Introduction to AMSA-Philippines
History AMSA-Philippines traces its roots to its forerunner, the Philippine Alliance of Medical Students or PAMS, an association of medical students from various medical schools and was founded in 1981. PAMS started officially joining the Asian Medical Students' Conference (AMSC) in 1983 when it was held in Malaysia. AMSC was a gathering of medical students from Asia, created by students from four countries: India, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand to discuss various health issues. On PAMS being one of the founding organizations of AMSAInternational The 6th AMSC was held in Manila, the Philippines back in 1985, and was organized by PAMS through the leadership of then a medical student, Dr. Francisco “Pancho” Perfecto Flores. The conference had the theme: "Role of Youth in Population Control: Asian Viewpoints." It was also in this conference that the
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medical students participating in AMSC formally organized and created the Asian Medical Students' Association - International or AMSA-International with the ratification of the AMSA-International constitution and the formation of its first executive committee to further strengthen and intensify the organization From PAMS to Asian Medical Students’ Association Philippines PAMS was re-energized back in 1989 when its members tried to get the organization to be accredited by different medical schools. The medical students that were members of PAMS then came from UST, UP, PERPETUAL, LA SALLE, AUF, FEU, and MCU. In 1990, then medical student Dr. Filipina Cevallos Schnabel, President and Regional Coordinator of PAMS, changed its name to Asian Medical Students' Association - Philippines or AMSA-Philippines.
