MEDSAR NEWSLETTER 1st Edition. 01

MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION OF RWANDA

NEWSLETTER RMS 01

Dec , 2020 Edition

MEDSAR

Medical student’s association of Rwanda

(Executive Board 2019-20) Publisher Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda University of Rwanda, Huye Campus Contact us medsar-rwanda@ifmsa.org This is the MEDSAR property © Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda, All rights reserved.

The Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda welcomes requests for permission to reproduce or translate its publications, in part or in full.

Proclaimer The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda.

The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR) is an independent, non-governmental and non-political organization of medical students of Rwanda. It was founded in 1997 and is running for and by medical students on a non-for-profit basis. It is officially recognized by the University of Rwanda as a non-governmental students’ organization MEDSAR is recognized by the School of Medicine and Pharmacy and is supported by dean’s office. MEDSAR works under the umbrella of URSU (University of Rwanda Students Union) which is a general association of students at the University of Rwanda and is a member of the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA).

In order to achieve its objectives MEDSAR has six Standin Committees through which all the activities are carried out: All Activities in MEDSAR are evaluated through the IFMSA Structure of Standing Committees; Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH), on sexual and reproductive health and rights including HIV/AIDS (SCORA), on Human Rights and Peace (SCORP), on Professional exchange (SCOPE), on Medical education (SCOME), and on Research exchange (SCORE).

Find more on www.medsarwanda.org Notice All reasonable precautions have been taken by the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader.

In no event shall the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda be liable for damages arising from its use. The views expressed by authors, editors, or expert groups do not necessarily represent the decisions or the stated policy of the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda.

www.medsarwanda.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• President message • Word from Editor in chief • MEDSAR COVID 19 Taskforce • Standing committees’ Activities • Poem • Upcoming projects • Medsar Committee

MEDSAR PRESIDENT Dear Readers, It’s been 9 months that we were honored to host successfully the 69th IFMSA March Meeting 2020, a gathering of global medical students in our beautiful country Rwanda.

IFMSA (The International Federation of Medical Students Association) is one of the oldest and largest students led organization in the world, established in 1951 representing 140 member organizations (NMOs) from 129 countries, recognized by United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO).

In the begining of this year the WHO chief, DG Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus together with alarming levels of inaction declared COVID19 as PANDEMIC disease, a respiratory disease that was found firstly in Wuhan China 2019 .

From that time the Novel Corona virus (Covid19) has been changing the whole world and our country Rwanda included. The University stopped all teaching activities and requested students to evacuate from their campuses to join their respective families, even for Medical Students in all levels.

Now that schools have reopenned, Prevention measure being take and scientist all over the world are looking forward the most promising covid-19 vaccines through research driven clinical trials, I can’t tell whether that means we shall all get back to normal soon Or that this is a path to a near normal life that we shall live with changes brought by covid19 virus, but I believe that now more than ever in solidarity hope must win over the fear.

Readers, Today It’s my great pleasure to introduce you to our ever 1st Edition Newsletter of Medical Student Association of Rwanda (RMS 01), MedSAR Rwanda has been involving in promoting sciences, reading and the spirit of research among its members. Our official publications and a great team behind will be proudly sharing about MedSAR activities done, upcoming ones, and more.

I would also like to take this occasion to thank the COVID-19 Task-force Team through which we implemented many of our association’s activities at the beginning of this pandemic.

On behalf of MEDSAR Executive Board, we highly congratulate the whole team for their tremendous work and effort in that period. Through this newsletter, we believe that you will have the opportunity to pass through all these great activities and the impact they had on our society, and also those of our respective Standing Committees. We will also share upcoming events and activities of the association and look forward the future of medical students in Rwanda.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank and convey gratitude to the whole team behind this amazing work of releasing our 1st Edition of MEDSAR for being part of the change, as I believe in change myself and hope to see you all in the future preparing our next editions.

Enjoy the reading!

Warm Regards, On behalf of MEDSAR EB

NDAGIJIMANA Serge MEDSAR President

Edi torial Cheif

Didier Nsanzimfura Vice President of Publication Relations and communications

The globe has dramatically been shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic in all corners thus a huge loss of lives, closure of schools, work overload on health systems and nations at large, among others. However, so many forms of effort have been put in place to have this pandemic over but the pandemic and its consequences still persist.

Surely, the pandemic disrupted our activities but it couldn’t stop us from raising awareness, taking steps and sharing our ideas on Global health issues and so on, as you will read in this bulletin.

It is such a pleasure for me to write these words in this publication as it is our 1st ever newsletter by the Medical Student’s Association of Rwanda.

It’s been a long time having different activities in our Association but with no proper way of communicating and sharing them with our members and the larger community.

We have a great opportunity to represent medical students at both national and IFMSA levels, and with this issue, we shall share with you our contribution to Global health actions, Standing Committee activities, MEDSAR COVID-19 Task-force activities and lastly our upcoming activities.

We are, truly, humbled by each activity submissions from our National Officers for their contribution while serving the Association and for their humble collaboration to have this work done.

Again I would like to thank those who submitted their incredible poems, the articles and most especially the individuals who were brave enough to share their own health experiences.

Over the course of the past few weeks, a group of peers worked tirelessly to create this publication which would be shameless of me to leave them unappreciated.

Thanks to you, the Editorial team.

They did all it took them to give you the best of their energy, this is why I extend my sincere thanks to Ingabire Emeline, Kayesu Janet, Mutamba.M.Sarah, Rubagumya Francis, Innocent, Byiringiro Elysee as content editors and Shema Brian, Claude and President Serge and I as content designers.

I welcome you to this marvelous experience as we read together this paper. Don’t hesitate to contact me in any case.

Enjoy!

Didier Nsanzimfura Editor in Chief

PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF MEDSAR COVID-19 TASKFORCE.

Team Members

Steven SETONDE Former NPO 2018/2019

GATOYA Wendy NPO 2019/2020

Serge KAZINDU

MUSANGAMFURA Vedaste

KWIZERA Patrick

01. THE 500 CHALLENGE The #The500challenge is a campaign that was initiated by the Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda(MEDSAR) through its Public Health standing committee as one of its responses to combat the pandemic of Covid-19. The challenge was designed to support some university students highly hit by the effects of Covid-19. The Campaign started on 23rd May 2020 and was concluded on 14th June 2020 and managed to raise 241,463Rwf. On the last day of the event, 5 university students (some with their families) were supported, given food and soaps.

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Goals and objectives: Our goal from the conception of the idea to organize such an activity was to decrease hunger among university students amid the times when covid-19 was affecting every sector of the country and making it hard for these communities of students to either get the living allowance or work and therefore not be able to buy sufficient food.

Objectives To support 5 university students through supplying food and some other hygienic materials by the end of 2 weeks from the start of the challenge.

To advocate for this community of students highly affected by Covid-19 through social media and university leadership.

What have we done and How have you done it?

The activity was dubbed The500Challenge. It was a campaign that was done through social media and approaching different individuals soliciting their support. We sent emails to some individuals to better approach them, some others we used simple phone and WhatsApp messages, others we called them and the rest we used posters and messages on social media.

The methodology for the activity was to request anyone willing to support those affected students by giving at 500 Rwf. However, this was the minimum, anyone could exceed this amount, in fact, many people gave far more than this little amount.

We managed to raise 241,463Rwf and we used these funds to support 5 students from the University of Rwanda with food and soaps.

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Outcome/Impact of our activity In order to best describe the impact of our activity, I would to share some of the stories told by these supported students: 1. She comes from a family of six and does not have a dad. Her mother was chased from work due to the effects of Covid-19 on different works. Her family, during covid-19, solely depended on the bursary, but it has been stopped since the month of April, 2020.

#The 500 C

2. He does not live in Kigali but once other students went home for a break he stayed in Kigali to find some money for himself and his family.

Unfortunately, everything turned out to be in vain. He rents a small room in Kigali and getting food is a serious issue for him.

3. He is an orphan and he stayed at school when other students went home to try and make some money, during school break. It was a huge issue for him when Covid-19 emerged.

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With these extremely summarized stories shared, the greatest impact that we had with the 500 challenge is putting a smile on these five university students, some with their families. Secondly, we managed to advocate for them either through public attention and the university and students’ leadership. Lastly and importantly, as we mentioned earlier, we offered 100 kg of Maize flour, 75 kg of rice, 15 liters of cooking oil, 50 kg of cooking beans and 25 pieces of soap work 241, 463 Rwandan francs.

Challenge The activity was a huge success and we thank each and every one who contributed to this great initiative, either through tangible support, ideas, or prayers, among others, it really was great to have all those and they are the reasons why the activity was a success.

Lastly, a little advice to fellow public health activists and public servants, there is no such a thing like “this is very little, it can’t help anyone!” What we call little is at times so big to someone else or to some people!

Remember, “you haven’t lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you”, John Bunyan. Never underestimate the power of your kindness.

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The Capacity building online session on Universal Health Coverage and Covid-19 INTRODUCTION With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people around the world have been hit Health wise due to many reasons among which is unstable health systems and lack of universal health coverage. In this online session we thoroughly looked at what Health systems and UHC are and how and why both these two things can be part of the sustainable solution to deal with pandemics, Covid-19 inclusive.

As medical students in Rwanda, we emphasized on how the health system in Rwanda is built and how it is designed to respond to the health needs of the population. We also looked at the implementation of UHC and linked all these to responding to pandemics such as Covid-19.

The session was divided into two parts and they took on two different days and the guest speakers were young public health activists, Mohammed Osman, IFMSA SCOPH Regional Assistant for Africa and Dr. Parth Patel, Former IFMSA Regional Director for Africa.

Goals and Objective

• The Goal of this activity was increase the capacity building of medical students in Rwanda on Universal health coverage and health systems • To Link health systems and UHC and covid-19 and other pandemics and to engage future health care providers in the discussion towards building strong responses to Health needs of populations in times of pandemics.

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Objective To equip at least 20 medical students in Rwanda with knowledge on UHC and Health systems and their link with covid-19 as well as other pandemics by the end of June.

Methodology The session was done in two parts on two different days, 3rd and 4th, July 2020 and we used a virtual session using the Hangout platform. The first part covered the basics on Universal Health Coverage and the Health systems. This was done for the reason that a number of medical students in Rwanda such vital knowledge as the topics are not covered in the classrooms and yet very vital for future health care providers.

The second part covered a more advanced part of the UHC and HS like sustaining UHC and linking UHC and HS and Covid-19. We also had a special emphasis on the Rwandan Health system and implementation of UHC in Rwanda.

Outcome/impact.

During the whole session, in both parts, we managed to gather more than 40 medical students, mostly from Rwanda and some few from elsewhere around the world. By the end of the last session we had an assessment that covered both parts of the session and those who were present and I’m happy to say that the average score was more than 80%.

Therefore, the outcome was good and promising since at the beginning we also had an assessment to measure their understanding of the topics.

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MENTAL HEALTH&HUMAN RIGHTS DEPARTMENT OF MEDSAR COVID-19 TASKFORCE KAZINDU Madeleine SCORP RA Africa 2019/2020 NORP MEDSAR 2018/2019

TEAM MEMBERS Emeline INGABIRE SCORP

Annick AGASARO TNT SCORP

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Mental Health Campaign

was a one-week campaign organized by our department tackling on depression mainly, it was a campaign well thought of and brought about to increase the awareness of DEPRESSION and the impact of covid19 on the mental health status of a person.

• It started from 18th may 2020 and ended on 22nd may 2020.

• The campaign was facilitated through sharing posters on different social media platforms including; WhatsApp, twitter, Instagram among others.

• Each day a poster was released from our department and was shared; Day1: The poster talked about Depression and it’s causes.

Day2: The poster talked about different types of symptoms of depression.

Day3: The poster talked about prevention and complications of depression Day 4: of the campaign a short anime video was made by Emeline (member of our team) whereby this video summarized all information on depression; its definition, symptoms, aggravating factors, preventive measures and treatment.

On day 5 we set up a quiz to evaluate if people who had followed our campaign gained something from it.

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PARTICIPANTS PROFILE: Our participants ranged from 100-300 youth especially medical students since all posters, videos &quiz were shared in the MEDSAR Social medial platforms housing over 300 Medical Rwandan students. Most of the participants were interactive and engaged well in our campaign.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTIVITY: - At the end of the campaign, medical students should have known what depression is, how its affecting people in the pandemic and what they can do to cope up with it - Provision of reliable information t help people know how to respond to depression - To increase awareness on mental health issues especially depression.

OUTCOMES OF THE ACTIVITY: Positive feedback; via social media where our posters were trending, personalized messages sent to us asking for another campaign, requests from students to collaborate with us, high performance scores in answering quiz given.

Generally, the activity went smoothly and created an impact in people’s lives.

CONCLUSION: Hereby concluding, the one-week mental health campaign was considered a success as per our team and all set objectives were attained believing that the impact it carried was visible and well recognized.

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CAPACITY BUILING SERIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS LIBRARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The 2nd and 3rd activity were conjoined and done together whereby the capacity building series were supposed to be done in the last week of may till 5th June but was postponed due to another departments activity therefore was done on 8th June, 12th June and ended on 15th June.

The CB series was a series of 3 sessions tackling various aspects those being;

Day 1: Session 1 on Mental health and covid19 was facilitated by 2 external trainers, 2 psychologists by profession on google meet.

Day2: session 2 was held on 12th June via google meet tackling on Human rights and covid19, this session was facilitated by 2 trainers from SCORP RWANDA; BERNICE&EMELINE Day3: session 3 was held on 15th June via google meet tackling on disaster management, this session had 2 trainers our IFMSA SCORP RA FOR AFRICA MADELEINE & SCORP ACTIVIST ANNICK LUNA. On this very day we shared with the participants the tools of the athenaeum and recently launched IFMSA human rights library.

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All the three sessions were held on google meet where the trainers would present through speaking while projecting a PowerPoint document. The sessions were attended by 20 participants roughly.

PARTICIPANTS PROFILE: We had 30 participants but not all of them were able to attend due to certain inconveniences.

Our target initially was 15-30 medical students who were willing to apply and be part of the CB SERIES. We received over 30 applications and all were accepted as they were enthusiastic and motivated. About 15-20 were able to engage, interact and take part in the three sessions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTIVITY: - To equip medical students with knowledge on mental health, preparedness and human rights in relation to covid19 pandemic.

-All participants to have knowledge on human rights situation during the pandemic across the globe.

- Increment of knowledge in all three areas discussed in three sessions of the CB SERIES. - To highlight importance of medical students actions to advocate for human rights and mental health during this pandemic.

-The objective of library was provision of long-lasting trustworthy information on covid19 in correlation with mental health and human rights.

OUTCOMES OF THE ACTIVITY: - Positive feedback via personalized messages sent to us thanking us for the preparation of the CB SERIES, the active participation during the sessions.

- Good feedback from the post evaluation form which we created and sent them by the end of June.

- Ability of participants to answer well questions from the post evaluation form.

- Good feedback from the trainers especially the external trainers who were thrilled to be part of our sessions and provided their contact details &info in case we need help from them on another noble occasion CONCLUSION: Conclusionally, the CB SERIES was a success though we faced challenges of unsustainable internet connectivity among others but it didn’t stop us from conducting our sessions and finishing them well. We believe that those who were able to follow up the sessions indeed learnt something great not to keep to themselves, but share with family, friends and nearby community spreading the impact further.

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MEDSAR COVID-19 TASKFORCE SRH DEPARTNMENT TEAM MEMBERS Eric NIYONGIRA NORA MEDSAR 2019/2020

Kamikazi Racheal - SCORA

NIYIGENA Valens - SCORA

Background Medical students’ Association of Rwanda COVID-19 taskforce has launched a series of activities on COVID19 response aimed at tackling situation in many sectors. Access to Sexual and reproductive health services was very limited due to limited transport and young people were most affected, so SRH in general was also affected.

In joint efforts with different NGOs, we conducted two main activities, SRHR vs COVID19 social media campaign and webinar on Covid19 pandemic preparedness SRHR and family planning in focus. All activities had a common goal raising advocacy&awareness and capacity building of medical students.

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Objectives Summary 1. Raise awareness On SRHR as essential during COVID19 2. Addressing comprehensive SRHR needs during lockdown and post lockdown due to COVID19 3. Advocacy to call on decision maker for recognition of SRHR as essential 4. Capacity building of medical students on issues around the effect of COVID19 ON SRHR 5. Shedding light on innovative ways of reaching and responding to people experiencing Gender Based Violence in COVID 19 crisis 6. Highlighting challenges and effects of COVID19 on family planning specifically and suggesting possible solutions At first we partnered with SPECTRA, a young feminists NGO working on women’s rights to conduct a social media campaign to increase advocacy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights as essential during COVID19 pandemic since access to services was very limited due to limited transport and young people are mostly affected. The social media campaign started on 22nd -27th of April 2020. It mainly consisted of sharing advocacy messages on different social media.

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Secondly in collaboration with UNFPA Rwanda and HDI Rwanda we carried out a webinar on sexual and reproductive shealth during COVID19 period. The topic of the webinar was COVID-19 pandemic preparedness, SRHR and family planning in focus, it took place on Friday May 15,2020 with the aim of building capacity of medical students on SRH matters among medical students during COVID 19 pandemic.

The webinar was addressed by different eminent speakers including Mrs Daphrose Nyirasafali, SRH specialist and head of RH team at UNFPA Rwanda, she tackled on effects of COVID 19 pandemic on maternal health and family planning, from her insights and UNFPA in general, there is a projected dramatic rise in unwanted pregnancies in coming months due to restriction of SRH services during this pandemic. As sexual activity has not ceased with the pandemic therefore it is crucial to keep providing family planning services and information because they are lifesaving and important at all times.

On board we also had Dr Rukundo Athanase, programs Director at Health Development Initiative Rwanda. Dr Athanase during his address he emphasized on Gender Based Violence(GBV), Sexual and Reproductive health(SRH) services availability during COVIDsss19 and effects of COVID19 on key populations

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.

Generally, like other services, during lockdown period, there was shortage of SRH services and domestic violence rose because as people were encouraged to stay at home, risks of intimate partner violence increased. Key populations usually face extra challenges in order to access SRH services therefore this pandemic has likely exacerbated this existing problem. there is an urgent need of approach from different stakeholders to address this problem.

He later concluded by urging youth to keep using SRH services including different contraceptive means even during this period.

The activities conducted had a great impact and positive outcomes. Firstly, the social media campaign reached a large audience as our partners and key decision makers joined the cause and amplified the campaign. Secondly the webinar was also a great success as there was great involvement of medical students shown through their attendance in the webinar and their motivation to ask questions as well as sharing possible solutions and committing themselves to tackle challenges on SRH as addressed by during the webinar.

We are grateful to our partners UNFPA, HDI, SPECTRA and fellow MEDSAR members for their meaningful contribution towards realization of the activities conducted and their tremendous work towards improving community wellness of sexual and Reproduct

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STANDING COMMITTEES WORK

About

SCOPR

The Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace unite students who strive to create an equal and peaceful world and believe in international, intercultural as well as interpersonal solidarity. We believe in everybody’s responsibility as well as the ability to contribute to creating this world, as human rights can only exist when it applies to all humans.

Vision

SCORP has a vision of a peaceful world where the all individuals are entitled to full and equal access to their human rights, where no one is left behind, where priority is given to people in greatest need and where the entire society, including medical students and health workers, unite to support vulnerable groups.

Human rights cover a wide range of topics, not the least the right to health, which can be addressed in a variety of ways.

Core Concepts Human Rights: We primarily refer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

from 1948 when we talk about human rights without further specification, however, sometimes other international covenants and treaties are also mentioned.

Peace: SCORP understands peace as both the absence of conflict (negative peace) and the presence of equality and harmony (positive peace).

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WORLD REFUGEE DAY World Refugee day occurs each year on 20 th june, and this year we Organized a Training entitled ‘’ REFUGEE HEALTH AND RIGHTS ‘’ before the training we had a survey to access the knowledge on the topic and in way to adjust materials and content accurately. The Training was Facilitated by Trainer SCORP RA Madeleine together with VPPRC MedSar . the event took place at Google meet platform with main attendance from Medsar Member as of course was the target group .

The training was with following objectives : I. To know Refugee Health II. Access the ideal to have equal rights

III. Refugee rights

IV. Policy towards refugee taking in consideration international human right law The 2 hour long event with more that 28 participants, the majority being from SCORP was successful with common understanding on the ideal of refugee Health and right and role of medical students to call for Global and Governmental actions in achieving Refugee rights .

Tips for a Safer Mind amid the Pandemic. Mental health matters http://medsarwanda.org/tips-for-a-safer-mind-amid-the-pandemic-mental-health-matters/ via #mentalhealth #MentalHealthAw

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Background Despite the undeniable success, the fight towards eradicating HIV continues to face many challenges, especially in terms of societal approach towards the issue.

Objectives summary

Capacity building series on HIV & AIDS response is an initiative aimed at increasing medical students’ involvement in HIV&AIDS response through equipping them with advocacy skills needed to empower and support people living with HIV. Date: 15&16th September 2020.

Participants: 25 medical students

Provide Capacity building spaces for SCORA members Provide information on global HIV response and response on national level Raise awareness on HIV in key populations Provide advocacy skills to increase esteem and value of HIV positive population which will reduce stigma and discrimination against them.

CB series on HIV&AIDS response consisted mainly of 2 sessions that took place on google meet platform.

First session took place on 15th September 2020, it was on brief introduction on Global and National HIV response (progresses and barriers), Key populations and AIDS response. The facilitator was Mrs Vestine Wibabara Mutarabayire, HIV prevention specialist and humanitarian officer at UNFPA Rwanda.

Second session took place on 16th September 2020, it addressed Advocacy towards ending Stigma and Discrimation in different settings. The facilitator was Mrs Sage Semafara, Executive secretary of Rwanda Network of People living with HIV(RRP+).

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COVID-19 pandemic SSaffected many social domains, among them are travel restrictions which forced people to turn to virtual means. In the same context the unilateral exchange program for medical students to learn on SRHR, popularly known as SCORA X-CHANGE was cancelled in some countries due to global health crisis measures. However, nothing can stop people from having capacity building opportunities SCORA x-change brings, therefore MEDSAR RWANDA hosted Virtual SCORA X-CHANGE RWANDA 2020. This initiative gathered 45 medical students from different parts of the world on 17th &18th July 2020 with two main sessions all with the goal of providing participants with information about the healthcare situation of Rwanda on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Session One enlightened us on general sexual and reproductive health and rights situation of Rwanda.

Our facilitator shared highlights on Rwanda’s demography, SRHR policies, challenges and best practice in the domain. Some challenges are on family planning unmet needs with high fertility rate, teenage pregnancy and Gender based violence.

However, there are commendable achievements like HIV prevalence which has been at 3% since 2005 and attainment of UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. The second session tackled on access to safe abortion in which Rwanda made progress where it has to be performed legally binding to national health guidelines and by a doctor.

The session facilitator emphasised on the need to increase awareness of medical students as future healthcare providers on safe abortion as a woman’s right and right to health and advancing provision of stigma free SRHR services.

To conclude, the aim of SCORA exchange has always been to raise awareness and share best practices which participants can apply back in their countries in order to lower the consequences of unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortion and gender based violence which affect young people thus hindering their potentials to develop.

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Background Together for gender equity was a training initiative for medical students and fellow gender activists that aimed at empowering participants with knowledge and skills on gender equity and equality that will help them handle different challenges and advance gender equity in culturally respected manner. For effective promotion of gender equity and equality in all sectors, there should be combined efforts of both men and women to raise awareness regarding the health impacts of gender inequity at an individual and population level. Medical students as future Healthcare providers and potential agents of change in community also should get empowered in the matters regarding gender equity and inequality, so the reason behind Together for gender equity training.

The training was carried out with partnership from SPECTRA Rwanda, young feminists organization.

Date: 17th & 21st of august 2020.

Participants: 45(medical students and fellow gender activists) Goal: The goal of TOGETHER FOR GENDER EQUITY initiative is to bring together male and female medical students under one umbrella and equip them with proper principles of gender equity and equality for advocating for women’s rights and female empowerment in culturally sensitive approach.

Therefore, efforts to promote female empowerment and gender equality in leadership within health and participation in government, business and the community must maintain a culturally sensitive approach, whilst advocating strongly for women’s rights Objectives summary:  Increase awareness of gender equity and equality as basic human right  Provide capacity building space for SCORA members  Promote positive masculinity  Provide practical response tools in combating gender inequity in medical field The training had in general 2 sessions with the total of 5h.

First session took place on 17th august, it was a general session on gender equity&equality, feminism and the interlinkage between feminism and gender equality, it was facilitated by Chantal UMUHOZA, director of SPECTRA Rwanda.

The second session took place on august 21, it addressed the positive masculinity, gender inequity in medical field and practical responses to combat it. this session was facilitated by Barbara Nyaga, NORA- MSAKE KENYA

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MENSTRUATION CYCLE

By Musabe Aice Ghislaine Surprise Surprise is being that irregular woman when you constantly do not know when to expect your next menstrual cycle.

When you think it’ s tomorrow but ends up being today, when you think it’ s today but ends up being tomorrow. When men cannot understand how unpredictable your cycle can be, because that first time you got blood on your clothes, one time became the center of all jokes, which became your whole life legacy. It became your nickname, your immature boy classmates baptized you.

However, that’ s the same guy who will in years regain breath on your first day of menstruation because since the day his condom broke during sex he couldn ‘t breathe. The sign that you are not pregnant, your menstruation cycle got him breathing again

So, dear men, the innocent child in me never hated being a woman. She was afraid that her first menstruation ever could appear the least expected. She was scared to ever mess up her regular cycle math. She was worried that her irregular menstruation cycle was going to surprise her while in public. She was afraid that her pad or tampon could overfill without her notice. And if any of those happened, and she stained her outfit, that you were gonna bully her for life. She was afraid that the society, the immature boys in my class, would shame me and call me nicknames. Little did I acknowledge that my periods were blessings. It is part of my fertility symbol, it is a sign that I am not pregnant, it is a bridge from girlhood to womanhood. It is a blessing to be female. MALAK EL HALABI You are wondering about the pain, the backache, the increased sexual arousal, the mood swings, the acnes, and all negative symptoms associated with my periods. They are real and not the funniest experiences.

However, the more I grow up, the more I become in control of my cycles. Having an irregular cycle, the interval between my consecutive menstruation cycle varies. Either regular or irregular, your cycle can be of various days, such as twenty-eight days and thirty-one days. I use the acne and the mucus being released from my vagina as an indication to stay on guard. On the other hand, having a regular cycle, you get your periods in a fixed time interval; that’ s one less aspect to worry about The pain (menstrual cramps) and the backache can be insane, depending on how long your period lasts, which can be three days or five days or any other length of time. If I cannot take it, I take some painkillers to stay on top of my days. My periods should not come in between my daily duties and responsibilities if I do not want to; be in control of your body girl. Another aspect of being in control is knowing how to accurately count one ’ s month. One ’ s menstruation cycle starts from the first day of the period to the day before the next period. However days interval it, we call it a woman ’ s month. Lastly, the menstruation cycle comes with a hygiene emphasis, while constantly bleeding blood, I have to stay clean.

Dear society, I hope you understood fromabove that my menstruation cycle is not a joke. If I get red stains on my clothes by accident, that’ s when I get to see the immature guys in my class, signaling me, nicknaming me, and shaming me as if I committed any crime. I go to buy my pads or tampon, and the store owner starts laughing or staring at me. That just shows how a normal woman ’ s biological process is stigmatized as something to shy away from. When those hygiene kits are made expensive, inaccessible by some poor families, that’ s where the government and the society, in general, are failing women. Like health care, clean water, hygiene kits for women should be made easily accessible. In the meantime, those girls can use cloth pieces, but they deserve more comfortable tools. In times of pain, be there to comfort me and show me more love instead of alienating me.

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Medical curriculum Key Points: • Medical curriculum •Medical talk | Journey to Medicine •Patient Safety ON LINE campaign •Virtual Meeting on Patient an Health workersafety This was a discussion that took place on 2nd April 2020 with the dean of school of medicine and pharmacy at the university of Rwanda college of medicine and health sciences online. This was organized that students could know the curriculum they are taking proposed changes to be made among other medical curricula to meet the desired potential of medical graduates at the university of Rwanda college of medicine and health sciences.

Medical students (participants) got an opportunity of asking their questions concerning the program to the guest which were all answered Current medical students at the university of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health sciences attend the five years program where MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) is the Exit decree to medical graduates.

The program is proposed to change to the exit degree of MD (Doctor of Medicine) , with more clinical exposure.

To join the medical school, candidates to their best performance in high school have to attend the entry exam which is the interview as the final selection stage The curriculum of five years focuses on ethics and professionalism, patient safety, medical informatics and evidence-based medicine, social medicine and biomedical sciences where each has its learning objectives.

Guest Speaker: Prof BYIRINGIRO Jean Claude, MD, MMED, FCS(ECSA)-Orth Dean of School of Medicine and Pharmacy Moderator: CYIZA Tresor , Medical Student, Former NOME

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Medical Talk Journey to Medicine

In the very beginning of July medical students attended medical talk on journey to medicine. This was an online talk which was more open discussion between the speaker and participants.

As understandable participants were asking curious questions about medicine, challenges that students could meet and how to overcome them and move on.

What values medical students need to have for them to be successful What does it take a medical student in Rwanda to obtain scholarship of studying abroad when necessary. Throughout the discussion medicals students come to know how much preclinical sciences contribute to their better performance in clinical settings Dr Dan Jackson, Facilitator: Jean d’Amour, Medical student, NOME

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EXCHANGE PEOPLE UPDATES WHAT IS SCOPE? The Professional Exchange program is a full educational program offering clerkships to medical students abroad. Since the very beginning, in 1951, it was evident that exchange of medical students would be one of the main fields of action in IFMSA. Annually, around 13.000 students from more than 90 countries travel around the world to discover new health systems, new cultures and to enhance their global health and intercultural understanding.

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SCOPE MEDSAR WHAT IS MISSION OF SCOPE? The aim of SCOPE is to promote cultural understanding and co-operation amongst medical students and all health professionals, through the facilitation of international student exchanges. SCOPE aims to give all students the opportunity to learn about global health, and attains this partly by having its exchanges accredited by medical faculties across the world.

WHAT IS THE AIM OF SCOPE? The aim of SCOPE is to promote cultural understanding and co-operation amongst medical students and all health professionals, through the facilitation of international student exchanges.

The Exchange Programme offers students 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.

HOW SCOPE EXCHANGE WORK? All medical students are entitled to participate in a four-week clerkship in a chosen clinical or pre-clinical field of medicine. The language of instruction is either English or the language of the host country. In order to complete the clerkship, the exchange student must show adequate knowledge of the English language or the native language of the host country. Clerkships are purely educational and students will not receive a salary.

During the exchange, the student has the chance to observe a different health care system and learn from foreign tutors. All students are assigned to a physician supervisor, who acts as a tutor and mentor.

Exchange Contracts are signed between two participating National Member Organizations and are of two types: Bilateral Contracts: where the participating countries exchange two students (one from each country) between themselves.

Unilateral Contracts: where a single student participates in the exchange.

In exchange of a participation fee, the incoming student is offered a one-month clerkship at the hospital and department of his or her choice, lodging at a student facility or with a host family, and at least one meal per day.

The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) – among others – recognizing the academic quality and the professional organization of our program.

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Endorsement of exchanges THE IFMSA SCOPE exchange program endorsed by The World Federation of Medical Education, The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) – among others – recognizing the academic quality and the professional organization of our program.

*đ&#x;†•đ&#x;‡ˇđ&#x;‡ź Activities Done

IFMSA MARCH MEETING 2020 RWANDA During the IFMSA March Meeting 2020 Rwanda, MEDSAR RWANDA NEO attended fully the SCOPE SESSIONs and have presented our SCOPE in EXCHANGE FAIR. With this term we have received also two incomings from Germany Bvmd I have received 2 of my incomings (Students who are received on exchange somewhere) from Germany in march They did the upon arrival trainings (city tour and teaching them our culture how to behave in hospital, hotel and everywhere) All these have been suuch wonderful experience. the education activities to my incomings We have done also the different social program as well

SCOPE TERM 2020

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ONLINE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2020 (OGA 2020) We attended the August online general assembly from 25th July 2020 to 16 august 2020. It was online because of the unexpected circumstance; The covid-19 pandemic even if was online was very interactive, funny and a lot of fruitful discussion and endless knowledge sharing it was 7 amazing and memorable days Day 1 25 July 2020 - was welcoming notes and introduction of session team and Regulation Changes Proposals Discussion Day 2 (26 July 2020) - Regulations Changes Proposals Voting during this session as NEOs we voted for regulation change proposals Day 3 (04 August 2020) -SCOPE-D + LME + LOSO Candidate Debate this day was amazing because was opportunity for us to ask a lot of constructive questions to the team of official’s candidates Day 4 07/08/2020) - SCOPE IT Updates + Q&A: during this session the SCOPE IT provided a summary of what they did, and we got opportunities to ask them Q&A - Post-Pandemic Exchanges Overview: A much awaited session here we discussed about the future exchange following COVID-19 Pandemic and the question that may arise due to contracts financial management and financial response Day 5 14/08/2020 - Eco-Friendly Exchanges: In this session we discussed the impact of climate on health frightening and the strategies to make our exchanges more climate friendly. As future health care professionals we need to address the environmental issues and aim to reduce our impact on the climate.

-Marketing & Fundraising: In the way to remove the worries of students that may have about post-pandemic exchanges we discussed and gained skills in marketing and fundraising skills to ensure the financials sustainability while there are reduced exchanges.

Day 6 15 /08/2020 - Open Space Discussions This session was amazing it was a good opportunity for us to share new ideas on different topics - Poster Fair this was the best opportunity to represent the exchange in our respective NMO through DISCORD because of the pandemic we can’t meet in person due to pandemic.

This was a good opportunity to discuss contracts with different NMOs Day 7 16/08/2020 - SCOPEople Parade this was interesting session online SCOPE Carnival! where the NMOs Presented the big idea, the event they did during the pandemic. At the end of the session we did online parade.

-Outcomes of AM20 SCOPE Sessions the SCOPE D gave the recap of of what happened in the sessions +debate + RCPs - SCOPE D Elect(GABRIEL) closing remarks + Blue Picture this was crying session where it was difficult for everyone to say GOOD BYE!

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World Hepatitis Day Celebration AIM: To enhance awareness of viral hepatitis which is a liver inflammation that leads to various health problems liver cancer included.

Date: 28thJuly Hepatitis lookout: - it is of 5 strains; A, B, C, D, E - B&C being the most common and responsible for 1.3 million deaths per year Participants: - An Internist at CHUB: DR. Eulade Ndizihiwe - MEDSAR President: Serge Ndagijimana - National Public Health Officer: Gatoya Uwase Wendy Radio and TV talk aired hosting an internist at CHUB, MEDSAR president and SCOPH national officer was aimed at shining light on the causes, transmission means which are commonly via bodily fluids, symptoms that include dark urine, abdominal pain and jaundice lastly the risk factors and prevention strategies of the common viral hepatitis A and B; among which high alcohol and fat consumption are major.

Continually the knowledge about hepatitis B and C’s cure and vaccine was well elaborated and emphasis was made to encourage pregnant mothers and infants to consider regular checkups and tests. These viruses can be chronic and deadly, so without further a due, let’s join the efforts necessary with SCOPH to create a hepatitis free-world.

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WORLD CANCER DAY Date: 4th February AIM: This is to increase cancer awareness maximally, considering it is the lead cause of 9.86 million deaths per year.

Mentor: - Dr. Patrick Rwabukumba

Activities: 1. Breast cancer campaign A charity fundraising by University of Rwanda students to meet the fee necessary for provision of radiotherapy treatment for patient diagnosed with the cancer.

2. A Radio talk on cancer.

Salus Radio aired a discussion with a SCOPH representative; ERIC NIYIGENA and a Rwanda Pharmaceutical Students’ Association(RPSA) representative with the objective of making known “cancer” in details; what it is, its risk factors and preventive measures and most importantly emphasizing on the benefits of early treatment.

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3. Know Cancer Week Campaign Here social media is the platform used by SCOPHEROES and MEDSAR members in general to sensitize as many as the people on those platforms about cancer. The campaign involves posts tackling everything there is to know about cancer, be it the types, signs and even the prevention and treatment methodologies.

4. Workshop on Cancer The following day was scheduled with a workshop where both medical and non-medical students got the opportunity to hear from a medical professional DR. Patrick Rwabukumba who was the lead trainer giving several insights and experiences involved in handling cancer cases.

These activities marked the world cancer day and week commemoration in the MEDSAR community. It wouldn’t have come to pass without the remarkable hands and brains of the SCOPH dream team and associated elites. It is in that regard that their efforts are highly recognized and leave us with only one option; joining them to build a cancer-free world.

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Research Exchange About SCORE SCORE was founded in 1991 with the objective of giving students an opportunity of improving their skills in research in other learning settings.

Unfortunately, many medical students do not have the opportunity to experience research while in medical school. Research is essential for the development of medicine and without it, the medical field could never have reached the stage it is at now with innovative methods of diagnosis and treatments

IFMSA Online August Meeting 2020

The event was really very interactive though we weren’t together physically but it was well organized where everyone felt concerned and this made it super.

We learnt a lot of things in a short time and the trainers were ready and well prepared to give well the full package in fact that there were many topics to cover and short time we were divided into groups this caused us to miss some topics.

As I attended for my first time it helped me to know in deep what is SCORE and what does it do and with the package I got I can do better than I was in SCORE. NEEMA -SCORE Parcipants

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UPCOMING PROJECTS IMCC RWANDA IMCC is an organization of volunteers in Denmark including student from different faculties working closely with Rwandan medical student in health promoting projects IMCC Rwanda carries out project with Medical student’s association of Rwanda(MEDSAR). The common project aims to improve health in the southern province of Rwanda and kigali area. this is done through health education as well as developing MEDSAR as an organization.

Before COVID-19, IMCC Rwanda had just started a new project The project called “Youth Education Activities on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Project” , and aims to disseminate and improve information about especially young people’s knowledge of sexual hygiene.

The following points illustrate the project’s goal description, as we would work to: Stop unintended pregnancies in Rwanda, Disseminate adequate information on menstrual hygiene, Create equal access to “Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH)” information. Coming soon!

IMCC Rwaanda Team

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FBCOSPV FIGHTING BREAST CANCER ONE SMARTPHONE

BCIEA founder, Philippa Kibugu Decuir set foot in Rwanda, has been working hard to make breast cancer a public health issue that requires attention via awareness and education starting at village level. In 2013 she developed a project she named Fighting Breast Cancer One Smartphone per Village (FBCOSPV): an integration of breast health education and smartphone technology.

The phones are fitted with an educational application that is both in English and Kinyarwanda and the volunteer ambassadors to be given these phones are medical students that are trained to properly disseminate information on breast cancer mainly during communal activities like Umuganda and Umugoroba w’Ababyeyi period.

INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY Program Interventional Radiology (IR) is a medical field, which performs minimally invasive procedures and treatments under image guidance, including ultrasound, fluoroscopy, and computed tomography (CT). IR can diagnose and treat a broad range of diseases, including cancer, infection, vascular disease.

There is a process of working to implement an Interventional Radiology training program here in Rwanda. This program will be through a partnership with Road2IR, the affiliated hospital and University.

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MEDSAR COMMITTEE MEETING

COVID19 didn’t stop us from working and evolving, As we are getting back to school, We are committed to keeping our purpose of capacity building and community health promotion.

MEDSAR EDITORIAL TEAM

RUBAGUMYA Francis Content Editor

UWASE Ange Noella Content Editor

INGABIRE Emeline Content Editor

NIZEYIMANA Jean claude Content Design

MASITA Sarah Content Editor

KAYESU Janet Content Edior

BYIRINGIRO Elysee Content Editor

MUGISHA innocent Content Editor

SHEMA Brian Content Design

Didier NSANZIMFURA Vice President of Publications/ Chief Editorial

Serge NDAGIJIMANA Medsar President /Advisory - Design

The End!!

Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda www.medsarwanda.org