Happy World Family Doctor Day 2026! Today we celebrate the GPs practicing medicine and caring for patients around the world. Thank you to for your work and dedication to patients in your communities.
There are many families of GPs in Ireland who have provided care to patients for generations. Meet a family of four generations of doctors, The Shanahan family. A 4th generation GP, Dr Bríd Shanahan shares why she followed in her father Eamonn’s footsteps. Dr Bríd Shanahan is a GP working in Summerhill, Dublin who was awarded The Dr Gertrude Ronan Foundation Award at the Annual Conference.
She shares how seeing her father Dr Eamonn Shanahan work within their community inspired her to also become a GP.
Watch their story
World Family Doctor Day 2026: Compassionate Care in a Digital World
The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) announced the theme for this year as “Compassionate care in a Digital World”. This theme will resonate with GPs as digital tools and AI become an everyday part of the lives of GPs and their patients.
WONCA shares:
The 2026 theme builds on priorities set out by WONCA President Dr Viviana Martinez-Bianchi in her inaugural address at the WONCA World Conference in Lisbon. In that speech, she called on family doctors to engage with digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that protect equity and strengthen relationships, reminding us that “we belong in AI if we help build it”.
Learn more about this theme here.