a spirit of European geriatric medicine.

A date to fix in your diary for 2008 is the 3rd - 6th September, when the fifth congress of the EUGMS will take place in Copenhagen. Danish geriatrics is very strong and is similar to geriatrics in Great Britain. The Health Service in Denmark is funded out of taxation similar to the British system and there is a strong tradition of first class research and clinical services in geriatric medicine there. The congress is to be supported by Queen Margrethe and there will be privileged access to the famour Tivoli Gardens. I have the honour of chairing a session Movement Disorders in Elderly at this meeting and there will be involvement of many other UK and Irish geriatricians.

Details of all EUGMS activities can be found on their website. Details of the Frankfurt meeting can be found on the BGS website notices page.

J R Playfer