Dear Congress Participants

We are glad to announce the beginning of the Second Virtual Congress of General Practice and Family Medicine (SVCGPFM), an online event dedicated to eHealth, patient empowerment and to the use of the new information and communication technologies in the field of family medicine and primary health care.

We are proud to present you during the following 12 weeks more than 140 eOral and ePoster presentations, and a wide array of interesting keynote lectures (2 per week) by family doctors throughout the world. Many surprises will arise during this event, that will surely improve the engagement of congress participants and enhance the discussion among health professionals and citizens. We are fully compromised to the use of social networking tools during this event and even to the use of virtual reality, that will lead us to a travel into the world of General Practice in Second Life. We can assure you that this edition of the Second Virtual Congress will be a step ahead on the development of our medical specialty.

Last but not least, I honorably present out first speaker and colleague, Jaime Correia de Sousa, that will guide our first looks into the field of patient empowerment through the opening keynote lecture of the SVCGPFM.