Report June 2026 – Northern Europe

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our Regional Vice President, Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon, in late September 2026.

Sarah was a founder member of Women in Medicine in Ireland Network (WiMIN) in 2017 at a time when she had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer of the bowel at the age of 37. She said that her diagnosis spurred her into "throwing myself into a number of projects - writing, fundraising, advocacy, campaigning, and WIMIN-founding - mostly to distract myself from the misery that could be stage 4 cancer." Within a very short time WiMIN had over 800 members, and Sarah remained Chair until the end of 2025. In 2025 she became MWIA’s Regional Vice President for Northern Europe. She was a dedicated GP, and advocated strongly for improved primary care services, especially for those in areas of deprivation.

Sarah was also an author, and we would highly recommend reading her blog ‘Adventures of a sick doctor http://adventuresofasickdoctor.blogspot.com/

Her episode on the Medical Women’s Federation Podcast in 2022 is also well worth a listen https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-medical-women-podcast/id1606795048?i=1000566325649

Our sincere condolences go to her husband, 3 children and wider family. She was an inspiration to us all.

The triennial meeting of the Northern Region of the MWIA took place in Breukelen, the Netherlands in June 2026, hosted by the Dutch Association. Attendees at the meeting had come from as far afield as Canada and many of Senior MWIA took the opportunity to meet face-to-face.

The theme of the meeting was ‘Transgenerational Resilience’. The first session titled ‘Resilience’ focused on sexual violence in the workplace. One of the speakers gave a powerful personal survivor’s account and the other was a Government Commissioner.

The second plenary session ‘Generation Differences’ featured a talk on preserving fertility and an amusing discussion of the differences between the generations entitled From Boomer to Zoomer and how to improve intergenerational collaboration.

The second day featured another session titled ‘Resilience’. This one discussed issues around gender identity and improving mental resilience in challenging situations.

There was a presentation on the risks of vaping, indicating that the predictable risks of vaping are already manifesting themselves. This was reinforced by a later presentation from a respiratory physician who had spent her career fighting ‘Big Tobacco’. This one highlighted the techniques used by the tobacco companies to hook new smokers and how vaping is designed to be a gateway to smoking.

The remaining session featured a talk on ‘the politics of (un)pregnancy’.

Interspersed between the plenary sessions were a series of workshops, including one on using storytelling to deal with challenging situations.

The Regional Business meeting was chaired by Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon.

The meeting was well-organised and the catering excellent. The social programme included a cruise on the river Veldt.

More details on https://www.vnva.nl/vnva-events/terugblikken-symposia/2026-mwia-congres-en-els-borst-oeuvreprijs-symposium/#services

Drs Julie Rutter (UK), Kate McCann (Ireland) and Clarissa Fabre (UK)