PULSE The Asia-Pacific Publication September 2010
IFMSA
was founded in May 1951 and is run by medical students, for medical students, on a non-profit basis. IFMSA is officially recognised as a nongovernmental organisation within the United Nations’ system and has official relations with the World Health Organisation. It is the international forum for medical students, and one of the largest student organisations in the world.
Imprint Editor in Chief Anny Huang, Australia Editors Mineyoshi Sato, Japan Design/Layout Anny Huang, Australia Proofreading Anny Huang, Australia
Publisher
The mission of IFMSA
International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations
is to offer future physicians a comprehensive introduction to global health issues. Through our programs and opportunities, we develop culturally sensitive students of medicine, intent on influencing the transnational inequalities that shape the health of our planet.
General Secretariat: IFMSA c/o WMA B.P. 63 01212 Ferney-Voltaire, France Phone: +33 450 404 759 Fax: +33 450 405 937 Email: gs@ifmsa.org Homepage: www.ifmsa.org
Contacts
publications@ifmsa.org
GREETINGS FROM THE
REGIONAL COORDINATOR Hi Asian-Pacific IFMSA friends, It is a great pleasure for me to finally distribute Pulse, the Asian-Pacific regional newsletter. It was first difficult to maintain this project, as we did not receive any applicants for editors, but Anny, who also worked as editorin-chief in the last issue of Pulse, took the initiative, and made this come true. I would like to thank Anny, and everyone else who helped me with this newsletter. Please enjoy! Thanks, Mineyoshi
ACTION Project MANILA, PhiliPPINES AUGUST 23-29, 2010
In the term 2009/2010, the IFMSA welcomed 3 new candidate members, Bangladesh Medical Students’ Society, Korean Medical Students’ Association and Mongolian Medical Leaders’ Association (IFMSA-Mongolia). This is significant progress considering the total number of NMOs in this region, from 12 to 15. Also, New Zealand Medical Students’ Association became a full member and started new relationship with IFMSA. Welcome!
- Mineyoshi Sato Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator
NEW NMOS 2009-2010 If you haven’t seen them around at plenaries already, there are new Asia-Pacific NMOs in IFMSA! What are they like and what do they hope to achieve in IFMSA? Anny Huang from Pulse speaks to Soohyun Park, the NMO President of KMSA (South Korea). Q: How do you feel about being a new member of the IFMSA? A: For the Korean students, it is a really amazing experience, because in Korea, we don’t really discuss international medical issues. Also people are really enthusiastic here so we hope to get some of their passion from them. But sometimes things here are a bit difficult to follow, so we still have to work hard. We are kind of late in joining IFMSA, because so many other countries are already here. It is a really great opportunity for us. We are really happy about it!
A: I think Korea has a lot of potential, and we are ready to support the Asia-Pacific Region. Maybe we can do more projects together and be more active. Now in Asia-Pacific Meetings, I try to share things from our country with the others, and I also try to share things in the Presidents’ Sessions. I think that Asian people tend to be a little quiet, but quite often we have a different culture that we really need to share so that we can solve problems better. I really do love to learn from the others. I hope we can be more together and more active ... and to do more I also want to get full membership!
Q: KMSA received Candidate Membership at the March Meeting 2010. How did the other students in Korea react when you arrived home from Thailand? A: Well, at first they didn’t really know about IFMSA yet, but when we told them how amazing it is, they were really surprised at how late we were to join the organisation. Many medical students are really interested in this, so they want to find out more. Medical students are really busy, so it’s difficult for them to find out all the information, so now it is up to us tell them more about the IFMSA. Joining the IFMSA is just the beginning.
Q: Can you tell us a little about KMSA? A: It started off as an association of representatives from different universities, but when we joined the IFMSA, we changed it a little. If somebody really has passion, then they should be given a chance in our organisation. AMSA (Asian Medical Student’s Association) is a really good organisation, but they are selective and we think that everyone should be given the chance to join. So there are now 20,000 students in KMSA.
Q: Are you hoping to send a delegation to MM2011 in Indonesia? A: Oh absolutely. Now we are thinking about applying for full membership. We still need to figure out the financial side of things, so it could be delayed, but we will still try to send a delegation to Indonesia, for sure! Q: How do you think KMSA can collaborate with the rest of the Asia-Pacific region?
Q: What kinds of projects do you have in KMSA? A: We have lots of projects, but for the public health side of things, we have the Blood Donation Relay. One university begins first, and then it’s carried on by other universities, like a relay. Every year, about 2,000-3,000 students participate in this. It’s really famous and there are many magazines to publicise this. Now the doctors’ association, the Korean Medical Association, also wants to join in, so we could end up with a lot of people donating blood! Also, we are doing a lot of volunteering jobs. When there
are natural disasters, we try to go and help. For example, I went to Haiti after the earthquake, and assisted with vaccinations, and taught other medical students there how to vaccinate also. So we vaccinated about 2,000 people per day! It was really amazing! We also make “awoo dolls”, “awoo” means “very little brother”, or “soothing a crying baby”. Basically, we make dolls and sell them, and then we donate the money to UNICEF or another charity. Q: How have you found your experience so far in the IFMSA? A: We are total newcomers, so we hope that we can be looked after better, because most of the time, we don’t know what’s going on, and we don’t want to ask all the time! I know that they’re trying to create a buddy system, so I hope that this will work well, because many new Asian countries will join, and they will feel lost in the plenary. Even for the registration, we had a lot of problems, so it was hard for us, and it would be good to have some brief-
ing before a new organisation comes for the first time. Q: What has been your favourite activity in GA? A: Well, there is a lot! First, I really appreciate being able to attend the Presidents’ Meeting. It is really important for the newcomers. Also the plenary sessions also showed us how well-organised the IFMSA is. It’s not my favourite session, but it’s impressive. Training sessions are really good. One of my delegates told me that it was a really amazing experience, with lots of different activities.
APRM Bangkok, Thailand March 16-21 2010 The 7th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) was held at Mahidol University Salaya, (Bangkok, Thailand) from March 16 to 21 2010, organised by International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations – Thailand. The APRM is the IFMSA regional meeting for Asian Pacific region. Since the region did not have APRM in 2009, it had been one and a half years since the 6th APRM. We had approximately 150 participants from 15 countries this time. There were also some students from non-NMO countries, such as Fiji and Mongolia, and we had face-to-face meetings which were helpful in explaining IFMSA and encourage them to apply for membership. This APRM was held with the theme of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM is a form of medicine or health care system which is not generally considered to be a part of conventional medicine. It is used together with or in place of conventional medicine, in order to, for example, cure the cause of illness, reduce a patient’s discomfort and improve the safety of the treatment. Although some forms of CAM are scientifically proven to be effective, others still
" We had approximately 150 participants from 15 countries ... There were also some students from non-NMO countries, such as Fiji and Mongolia."
require more scientific research on their safety and effectiveness, and we, medical students, do not have a deep understanding of CAM. In Asian and Pacific countries, many varieties of CAM have been used for centuries and it can be a great tool to treat patients if it is applied properly. In APRM2010, there were lectures, workshops and field work on this topic. In our field work, participants were actually able to visit institutions related to the topic, and to experience and understand the reality of CAM. There were also Standing Committee sessions, and Training sessions like in other IFMSA meetings. Some of the IFMSA officials and experienced IFMSA people from outside the region were present and shared their experiences, which was very stimulating and enlightening for newcomers to IFMSA. Apart from these sessions, we had social events including a cruise along Chao Phraya. Preceding the APRM, PreAPRM was held from March 13 to 15. The training New Trainers (TNT) workshop was organised and facilitated by Rianne from IFMSA-the Nether-
lands, Jo-Inge from NMSA Norway and Nina from CIMSAISMKI (unfortunately she could not make it to the APRM). Twelve students were trained to be new IFMSA trainers through practising facilitation skills, presentation skills, and through learning how to organize sessions. I would like to thank Un, Ome and all the members of Thai OC, IFMSA officials especially Silva, Minke, Margot and Mori, Rianne, Jo-Inge, Hiba, Taiko, Rena, Ake, Taka, Ode, Anggara who all helped APRM to be a great success.
- Mineyoshi Sato Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator
Algeria (Le Souk) Argentina (IFMSA-Argentina) Armenia (AMSP) Australia (AMSA) Austria (AMSA) Azerbaijan (AzerMDS) Bahrain (IFMSA-BH) Bangladesh (BMSS) Bolivia (IFMSA Bolivia) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BoHeMSA) Bosnia and Herzegovina - Rep. of Srpska (SaMSIC) Brazil (DENEM) Brazil (IFMSA Brazil) Bulgaria (AMSB) Burkina Faso (AEM) Burundi (ABEM) Canada (CFMS) Canada-Quebec (IFMSA-Quebec) Catalonia - Spain (AECS) Chile (IFMSA-Chile) China (IFMSA-China) Colombia (ACOME) Colombia (ASCEMCOL) Costa Rica (ACEM) Croatia (CroMSIC) Czech Republic (IFMSA CZ) Denmark (IMCC) Ecuador (IFMSA-Ecuador) Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt) El Salvador (IFMSA El Salvador) Estonia (EstMSA) Ethiopia (EMSA) Finland (FiMSIC) France (ANEMF) Georgia (GYMU) Germany (BVMD) Ghana (FGMSA) Greece (HelMSIC) Grenada (IFMSA-Grenada) Hong Kong (AMSAHK) Hungary (HuMSIRC) Iceland (IMSIC) Indonesia (CIMSA-ISMKI) Iran (IFMSA-Iran) Israel (FIMS) Italy (SISM) Jamaica (JAMSA) Japan (IFMSA-Japan) Jordan (IFMSA-Jo) Kenya (MSAKE) Korea (KMSA)
Kurdistan - Iraq (IFMSA-Iraq/Kurdistan) Kuwait (KuMSA) Kyrgyzstan (MSPA Kyrgyzstan) Latvia (LaMSA Latvia) Lebanon (LeMSIC) Libya (LMSA) Lithuania (LiMSA) Luxembourg (ALEM) Malta (MMSA) Mexico (IFMSA-Mexico) Mongolia (MMLA) Montenegro (MoMSIC Montenegro) Mozambique (IFMSA-Mozambique) Nepal (NMSS) New Zealand (NZMSA) Nigeria (NiMSA) Norway (NMSA) Oman (SQU-MSG) Pakistan (IFMSA-Pakistan) Palestine (IFMSA-Palestine) Panama (IFMSA-Panama) Peru (APEMH) Peru (IFMSA Peru) Philippines (AMSA-Philippines) Poland (IFMSA-Poland) Portugal (PorMSIC) Romania (FASMR) Russian Federation (HCCM) Rwanda (MEDSAR) Saudi Arabia (IFMSA-Saudi Arabia) Serbia (IFMSA-Serbia) Sierra Leone (MSA) Slovakia (SloMSA) Slovenia (SloMSIC) South Africa (SAMSA) Spain (IFMSA-Spain) Sudan (MedSIN-Sudan) Sweden (IFMSA-Sweden) Switzerland (SwiMSA) Taiwan (IFMSA-Taiwan) Tatarstan-Russia (TaMSA-Tatarstan) Thailand (IFMSA-Thailand) The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MMSA-Macedonia) The Netherlands (IFMSA-The Netherlands) Tunisia (ASSOCIA-MED) Turkey (TurkMSIC) Uganda (FUMSA) United Arab Emirates (EMSS) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Medsin-UK) United States of America (AMSA-USA) Venezuela (FEVESOCEM)
www.ifmsa.org medical students worldwide