INTERVIEW WITH THE NOME

Philip Malouf, National Exchange Officer for Incomings (NEO-In)

What are the tasks that a NEO-In is responsible for?

In your opinion, why should medical students go on clinical exchanges?

How have your Standing Committee’s activities been affected ever since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged?

Finally, what are the biggest lessons you learned from your experience in SCOPE from being a volunteer to a National Exchange Officer?

The tasks of the NEO-In are as follows: Firstly to organize the exchange season for the incomings visiting Jordan which includes: organizing the trips for them and making plans for them to see Jordan. In addition to improving the Academic Quality of the exchange program and making sure they’re having a great experience. Furthermore, the NEO-In is responsible for all the fundraising events for IFMSA-Jo.

In my opinion, I believe clinical exchanges are a perfect way to improve ourselves on a variety of aspects. Starting from the medical aspect, exchange programs are a great way to experience a new and different healthcare system and to improve yourself as a doctor. Also, it’s a great chance to visit and experience other countries and cultures while being guided by locals and having all the advantages of being hosted.

We have all been affected by this pandemic in every aspect of our lives, and in SCOPE it’s not different. The exchange season; which is the cornerstone of SCOPE, was cancelled all over the world. Even with the fundraising events, the pandemic has put many obstacles on the organizing of big events and due to the closures it has strongly limited the ideas of events that can be planned.

I started my journey in IFMSA in SCOPE and since then I have really gained a lot of experience in most of the aspects of life. For example; I have become more organized in my life, I have gained lots of communication skills, and most importantly; I have gained a lot of friends from all over the world. I have a lot to be grateful for SCOPE, and I encourage all of you to live your own journey with SCOPE.

Ahmad Dalgamouni, National Officer on Research Exchange (NORE)

What is your Standing Committee responsible for?

What are the main goals that SCORE plans to achieve this term?

In your opinion, why should medical students go on research exchanges?

How have your Standing Committee’s activities been affected ever since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged?

Our main goal in SCORE is to offer future physicians an opportunity to experience research and 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.

We plan to work on different projects and programs that’ll widen our students’ horizons and provide the opportunity for them to experience different approaches to health care, ethical research standards, medical research, education and treatment.

Experiencing research exchanges develops culturally aware students and skilled researchers that will hopefully shape the world of future science. Also, this is a great opportunity for students in their early years to participate in research projects in the medical field!

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Standing Committee on Research Exchange in many ways. Starting from the fact that we have stopped any face to face trainings, workshops, and activities; which affected our research educational goals and outcomes. Also, the student exchange program was highly affected due to travel restrictions and quarantine which is now mandatory in most countries upon arrival. A lot of NMOs unfortunately started to cancel their exchanges. We tried to do our best to find other alternatives to solve this problem but unfortunately it was the safest choice to cancel our exchange season as well.