Introduction to AMSA-Philippines History Who are we? What do we do in AMSA-Phil?

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 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.

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Becoming a member of IFMSA

In a General Assembly held in Monterrey, Mexico back in 1999, AMSA-Philippines formally submitted its candidate membership to the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations or IFMSA. IFMSA is recognized by the United Nations and by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Back-to-back International conferences hosted in Manila

In 2003, AMSA-Philippines did an amazing feat as it hosted back-to-back events from two of its international associations: it hosted the first-ever IFMSA Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting (IFMSA APRM) from March 22-25 and, immediately afterwards, from March 25-28, hosted for the first time a version of the East Asian Medical Students' Conference (EAMSC), an offshoot of the AMSC and was on its 16th year.

The New AMSA-Philippines

AMSA-Philippines got its break when it successfully reestablished the National Medical Students Conference (NMSC) back in March 2011, hosted by the UP MSSR-IPPNW in Manila, and was attended by more than 300 medical students from 14 medical schools.

The first Council of LMOs was composed of five organizations: AMSA-UST, AMSA-WVSU, PMSA (OLFU), UP MSSR-IPPNW, and USLS COMED-SC.

In 2012, AMSA-Philippines implemented for the first time an Election Protocol, ratified by the Council of LMOs, during the 4th NMSC, the NMSC UP Manila 2012, to elect the next set of Executive Board officers.

Also, AMSA-Philippines once again hosted AMSC in 2012 with the 33rd AMSC held in Manila, Philippines, hosted by AMSA-UST. The theme of the conference was: "Surmounting Health Inequalities across Asia as One Region.

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Who are we?

AMSA-Philippines is a student-led ADVOCACY organization with international affiliations, our vision is summarized into 3 key areas:

Knowledge

to have an increased awareness on pressing health issues and social concerns

Action

for changing the course of the upstream healthcare system

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Friendship

which goes beyond geographical borders and cultural differences

Our current member organizations Our international affiliations

What we do

Local Member Organizations

17

Candidate Member Organizations

2

Observer Member Organizations

4

The IFMSA structure is built on the Six official Standing Committees, on a professional exchange, research exchange, medical education, reproductive health and rights including HIV/AIDs, public health, and human rights and peace.

These Standing Committees cover all the advocacies of IFMSA, as well as AMSA-Phil’s.