Investigation, Innovation, Integration

Dear friends and colleagues,
The 11th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine has as its theme: “Investigation, Innovation and Integration”.

Lectures and debates will investigate key issues for liaison psychiatry, psychology, and psychosomatic medicine: how can we best address the consequences of climate change? How can the social dimensions of care be better incorporated into our bio-psycho-social approach? How can liaison psychiatry, psychology and psychosomatic medicine be most effective in specific medical domains?

We will also share innovations in our ways of working: we will hear about new approaches to familiar clinical problems, how new research methods might help us to care for patients with medically unexplained symptoms, and how the collaboration with social scientists can offer new perspectives.

Finally, we will discuss integration, a concept that underpins all our work. It will be examined in scientific investigations of mind-body connections, in the development of integrative approaches for depression in the medically ill and in how we best respond to the challenges of Long Covid.

Lausanne is a wonderful setting for our meeting. It is known as the town where Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee. It is also the town, in which many famous physicians worked. These include Professor Tissot, Calvinist Protestant, and physician of many celebrities such as Rousseau who’s personal records contains numerous correspondences and more than thousand written requests for consultations sent to him from all over Europe; the surgeon César Roux who was the first to remove a pheochromocytoma and to propose the Roux-en-Y anastomosis; Alexandre Yersin who discovered the Yersinia pestis; and Charlotte Olivier who recognized the role of public health in the fight against tuberculosis.

Lausanne also has the Musée de l’art brut, a true jewel, with the fantastic collection of Jean Dubuffet who provided artists without formal training and those suffering from mental disorders an opportunity to display their work. And finally, Lausanne, with its beautiful views of the vineyards and mountains, offers excellent local food and wine and many opportunities to relax on the shores of Lac Léman.

We hope very much to see you next year in Lausanne,

Fritz Stiefel
President of the EAPM 2024 conference

Michael Sharpe
President of EAPM