STEP Sudan Tropical Exchange Project Mubashar A. Abugossi mubashtan@gmail.com
STEP is an internship focusing on tropical diseases in Sudan The program will consist of a scientific part, including a medical mission to a rural area and a unique social program. A total of 20 students from all over the world will be participating in the program from the 5th of November 2010 to the 2nd of December 2010 in Khartoum, Sudan.
rural communities. The temporary mission hospitals will exist of a male and female health clinic, a laboratory and a small pharmacy set up in local (school) buildings. International and Sudanese students will work together to provide the village people living in these areas with free medical consultations, lab investigations, medication and medical education. This mission is a truly unique experience and will give participating students an idea of the possibilities and limitations of working in a tropical area, with limited medical supplies and facilities. Sudan is a country where conflicts were the norm for a very long time, where radical changes in politics have taken place and where the separation between the south and the north is still ever present. Students participating in STEP will experience and learn from a completely different society in various ways. The social program will offer students the opportunity to get acquainted with the Sudanese culture and visit places of interest in and around Khartoum inculding the Suadsnes pyramids (7000 years old). It will be a tremendous experience in cultural differences on health care and society. Students from all over the world are welcome to join the project. The deadline for applications will be in late August 2010. All information needed can be found at www.step2010.org or via direct contact with the project coordinator (see above)!
ISSUE 8 | AUGUST 2010
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Rex Crossley AM10
Since medicine is becoming more and more internationally oriented and tropical diseases are spreading fast due to the influences of tourism, migration and war related issues it is important for medical students worldwide to be educated on tropical diseases and clinical syndromes not normally found in their home country. With STEP, MedSIN Sudan’s Standing Committees on Research Exchange and IFMSA-NL want to provide enthusiastic medical students with the opportunity to realize this goal. In the scientific program student will get
acquainted with the scientific knowledge about the pathological and clinical features of the Tropical Diseases while discussing the management plans including investigations. The program will include lectures, researches in the Tropical Diseases, lab work , clinical live cases, hospital rounds and surgical operations and will take place for the most part at the Faculty of Medicine from the University of Khartoum; Sudan’s oldest and largest medical faculty. The scientific program will be supervised by physicians, professors, doctors and tutors specialized in each field and also by students working in the institutes. A certificate will be granted after a final exam. Students will also participate in a Medical Mission in the vicinity of Khartoum during the final week of the scientific program. The Medical Mission is a form of organized medical campaign aiming to provide considerable aid to raise the level of health status in the