www.ifmsa.org
Word of Introduction Dear IFMSA friends, The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations is a non-political, not-for-profit, independent student-run organization representing more than one million medical students. IFMSA is regarded as one of the oldest and largest international student organizations in the world. In addition, the IFMSA is officially recognized by the UN and the WHO as the voice of international medical students and future physicians when it comes to international health matters. IFMSA’s activities range from raising awareness on public health matters, reproductive health issues including AIDS, human rights and peace to involving medical students actively in the process of curricular reform and medical education. In addition, IFMSA runs the largest international student exchange program with more than 10,000 medical students experiencing either research or medical practice in a different country than their own. IFMSA presents medical students with the chance to share experiences and exchange ideas with their counterparts from all across the globe, thus building 2
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cultural sensitivity and promoting intercultural understanding and cooperation. Through its unrivalled capacity to bring together medical students from different backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities, IFMSA offers future physicians a unique chance to develop cultural sensitivity and tolerance. IFMSA members learn that what brings them together in terms of working for the better of their communities is much greater than their visible differences in language, culture or background. In conclusion, IFMSA believes and works towards creating culturally sensitive medical students who are able to appreciate health problems throughout the world, to work relentlessly to alleviate the burdens of those problems and to join forces with relevant partners to create healthier communities, and thus a healthier world. In this booklet you will find more information about IFMSA, its Standing Committees and its projects and activities. Let’s work together for a healthier tomorrow! Melhim Bou Alwan MD, AOA IFMSA - President 2008/09
Table of Content Content:
Page:
Word of Introduction
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Table of Content
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General Facts IFMSA
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Standing Committees: On Research Exchange
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On Professional Exchange
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On human Rights & Piece
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On Public Health
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On Reproductive health including AIDS
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On Medical Education
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IFMSA Projects
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IFMSA Training
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Board of Recommendation
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IFMSA Partners
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Editorial
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General facts “It is health that brings us all together.” The IFMSA is an independent, non-go vernmental and nonpolitical federation of medical students’ associations throughout the world. In 2008, IFMSA consists of national medical student associations in 102 countries on six continents. Our members represent more than 1,000,000 medical students worldwide. Since 1951, IFMSA has been run for and by medical students on a non-profit basis. Officially recognized as a Non Governmental Organization within the United Nations’ system, it is recognized by the World Health Organization as the international forum for medical students. IFMSA is registered as a charitable organisation in the Netherlands. For more than 50 years, IFMSA has existed to bring together the global medical student community. All over the world, medical students are working on global health issues through IFMSA. Hundreds of activities are planned, designed, and carried out each year on local, national and international levels. Projects, programs, conferences and workshops are organized everywhere in the fields of medical education, public health, reproductive health and gender issues and violence prevention, bringing to life for me4
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dical students the critical health care issues of the modern world. The IFMSA experi- ence shows students that they are not passive subjects in a rapidly globalising world, but are valuable individuals with a potentially powerful role to play in global health. They learn that their idealistic goals can be achieved with readily attainble knowledge and commitment. In IFMSA, the emphasis is that
IFMSA in numbers 102 National Member Organisations > 10.000 active members > 1.000.000 medical students involved > 10.000 exchanges a year (professional & research) 40 International projects More than 50 years existance
the students return to their local environment with new ideas and the skills to implement them. As the doctors of tomorrow and future leaders of health, we feel confident that our students will carry this spirit with them throughout their professional lives. Mission „Our mission is to offer future physicians a comprehensive introduction to global health issues. Through our programming and opportunities, we develop culturally sensitive students of medicine, intent on influencing the trans-national inequalities that shape the health of our planet.“
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work in which medical student projects can be initiated, carried out and developed; To empower and train medical stu- dents to take a role in bringing about the necessary changes to improve the health of all people of the world.
Membership IFMSA consists of national medical student associations of 102 different countries. Each National Member Organisation has its own identity, reflecting the national needs and culture. IFMSA is a federation which respects the autonomy of its members. The Objectives majority have Local Committees at the me• To expose all medical students to dical schools in their country. These Local humanitarian and global health is Committees coordinate IFMSA activities at sues, providing them with the op the local level. Through these Local Com portunity to educate themselves mittees, our members are in direct contact and their peers; with a hundreds of thousands of medical • To facilitate partnerships between students. the medical student community Our biannual international meetings are a and international organisations feast of cross-cultural interaction and edu also concerned work on health, ed cation. By meeting the most active students ucation and medicine; from other countries, our members not only • To give all medical students the learn about global health, but share their opportunity to take part in clinical ideas, skills and experience about how stu and research exchange around the dents can act on the issues that motivate world; them. A host of regional and national mee• To provide a network that links tings make these experiences available to active medical students across the many more. globe, including student leaders, Our emphasis on training supports capacity project managers and activists, so building within our member organisations, that they can learn from and be mo bringing benefits both for the student lea tivated by each other; ders and the other young people that they • To provide an international frame lead. Medical Students World Wide.
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Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE) IFMSA seeks to give medical students across the world the opportunity to get exposure to medical training in other countries. All exchanges are initiated and coordinated entirely by medical students voluntarily.
Every university is represented by a Local Officer on Research Exchange (LORE), who facilitates projects at the local level and arranges for exchange students‘ preparations such like a room and boarding. Every exchange student is assigned to a local contact person who serves as a guide, as a resource, and as a social liaison, which strengthens the intercultural communication and understanding, and unity between medical students worldwide. Our mission is to offer future physicians an opportunity to experience the research work and the diversity in countries all over the world. This is achieved by providing a network of locally and internationally active students that globally facilitate access to research exchange projects. Through our programming and opportunities, we aim to „develop both culturally sensitive students 6
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and skilled researchers intent on shaping the world of science in the upcoming future.“ • To enable medical students to en rich their medical education by a research experience and to learn the basic principlesof research. • To enhance academic activities and to achieve the educational bene fits of practical and theoretical knowledge. • To widen the horizons of medical students, providing them with the opportunities to experience different approaches to medical research, ed- ucation, and health care systems. • To create an international network of medical students promoting inter cultural communication and spirit of global friendship. The Definition of IFMSA Research Exchange: It is a research project that provides medical students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in their specific research interest, This program is officially recognized and supported by the medical school/ university. And it is guided by a mentor who introduces exchange students to the basic principles of research, such as literature search, data collection, scientific writing, laboratory work, statistics and ethical aspects of medical research. Upon the completion of the program, students are required to prepare a scientific written report or an oral
SCORE in numbers:
SCORE was founded in 1991, and in 2008 there are more than 55 National Member Organizations (NMOs) involved in the Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE) and more than 1720 students have participated in the program.
presentation. There are three types of Research projects: • Basic research project • Clinical research project, combined with basic research in the lab • Clinical research project The Learning Objectives of the Program: Students should: • Engage in literature search and use
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primary sources to gain knowledge and insights that can be applied to research questions. Analyze a scientific problem, formu= late a research question and plan experiments aiming to answer that question. Critically evaluate their knowledge and their project progress, and should be able to address the gaps in their knowledge base and find solutions to problems that arise. Benefit from working together with their research mentor and peers.
The research Project should comply with a number of requirements which are defined by the Working Committee itself. SCORE is not only running exchanges. Through its programming, style, publications and trainings SCORE can be a leader, an engine to foster a new generation of young scientists who will break new grounds in medical sciences. SCOREview: a research bulletin that de-
scribes research experiences of SCORE students in order to encourage research exchange and promote SCORE worldwide. The target audience is medical students around the world. SCORE PET is a training program that aims to increase the scientific knowledge, technical skills, and general motivation of the outgoing students before attending the exchange. SCORE aims to develop both culturally sensitive students and skilled researchers. Therefore, many research exchanges, workshops and summer schools that focused on Global Health & Neglected Diseases are initiated to realize our mission.
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Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE) The Standing Committee On Professional Exchange (SCOPE) was at the core of IFMSA’s foundation in 1951, as it was the first Standing Committee to have been created. It continues to be the backbone of the federation even today and constitutes its largest project ever. The Professional Exchange program offers students a unique educational and cultural experience in addition to the regular medical curriculum. It also helps to broaden the students‘ understanding of medical and social conditions in different countries. As said, we believe that today’s doctor should be a culturaly senstitive and educated person with a deep knowledge of the current health care challenges that face his world for him to be a vector of change in his society. The Professional Exchange program is a full educational program offering clinical rotations to medical students abroad. All medical students are entitled to get a clerkship basically in all clinical and pre-clinical fields of medicine. The duration of election is four weeks. Clerkships are given in English or in the language of the host country. The exchange student has to show the adequate knowledge of English language or the native language of the host country or the language agreed upon in order to carry out the clerkship. The clerkship is purely educational for the student and he/she will not receive a salary for it. During the elective the student will live cheek-to-cheek with foreign medical students, he/she will deal with a different health care system, and will learn from foreign tutors. Exchange students will meet a doctor at the desired department who, 8
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later, acts as a mentor and will supervise the student’s elective at the hospital. Depending on the level of student‘s knowledge he/she can participate in daily health care delivery. Exchange Contracts are signed between National Members Organizations and are of two types: a- Bilateral Contracts: where the participating countries exchange two students bet ween themselves. The inco ming student pays no char ge to the hosting NMO. b- Unilateral Contracts: where a single student participates in the echange and pays his fee directly to the hosting NMO. In exchange of his fee, the incoming student is offered a whole month clerkship at the hospital of his choice and in the department of his choice, as well as lodging at a student’s facility or in a foster family and meal tickets or its equivalent. Also, in an effort to encourage students to participate in the exchanges through reducing the costs of the exchanges, SCOPE has created a system where every outgoing student pays the fee of receiving a student in his place, directly to his NMO. As such, students from developing countries will pay a fee that is relative to their cost of living in their own countries. This fee will be later used by the NMO of that country to welcome the foreign student instead. In short, the student will
pay the hosting of his counterpart through a bilateral contract. SCOPE is constantly trying to improve the quality of its program while growing to cover even more faculties and countries around the world. Most medical faculties nowadays give their outgoing exchange students academic credit after participating in SCOPE program but we are now working hard on having all faculties doing this. In order to receive academic credit for the Professional Exchanges we must secure the quality of the clerkships. Under that theme, SCOPE has introduced assessment tools for the clerckships, that the students carries with him during his rotation. These include a detailed logbook, as well as a checklist and an evaluation te be filled by the supervising tutor. These were develeoped in close collaboration with many Intenational healthcare professional‘s associations. SCOPE has initiated the use of a highly innovative and userfriendly electronic database for the submission and exchange of official forms and documents between Exchange Officers and students. It is under constant renovation and will soon support the exchange of required documents as well as the handleing of electronic students’ evaluation of their exchange. it will also permit the detailed analysis of these responses by the students themselves as well
as the exchange officers and the tutors. The SCOPE’s activity however are not limited to the exchanges, as work is continuous on supporting these exchanges with a complete Incoming student Package that includes “student’s guide” as well as maps, and other helpfull promotional material. SCOPE maitains an informative website with a monthly newsletter and a publication, “PeriSCOPE” that exposes the exchanges and summer schools program of participating NMOs as well as their other activities. To end, SCOPE emphazises on building a highly trained medical student that is both culturally sensitive as well as aware of the health care challenges of our world today. It also stresses on proper training of its member to be future leaders in their societies and enviroments. SCOPE is at the same time a cultural and educational opportunity, like no other, that broadens the scopes of medical students beyond medical curriculums. By exchanging people, it is views and mentalities that we are really changing.
SCOPE in numbers: 86 countries, 8000 exchanges, 1100 Medical schools, 700 IFMSA local committees, More than 200,000 medical students exchanged throughout history. Result: the largest student-run exchange program in the world!
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Standing Committee on human Rights & Peace (SCORP) SCORP is a dynamic subcommittee which deals with Human Rights, Refugees, and Peace. These are issues that are continuously changing under the ever-present influence of politics, nature and many other factors
The committee itself is also constantly reforming to be able to bend towards to the ever changing needs which present differently in each and every country. In the year 1983 when the global refugee issue rose into general knowledge, the Standing Committee on Refugees was founded. The mission of the new standing committee 10
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was to call attention to the ever-growing problems of refugees and internally displaced people. After a while, however, the committee members noticed that the efforts made were rather palliative and short term. For addressing the challenge better and finding sustainable solutions, the importance of the prevention of conflicts and human right violations was noticed. Based on these ideas, the Standing Committee on Refugees and Peace was founded in 1994. In 2005, after noticing that SCORP was more and more dealing with Human Rights and indirectly through that with refugees, it changed its name again, to better illustrate its true activities. So it became the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace, keeping its abbreviation - SCORP. SCORP has with focus on health issues the following aims: 1.Through participation in local and international work, to learn about the problems that refugee populations; internal- ly displaced people and other vulnerable groups of people face. 2.To collaborate with NGOs in establi shing projects for medical students to work in international refugee camps. 3. To educate students and professio- nals in the health care system about refugees’, internally displaced people’s and other vulnerable popu- lations’ health.
4. To spread awareness and educate health care professionals in human rights and the violations committed in this regard. 5. To speak and act for peaceable con- flict solutions and discuss and learn about conflict prevention. 6. To establish and develop multidisci plinary co-operation in matters of refugees, peace-culture building, conflict prevention and human rights. SCORP is partnered with a number of internationally involved organisations including the UNHCR, UNHCHR, IPPNW, and IFHHRO. Together a number of projects have been created and SCORP now also is a part of a
Humanitarian Crisis Project together with SCOPH (Public Health) and the World Health Organisation serving to direct emergency funds to crisis areas as swiftly as possible. SCORP will always be a Committee which will undergo a number of changes due to the fragile nature of what it stands for. There is however hope for greater things to emerge from within this once tiny committee. New Human Rights trainers are now spread all over the world and have all the knowledge and materials available to educate more people on the intricate nature of peace and equality. The core of what SCORP stands for will always be the universal right to health and to life.
SCORP & IPPNW IPPNW is a global federation of national physicians’ organizations dedicated to safeguarding health through the prevention of war. IPPNW has a membership of 200,000 physicians, health workers and medical students in 61 countries. According to the IPPNW and IFMSA´s joint resolution of 1999, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) “share a common goal of peace and disarmament, and use their networks of medical students and health professionals to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons and foster a culture of peace”. The join resolution was written with the objective of strengthen the medical movement and promote the education and involvement of medical students in issues of peace, disarmament and human rights. IPPNW and IFMSA cooperate with each other by designating one organizational liaison each to serve as primary contact persons, inviting each other’s representatives to participate in the respective governing council meetings as official non-voting observers; having an annual joint program of action and cooperation; publishing the work of the other organization in newsletters, mailings, and other vehicles; cooperating on biannual IFMSA leadership training workshops, including an exchange of expertise. Medical Students World Wide.
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Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH) The Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH) brings together medical students from all over the world to learn, build skills, cooperate, explore and share ideas when it comes to addressing all issues related to public health, including global health issues, health policies, health promotion and education activities. History Medical students of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations formed the Standing Committee on Students’ Health (SCOSH) in 1952, driven by a strong will to take an active part in preventing and making policies concerning health problems. During the following years, the wide variety of activities led to the change of the name to the Standing Committee on Health (SCOH) in 1963. Afterwards in 1983 the name of the committee changed once more to the name we use to this day, the Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH). Since these six decades, SCOPH members are implementing, maintaining and improving a wide variety of community based projects on a local, national, regional and international level. Through these activities we are reaching our joined vision of a healthy society and further development of our own potential to become complete and skillful health professionals. Medical students, the future health professionals As SCOPH members we have a chance to develop skills and knowledge though perso12
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evolvement such as organization skills, teamwork, leadership, communication, time and self-management – skills not often thought in medical schools but essential for any future health professional. Medical students involved in SCOPH projects gain a much better understanding of public health matters in their community as well as of the situation in other countries of the world, getting a global overview of the situation and methods that need to be used to solve cross-cutting issues. This creates a sense within medical students about their role within public health as future health professionals and due to our experience and knowledge we will be able to empower our environment directly and through our advocacy to live a healthy life. We will be able to spread the message of wellbeing lifestyles and will create awareness for potential risk factors.
The goals we want to achieve today and tomorrow The vision of SCOPH is to work for a healthy society which is empowered by its knowledge, skills and opportunities to live a life of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing. In order to achieve this vision, medical students from 102 National Member Organizations work together as a team on a local level as well as on a national and international level. Internationally we exchange ideas and knowledge to improve and evaluate our work and personal skills. In addition, our Standing Committee acts as a platform representing medical students around the globe through Advocacy and Policy Making - thus being a worldwide voice for medical students. Locally there is a large number of projects carried out, each orientated on the needs of the Population in the specific Region. Chronic Diseases, incl. Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes mellitus and Cancer, Tobacco smoking, Alcohol and Substance abuse, Malaria, TB, Tropical Diseases, Mental Health, Child’s and
Adolescents Health, Ageing, Road Safety, Natural Disasters, Nutrition, Poverty, Violence and Social Inequalities, Rural and Remote Health, Regional Health Problems are some of the main topics that SCOPH focuses on.
SCOPH World Days To combine our efforts we focus the coordination and performance of our specific activities according to the main WHO World Health Days. October 10th: World Mental Health Day November 14th: World Diabetes Day November 20th: Universal Children’s Day February 4th: World Cancer Day March 24th: World Tuberculosis Day April 7th: World Health Day April 25th: World Malaria Day May 31st: World No-Tobacco Day June 14th: World Blood Donor Day Medical Students World Wide.
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Standing Committee on Reproductive Health incl HIV/AIDS (SCORA) Medical students of the IFMSA formed the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS (SCORA) in 1992, driven by a strong will to take an active part in prevention interventions concerning HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and to support people living with HIV/AIDS, aiming to decrease stigma and discrimination. Through SCORA, medical students across the globe work locally, nationally and worldwide to increase awareness concerning reproductive health and related issues. SCORA mainly focuses on topics related to HIV/AIDS, prevention and sexuality in a broad view. It aims to raise awareness on a variety of reproductive health issues amongst the wide public, to spread the knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) and to decrease stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. SCORA vision is for the world to be free of HIV/AIDS and other STI‘s with complete respect for every person‘s reproductive rights, choice of sexuality and with universal gender equality Our mission is that, we as an organization of future doctors, which is not affiliated to any religion or political party. Through education we will strive to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections whilst challenging the widespread violation of reproductive rights and gender inequality, as well as encouraging a respect and understanding of sexuality as a whole. 14
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World AIDS day and Peer Education Programs are two of the main projects carried out in SCORA around the 1st of December in each year. In which medical students all over the world start actively to raise awareness through numerous celebrations activities, such as lectures, exhibitions, charity concerts, distribution of condoms and pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and other kind of educational materials. One of the big programs that SCORA has been organizing is SCORA students exchange program, with several countries participating at the moment and many more to come. The topic of the program varies according to the country and also the time of the program. Generally, there are programs on HIV treatment/testing, HIV and STI prevention strategies, legislation, epidemiology, HIVresearch, ethics, different aspects of sexuality, “Children, AIDS and Medical Students” as well as lectures and seminars, round table discussions with social workers and so on. At the end this program gives local and international participants a holistic view about HIV/AIDS, focusing on the complexity of this multifaceted issue. Through the sexual prevention work SCORA does, our target group are usually youth between 12-24 years, we work to raise awareness, talk openly about prevention, safe sex, puberty and growth, protecting unwanted pregnancy and any other things related to sex. Medical students do not only visit teenagers in schools but also other youth groups especially most at risk groups
and marginalized ones. SCORA has a variety of projects differing from country to country, but mostly they have the same basis: interactive methods to get young people involved and to stimulate them for creatively thinking, we focus on discussions and communication without giving long lectures and the whole session should be as much (inter-) action and fun as possible. In 2003 European countries with similar cultural backgrounds have founded the Northern European Co-operation of Sexual Education projects (NECSE) to meet once a year for a 4-day-workshop where they can exchange experiences, methods and ideas to combine their knowledge and to train each other. Till now there have been 6 workshops organized. In the same light, countries from the Southern of Europe are also working on organizing similar activities and workshops SECSE.
Since August 2006, every year SCORA has been organizing the International Peer Education Training (IPET) as part of the PreGeneral Assembly workshops. So far, there have been 6 IPETs organized and over 100 trainers certified by both IFMSA and Y-PEER/ UNFPA.
SCORA also works on issues related to gender equality, women’s rights, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child abuse, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, cancers of the reproductive system and sexual orientation, LGBTQ rights and many others. In joined projects with other standing committees, themes as HIV and human rights (together with the Standing Committee on Human rights and Peace SCORP) and in cooperation with SCOPH (Public Health) HIV and TB co-infection are addressed. SCORA focuses also on training and capacities building of its members by equipping them with the necessary skills and tools especially related to Behavior change Communication. Medical Students World Wide.
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Standing Committee on Medical Education (SCOME) Medical Education should be a concern of every medical student as it shapes not only the quality of future doctors, but also the quality of healthcare. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) has a dedicated organ which aims to implement an optimal learning environment for all medical students around the world – the Standing Committee On Medical Education (SCOME). It was one of IFMSA’s first standing committees from the beginning of its foundation in 1951. IFMSA SCOME acts as a discussion forum for students interested in the different aspects of medical education in the hope of pursuing and achieving its aim. In the last years we worked mainly in these fields: a. Locally b. International Projects (Database projects, Research in Medical Educa- tion, Courses, Training) c. International lobby d. International Meetings and Conferences e. Policy Statements The above work has had remarkable impact in medical schools and decision making bodies around the world. “We aim to achieve excellence in medical education throughout the world.” Mission Healthcare is changing at an unprecedented rate and at multiple fronts. Technology has revolutionized archaic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Medical science has increased our understanding of the body and 16
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created an explosion of new information. Patients are increasingly questioning and less trusting their doctors. But medical schools are not or only slowly introducing changes in their curriculum. Teachers at many medical faculties are not educated to teach, they are doctors and mostly lack knowledge of how to show their skills to their students. We question that students educated in a so-called traditional curriculum are able to face the needs of healthcare in a modern society. Scientific data show that modern medical curricula are a lot more likely to teach students in an appropriate way in order to create doctors equipped with various skills and knowledge. Although there are a number of innovative approaches to teaching medicine, partly based on findings of cognitive science, change in medical curricula occurs slowly and at few medical schools. The need for change is either not recognized or ignored in many universities. As medical students are directly exposed to medical curricula, they should rightfully be assumed to be experts on their educational system, and should therefore have an influence on the creation of new curricula. From IFMSA’s experience, it is often the medical students who are the strongest proponents for adapting their education to the needs of their community. Here SCOME comes into the game. We try to promote modern medical education. Convinced by many positive examples we go on that mission by teaching and training students, teachers, and professors, exchanging experiences and spreading information. As a global grassroots organization of medi-
cal students locally active in more than 94 countries worldwide, IFMSA has made meaningful contributions to improve medical education over the last decades Beside the various projects taking place at local level to improve medical education at the faculties, there are a number of international projects and workshops taking place under the umbrella of the IFMSA network. Daisy project “Daisy project – Margarita” is a pilot educational community based project which is proposed on a voluntary basis to medical students and it takes place in cooperation with International Association of Health Policy (IAHP). “Training in communication skills” is the project’s core. The peripheral activities of the project include: “Health Education Intervention in Secondary Schools”, “Nurse Aid” , “Medicine in Community” and “Research in Social Medicine”. The aim of the Influence of Studies on Students’ Health (ISSH) project is to determine the level of deterioration of health among medical and non-medical students as a result of stress-related factors and to develop programs to reduce or even prevent it. The Residency Database (RDb) project‘s aim is to facilitate international medical students and young doctors to reach information concerning the residency system and application procedure to different countries of the world. Furthermore, it provides to the Residency Database site’s visitors with the chance to compare the advantages and the disadvantages of the many different countries‘ residency systems, along with
the opportunity for further research in this field. The World Medical & Pharmacy Students‘ Joint Symposium, WorldMaPS/ World Healthcare Students’ Symposium (WHSS), is a great new initiative. The four most prominent health care student associations, EPSA, IFMSA, EMSA and IPSF, have joined forces to put together this first ever event. Medical and Pharmacy students from all over the world will be invited to attend this symposium, the aim of which is to discuss future cooperation between both health care professions and health care students. Policy Statements issued by IFMSA concer-
ning medical Education include: • IFMSA position paper on students‘assessment • IFMSA Recommendations on Imple mentation of the Continuous Medical Education in Medical Curricula • Policy/Position on the Impact of Tech nology on Health Education • Policy/Position on Implementing International Standards in Basic Medi cal Education • Policy Statement on “The Bologna Declaration and Medical Education” • Policy Statement on “Quality Assu rance in Medical Schools”
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IFMSA National Member Organisations
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IFMSA Projects
Within the IFMSA the term “projects” refers to activities in any field of interest of medical students, in concordance with the IFMSA principles, aims and policy statements. This includes Projects, Events, Workshops, Surveys, Networks and Campaigns. The IFMSA has three categories projects: • IFMSA Endorsed Projects, • IFMSA Transnational Projects • IFMSA Initiatives
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Projects in all three categories must comply with the Constitution and Bylaws of IFMSA. The projects and their coordinators rights include: being able to display project information on the IFMSA website and the official projects database, receiving recommendation letters form the Executive Board, being supported in grant application and fundraising and obtaining priority in their promotion within the IFMSA network and our partner organizations. Besides all this, the IFMSA Initiatives and Transnational Projects can choose to utilize the IFMSA banking system and have up to two secured places for their representative’s participation at the bi-annual IFMSA General Assemblies. Endorsed Projects have one place secured for a project representative at each General Assembly. The coordinators of officially recognised IFMSA projects are required to submit twohalf-year reports by the 1st December and 1st May, to update the project information on the IFMSA projects website and official projects database and to comply with the constitution and bylaws of the federation. 20
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PROJECTS SUPPORT DIVISION The body that administrates projects within IFMSA is the Projects Support Division (PSD) and is coordinated by an elected director who can appoint other persons as members of the PSD. The Projects Proposals Review Committee (PPRC) has been established to assist the PSD Director with the specific task of revising candidate project proposals. The PPRC comprises of a panel of project management and design experts aiming to increase the quality of IFMSA official projects through advising the project coordinators about their work and the PSD Director and National Member Organizations about whether to recognize and accept candidate project proposals as official IFMSA projects or not. PROJECTS DURING GENERAL ASSEMBLIES During each GA the IFMSA official projects and projects running in NMOs have an opportunity to present and promote themselves at the Project Fair and the Project Presentations. Project Fair –is a 1-hour long event where project representatives can bring posters, leaflets, brochures, stickers and any other kind of promotional material about their activities. They have the chance to tell other IFMSA members about their work and are provided with feedback, improvement suggestions and new collaboration opportunities. Project Presentations – are made up of three 1-hour long sessions that take place during the GA and where a restricted number of projects have the chance to show a short promotional PowerPoint presentation about their project.
PROJECTS PUBLICATIONS The IFMSA has a publication called the Projects Bulletin. The first issue of Projects Bulletin was published in print and online in August Meeting 2006. Within this the best 5 projects are selected from those who apply and are given the opportunity to present themselves through writing a short article for the Bulletin. The competition to publish an article in the Projects Bulletin is open to any IFMSA-related projects (finished, running or planned ones; official IFMSA projects or not yet / anymore). The best of all project submissions also receives the Rex Crossley Award, as being the best IFMSA project of that year.
IFMSA Projects • • • • • • • • •
Asian Collaborative Training on Infec tious Disease, Outbreak, Natural Disa ster and Refugee Management Awareness Strategies for Pollution from IndustrieS (ASPIS) Calcutta Village Project Child Abuse Prevention Project Curriculum Database Daisy Project - Margarita Ghana Health and Education Initiative Healthy Diet Project Hepatitis awareness camping
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IFMSA Anti -TB Campaign IFMSA Campaign on Malaria (ICOM) Influence of Studies on Students` Health (ISSH) Innovative Approaches Promoting Adolescent Health and Development International Students Netwrok on Ageing and Health (ISNAH) Kenya Village Project Kumba Village Project Lebanon Refugee Project Malaika Village Project Marrow Maternal and Child Health Project Mr and Ms Breastestis Native Health Initiative Northern European Cooperation on Sex Education Projects (NECSE) Organ Donation Orphanage Initiative P squared Collaborative Project Peace Test Reproductive Health Education Pro ject for Adolescents in School Residency Database (RDb) Rex Crossley Award Rwanda Village Concept Project Scientific Opportunities Database SCORA Twinning SCORA-Xchange Smile X Smoking-ologist Sudan Village Concept Project Teddy Bear Hospital Think Global Tobbaco Initiative Project Touch a Life Uganda Village Project Workshop in Peer Education for Medi- cal Students in Lebanon
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IFMSA Training Training is the backbone of IFMSA... Medical professionals are continually pressed to take roles in management and improvement of health systems performance. As IFMSA is taking a key role in developing future leadership for global health, training and developing key human resources is becoming increasingly important to provide medical students with these necessary skills that the strained academic field often fails to provide. By providing training sessions from both in-house and professional trainers, the Training Team aims to provide training around the globe for IFMSA members. We believe training is a vital component of capacity building within the IFMSA, providing National Member Organisations, individuals and IFMSA projects with the skills and resources they need to carry out their IFMSA tasks. Through the years IFMSA has been developing high quantity trainings and training methods which have been passed on generation to generation. This has equiped us to maintain important skills and knowledge which enabled us to improve ourselves and each other. Some examples of the trainings designed in IFMSA are: • Leadership • PR & Marketing • Fundraising • Handover & Continuity • Empowerment 22
Think globally. Act locally.
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Time Management Conflict Prevention Body language Negotiation Intercultural Learning The world of IFMSA Debating skills Project Management Motivation Skills Facilitation Skills Communication Financial Management Advocacy
New trainers are trained in a so called Training New Trainers workshop (TNT). During this workshop IFMSA members are trained to become a trainer themselves. To ensure continuity and keep trainers motivated the Training Old Trainers workshop (TOT) was established. Here trainers will be trained in maintaining their training skills and improve them as well. During General Assemblies, congresses, conferences and other meetings IFMSA members are trained in all these different skills. Through these trainings we ensure ourselves that the knowledge gathered will stay and other people can benefit from it. We are all in the same organisation, so training is all about sharing!!!
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Board of Recommendation The Board of Recommendation is a group of highly placed people internationally (professors, representatives of big organisations and other authorities) who agree to connect their personal name to IFMSA. The list of names will be published whenever necessary to give IFMSA a more trustworthy look. The members of the Board of Recommendation have no duties, they just authorise IFMSA to use their personal names. In return IFMSA keeps them informed about what goes on in IFMSA. The Board of Recommendation does not have meetings; it has no official position and no compulsory tasks. Members of the Board of Recommendation can be asked to give advice, but it depends on their own availability if they can give such. The following list of candidates was developed after AM 2006. The names italicized are the ones who actually agreed to join IFMSA’s Board of Recommendation: 1. Prof. Colin Green, Chair of International Medical Education Trustee 2. Dr. Hans Karle, President, World Federation of Medical Education 3. Prof. Ronald M. Harden, Secretary General, Association for Medical Education in Europe 4. Prof. Komlavi Seddoh, Head, UNESCO, Department of higher education 5. Dr. Nils Daulaire, President and CEO, Global Health Council 6. Prof. Yank Coble, Past President, World Medical Association 24
Think globally. Act locally.
7. Prof. Ian Fraser, Honorary Secretary of the International Federation for Gynecology & Obstetrics, Past President of IFMSA 8. Prof. Stephen Matlin, Executive Director, Global Forum for Health Research 9. Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General, World Medical Association 10. Kofi Annan, Secretary General, United Nations 11. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director, The Millennium Project 12. Dr. Erik Holst, 1st IFMSA President 13. Dr. Halfdan Mahler, Former Director General, World Health Organization 14. Dr. Gunta Lazdane, WHO 15. Prof. John Yudkin, Director, International Health and Medical Education Centre, University 16. Mr. Everton Hannam, UNESCO National Commissions
Partners of IFMSA Official relationships of the IFMSA with the other organizations are based on health, education, science, social and humanitarian affairs. There are a number of inter-govern-mental and non-governmental organizations which are IFMSA partners in fruitful and enthusiastic collaboration. Our most important partners are: United Nations The IFMSA has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations through the Economic and Social Council. World Health Oganisation IFMSA has been in official relations with the World Health Organisation since 1969. Joint work this year was concentrated in the fields of Violence and Injury Prevention and Ageing and Health. The IFMSA worked with the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region on Adolescent Health.
World Medical Association The collaboration between IFMSA and the WMA has been one of the most successful and rewarding. The WMA provides a natural extension to the representation that IFMSA has of international medical students. This fact makes IFMSA often referred to as the student branch of WMA, although entirely independent. UNESCO The IFMSA is keeping operational relations with the United Nations‘ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Joint work focuses on HIV/ AIDS and Human Rights and capacity building in the IFMSA.
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The IFMSA is also working together with:
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Think globally. Act locally.
Editorial Design: Alexander Werni (Austria) Lay-out: Minke van Minde (The Netherlands) Team of Officials liaison: Bostjan Berlot (Slovenia)
Special thanks to all our sponsors, the IFMSA Team of Officials and the VPE team!
Texts: Mohamed Nour (Sudan), Ramiro Morfin Cruz (Mexico), Paska da Lopez (Indonesia), Bostjan Berlot (Slovenia), Melhim Bou Alwan (Lebanon) and Minke van Minde (The Netherlands) Internet: www.ifmsa.org, info@ifmsa.org Contact: IFMSA General Secretariat c/o World Medical Association BP 63, 012 12 Ferney-Voltaire Cedex France, Europe Fax: + 33 450 405 937 Photography: Lies Schakelaar, Roel Klein Wolterink, Salmaan Sana and many more. Medical Students World Wide.
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Think globally. Act locally.
Medical students world wide.