pamsa heartbeat
DESCRIPTION
1st edition of the PAMSA Magazine. Printed in January 2011 for the PAMSA Regional Meeting in Cochabamba, BoliviaTRANSCRIPT
1 PAMSA HeartBeat
HeartBeatPAMSA
we are family
2 PAMSA HeartBeat
3 PAMSA HeartBeat
Contents
Meet tHe PaMSa teaM
FroM our rC
SCoPe
SCora and SCore
wHat MakeS a good MediCal eduCation?
letterS FroM PaMSa
FaCtS oF tHe iFMSa oFFiCialS
introduCtion
our daS SPeak...
SCoPH
SCorP
HiV in an eVer-eVolVing world
Canadian Pre-deParture training
4
19171514131211109765
4 PAMSA HeartBeat
MEET THEPAMSA TEAM
Geneviève BoisRegional CoordinatorIFMSA - Qué[email protected]
Juan PaBlo leivaVPE Regional AssistantIFMSA - [email protected]
frédériC morinDA for NMO DevelopmentIFMSA - Qué[email protected]
HeBer moránDA for ProjectsIFMSA - El [email protected]
laura BertaniSCOPE DAAMSA - [email protected]
alHelí CalderónSCOPH DAIFMSA - Mé[email protected]
GaBriela nolesDA for NMO Development
IFMSA - Perú[email protected]
aris HadJiniColaouSCORA RAIFMSA - Qué[email protected]
eriCk meléndezDA for Publications and
CommunicationIFMSA - El Salvador
ian PereiraSCOME RA
CFMS - [email protected]
fiorella salvadorSCORE RA
IFMSA - Perú[email protected]
PatriCia vázquezSCORA RA
IFMSA - Mé[email protected]
marC-andré lavalléeSCORP RA
IFMSA - Qué[email protected]
5 PAMSA HeartBeat
INTRODUCTIONHi PAMSA!
My name is Erick Josué Meléndez Aguilar and I’m a 5th year student from Dr. José Matías Delgado University and proud member of IFMSA–El Salvador. I’ve been part of the IFMSA since 2009, participating in SCORA. I was also the president of my local committee in 2010.
Being able to work in PAMSA as the Development Assistant for Publications and Communications is thrilling and I hope to do an excellent job. As a DA, I’ll focus in supporting the different publications that every NMO is producing and those that the IFMSA is currently doing.
Like a heartbeat, we want to be the impetus that carries blood throughout the body, do every little thing to reach our objectives and goals. PAMSA is like the nervous system, composed by many neurons and synapses; the neurons are each member and the synapses the connections we have made through all these years. New synapses are being created constantly and, contrary to our bodies, new neurons are added every moment too! Together we make this amazing team.
Great things are not accomplished by just one person and PAMSA is an example of that, it hasn’t become what it is by the work of the regional coordinators, the regional advisors, the development assistants or the NMO presidents. It’s been the motivation of each member, even those that like their job to be unknown, that has lead us here.
We have to continue growing up; there is a lot of work to do for the region. Health in America is not what it must be. Deficiencies exist in both developed and developing countries, and although some of us are fighting to change this reality, the problems persist; people are still getting sick and dying for causes that should be controlled. This is one of the reasons that ought to keep us motivated on improving the reality of our countries and the whole world.
We can use this magazine as a tool for that. The PAMSA HeartBeat will help us publish the opinions and points of view on topics as broad as is health itself, as well as updates on different fields, new projects and other interesting topics for PAMSA.
This publication has been done with a lot of effort, dedication and love. It is the first step of much more that will allow us to let everyone know the job each NMO is doing within PAMSA and the IFMSA to improve the health in their countries.
I’d like to tell every member that helped in the creation of this magazine: thank you for your hard work; it would not have been possible without your support.
I hope you like this issue and expect more and better things from all of us. Be prepared for surprises, as we have amazing ideas for this year and we will be announcing them through the year. Please don’t doubt to contact me if you have a question, I’m here to help anytime and will try to do my best.
Erick MeléndezEditor in Chief
This magazine is an IFMSA Publication.© Portions if this magazine may be reproduced for non political, and non profit purposes mentioning the source provided.
Notice: Every case has been taken in the preparation of this document. Nevertheless, errors cannot always be avoided. IFMSA cannot accept any responsability for any liability. The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necesarily reflect the views of IFMSA.
6 PAMSA HeartBeat
from our rC
Dear PAMSA friends,
My name is Geneviève Bois (but you can call me Geni like… almost everyone!) and I am thrilled to be your Regional Coordinator for this term! Some of you might know, because I have been around in the Region for a good two years now, but for many of you, it is the first time we meet, so I will introduce myself a little.
I was born and raised in Montréal, a beautiful city in Québec (which some of you might have had the chance to enjoy in August!). Although most people in Canada speak English as their first language, most people in Québec speak French first, so I grew up speaking French, but started learning English and Spanish from a fairly young age. I made attempts at Italian, but it was not that successful, so I decided to stick to those three languages for now.
I grew up in a very multicultural environment and attended international schools, which made me very interested in different cultures, travelling, and languages. Since my parents got divorced when I was a baby, I became used to moving around very young, and it might be what sparked my passion for travelling! When I was 17, I lived in Grenada and Saint-Vincent in the Caribbean for a year and a half, and it was a great experience. I co-founded a charity there and worked a lot with kids in an orphanage. Although it was hard to live away from everyone I knew in a fairly isolated place for all that time, it was a very educating experience.
I’m now in my 3rd year at Université de Montréal, one of the 4 medical schools in Québec. My main interests are infectious diseases and social determinants of health, with a marked interest for TB. Some even say March 24th, World’s TB day, is my 2nd birthday! Although I am supposed to be a full-time medical student, I spend most of my time, like many of you, IFMSA-ing. First, I was a local officer for IFMSA-Québec, then a national officer, and then the VPI and president of the NMO. I am the Regional Coordinator since October 1st, but I am lucky to have started to work with Fiorella a little while a go, which helped me a lot. I also work for GHEC, the Global Health Education Consortium, on their Student Advisory Committee.
All of this keeps me busy, but it is also the reason I am in medicine in the first place. And when I see all of you lovely PAMSA people, I know why I do it!
I am very enthusiastic for the year ahead and I love our Region so much; it really is an honour to be the RC for such fun and hardworking people! I hope we can have a great year of work, fun and growth together. I have many ideas and plans for the year (and you can always read my Plan of Action or my monthly reports), but I am always very open to all of your ideas. I am also blessed to have such a great team around me: the 4 Development Assistants – Erick, Heber, Frédéric and Gabriela – and all the Regional Assistants for the Standing Committee Directors and the VPE.
I plan on focusing my work on supporting NMOs and trying to make the Region stronger: with more training, more projects, and also a better institutional memory, so I am spending quite a bit of time writing manuals and making archives so the next RCs and teams in the Region can have a lot more to work with. I am in contact with many students in various countries where IFMSA is not yet established, and will try to encourage members to apply this year for membership.
If you have any questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas or any news to share with me, never hesitate to email me or come to talk to me on Skype.
I wish everyone the best of years!Geneviève
7 PAMSA HeartBeat
Our DAs speak...Dear family,
First of all, let us introduce ourselves:Hello! My name is Gabriela (also known as Coti for most of you) and I am a fourth year medical student at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. I am involved in IFMSA since a bit more than three years now. I was particularly active in SCORE as NORE of my NMO and I am also the former SCORE regional assistant of PAMSA. I also had the chance to be the VPE of my NMO and I am a current trainer approved by IFMSA. These invaluable exposures gave me the opportunity to be in touch with a lot of people that share my interest and my hopes to make IFMSA and PAMSA the best team of medical students. I deeply love my region so do not hesitate to come and see me at anytime.
My name is Fred (some people also call me Fede or Fico) and I’m a second year medical student at University of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. I’m involved in IFMSA-Quebec since my first days of medicine as an active member of SCORP and SCOGH, our national standing committee on Global Health. I am also involved in SCOPE as the LEO of my local committee since last year. Most of you probably saw me in the Organising Committee of the AM 2010 in Montreal last summer. Being DA NMO with Gabriela and work with all of you to take advantage of all the opportunities we have really thrills me. I hope we will have an exciting, interesting and productive year together! Feel free to contact me at anytime (I am not really into sleeping :P) and I’m really waiting to meet you all during the next months.
Our selection as development assistants filled us with excitement, but came with many new responsibilities that we will take pride in accomplishing within our vibrant region. In order to achieve our ambitious goals, we will primarily assist our wonderful RC in her tasks, helping NMOs face various serious issues and assisting in the preparation of meetings. Even if this position encompasses many tasks, we are confident that we will be able to accomplish our objectives because working with you and for you is not real work for us. As a family, we would simply want to help you all to achieve your goals, learn more and enjoy this year to its fullest.
We would also like to insist on the fact that our peers in PAMSA have great potential. Many NMOs of our region have faced different issues in the past and have acquired a lot of experience that can be useful for everybody. Taking this into account, we want to stress the fact that it is very important to share our knowledge in order to make our projects, our standing committees and exchanges stronger, our collaborations more powerful, and our region the strongest.
Take advantage of all the opportunities you will have during the RM in Bolivia, on the PAMSA listserv or in different conferences to meet people from other countries, cultures and backgrounds. We all have something to learn from our neighbouring countries. A lot of you have already experienced how easy it is to create strong relationships within PAMSA. Let’s use this strength to develop our region.
Genevieve, the standing committee RAs and we, ourselves, will always be there to help you make your ambitious dreams come true. We are there if you need our support for your ideas and to put you in touch with different partners you could work with! Only one e-mail to remember: [email protected] ! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, love declarations (why not?) or death threats, please contact us.
Frédéric Morin and Gabriela Noles CotitoDevelopment Assistants for NMO Development (DA
NMO) for the Americas
8 PAMSA HeartBeat
Our DAs speak...Dear PAMSA friends:
It’s great to share these lines with you, I hope that the work you have been doing through this year was fun and a great experience!
I want to share with you a story I read recently: One day, a group of animals met together, they realized that year after year, they had specific challenges to accomplish. So they decided to take some school lessons to improve their skills. After some discussions and agreements they declared: “the most important and to be ameliorated features are: running, swimming, climbing and flying” So, they immediately started working on these. Classes were scheduled for everyone.
The beaver was an excellent swimmer; he could make dams very easily. He wasn’t good at flying; it was actually impossible even if he tried hard, but he was good at climbing and running though. He decided to practice the areas where he had problems, but the results weren’t so good after some days.
The rabbit always won races; he was good at running in different surfaces, but he tried climbing and had some difficulties. Of course swimming was an exhaustive task for him, and without a doubt flying was impossible. After some days he was completely tired.
The squirrel was the best climber! No one could ever lose to him when it was time to climb trees, walls, and rocks. Running was not his best skill, he tried to swim but it was very difficult, and flying from the ground to a tree was impossible. He knew that it was not one of his skills.
The gull was brilliant at flying; the water was something to work on, but running and climbing didn´t appear to be fun or easy at all.
After having some problems and so many defeats, they realized that their task was something impossible; trying to have all the skills individually was not achievable. They agreed very soon that the only way of succeeding was working as a team; actually almost everything was possible if they worked together.
Without a doubt, every day represents a challenge, every effort represents some sacrifices to make, some time to spend, some planning to work on, some hard work to make everything perfect, but it’s impossible to do it by our own. There is always some help to ask for and there is always some hands to work with.
As medical students, being part of this great PAMSA and IFMSA family, there are so many responsibilities and work to do. There are a lot of projects to develop in each committee. But don’t forget that everyone has great skills; everyone has an awesome capacity to develop the best of his/her own. So try to find your best ability, try to look at others’ skills too and remember that working as a team will provide remarkable outcomes.
I wish a happy new year to everyone; I hope that this year could become a huge blessing for everyone. That all your projects and activities become great results to all of you!
Heber MoránDevelopment Assistant on Projects for the Americas
9 PAMSA HeartBeat
SCOPE
Even though I have been a LEO, NEO Assistant, and attended two General Assemblies at this point, I feel like I learn something new about IFMSA and SCOPE every day.
From working with LEOs, NEOs, and members of the international team, I find that everyone I work with has a unique perspective on our fabulous organization and its inner workings, and this is one of the many things that makes answering countless emails, attending online meetings, and doing all the hard work that goes into this organization, worth it.
I am continuously surprised by the motivation and dedication of my fellow SCOPEans, and it makes me proud to be part of this amazing Standing Committee. Working with SCOPE members in the Americas is a job I take very seriously, and I hope to be in touch with my fellow SCOPEans on a regular basis throughout the next year. Together, I think we can make our already wonderful exchanges even better!
This year, I want to make sure that everyone in the PAMSA SCOPE family feels welcome and supported, and motivated to improve their exchanges, and help other NMOs do the same. By exchanging advice and ideas, I think we can bring each exchange chapter to the next level. Whether your is struggling in implementing Academic Quality, or trying to expand the number of exchange chapters or develop a better system for outgoings – we want to help you!
I, my fellow RAs and our wonderful SCOPE-D have developed a survey that will be out by the time this runs – please fill it out if you haven’t done so! Your international SCOPE team, me included, will be using that information to help understand how different NMOs conduct exchanges and what ideas may be useful in another chapter.
It will also serve as a jumping-off point as I get to know the NEOs in my region individually – so if you have anything you’d like to discuss more in depth, or would need help in developing your chapter, don’t hesitate to ask!
Or, conversely, if you have a really strong program and want to assist developing chapters – we want your help! In order to build the strongest programs possible in all of our NMOs, it is important that we work together!
That being said, I encourage you all to share with me the areas in which you would really like to work on within your chapter, and the areas in which yours excels that you may be willing to share. This will help facilitate further collaboration between chapters and make our exchanges stronger. All of you are what make SCOPE so great! Any questions, comments, concerns, I am at your service for the year. Feel free to email me at [email protected].
Laure BertaniSCOPE Regional Advisor
10 PAMSA HeartBeat
SCOPHHello amazing PAMSA FAMILY!!!!!
I’m really happy to work with all of you together this year. My name is Alhelí Calderón Villarreal and I am the SCOPH Regional Assistant for the Americas for the term 2010-2011. I’m part of the SCOPH Dream Team and my main task is to help you develop and improve SCOPH in your NMOs and keep SCOPH rocking!
The Americas is a special region. We have a lot of things in common in most of the continent, like the climate, history, culture, music, food, fun and of course the public health issues; that’s why it is important to attend the regional meeting and the different sessions we’ll have as we can learn a lot of things for our personal development, for our committees and why not, our country.
During the SCOPH session, we want the SCOPHians from different NMOs to meet each other, to make presentations, start discussions, ideas cafes, share their experiences and learn from other ideas to have the best experience ever!
We will work on the Millennium Development Goals, social determinants of health, mental health, communicable disease (mainly on Dengue, Tuberculosis and Chagas), climate change, antimicrobial resistance awareness, SCOPH exchange, evaluation of the projects, PAMSA regional project “Americas Healthy Schools” and more interesting topics that will be useful for you and your team. We want to hear your opinions and points of view, and have fun!
One of the special things in IFMSA is the exchanges, but there are not only the clinical or research ones, which are also great. I invite you to exchange your ideas, your experience and your projects. Have you ever thought about volunteering in a public health project? Or do you know about a project which needs volunteers? If your answer is yes, then the SCOPH-Exchange is exactly for you!
What is the SCOPH Exchange? It is basically a platform for all the Volunteer Projects of IFMSA, which provides a network for these projects and at the same time gives medical students from all over the world the opportunity to support these projects as a volunteer (i.e. to work in an orphanage, to go on national health weeks, etc.) and to gain experience in the different fields of public health. Usually these projects last between 4-6 weeks.
Some of the projects who have already participated are: Orphanage Initiative from Rumania, Calcutta Village Project from India, Primary Health Care & Disease Prevention from Burkina Faso and Cepas from Brazil. I´m sure we can include projects from our region to grow and improve this platform.
If you want more information, Patrick Ezie our SCOPH RA from Africa and I are the coordinators of SCOPH Exchange, you can e-mail us to [email protected] or [email protected].
The SCOPH dream team will help you; Chris, our SCOPH Director, or any of our members will be pleased to assist you with your questions, suggestions and feedbacks, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
Think global… Act local!
Alhelí Calderón VillarrealSCOPH Regional Assistant the Americas
11 PAMSA HeartBeat
SCORA and SCOREDear PAMSA!
Here it is the fabulous Standing Committee on Research Exchange “SCORE” present. My name is Fiorella Salvador, and I am the SCORE Regional Assistant for the Americas. My mission is to help with the improvement and development of SCORE within our region and to serve as a link with the SCORE-D.
I will be working closely with you for the next year, especially with all the SCOREans… the blue family (The Blue Blood, you know!). I will be available to assist with any problems that you may face working as a NORE, and I want to make everyone feel part of a team. My main objective is to create a PAMSAean SCORE family!
Let me tell you a little bit more about my wonderful blue family. SCORE is in charge of the management of the research exchanges. Currently, we run over than 1,700 exchanges per year with more than 70 countries involved. We develop three different types of research projects: Basic Science, Clinical projects with lab work and Clinical projects without lab work. We have numerous projects within our extensive database! We also enjoy working with Global Health Projects, PreExchanges Trainings and exchange workshops. We even have an outstanding publication called SCOREview, which you cannot miss!
These exchanges are a great opportunity for future doctors to experience research, train themselves in different lab and clinical investigations and experience the diversity of different countries around the world.
PAMSA is still a young but growing region within SCORE. Presently, 14 out of the 20 NMOs in PAMSA work in SCORE, so I would like to invite everyone to join us and be part of this great network of medical students!
If you have any concerns, doubts or comments, please feel free to contact me anytime =D
Yours,
Fiorella SalvadorSCORE RA for the Americas
Hello, I’m Patricia Vázquez Rivas from Chihuahua, México. This year I’m the SCORA co-Regional Assistant for PAMSA. First of all let me welcome all of you to this amazing committee which is full of wonderful ideas and tons of possibilities. As a SCORAngel, I want to remind you why the job that we do is so important and how do we make a difference.
It’s unacceptable that so many lives are lost due to diseases such as AIDS, breast and cervical cancer and others that are completely preventable. But I’ve realized that if people don’t protect themselves is not due to indifference but because of ignorance.
Most of the people ignore basic information on the prevention and they don’t know about the risk factors they are getting exposed to. That is why it is fundamental that we try to put a stop to these diseases through our campaigns and informing people, because information is the first step to prevention, and prevention is the best medicine.
You may not get money or personal benefits from all of this, but I can assure you will have the great satisfaction of knowing we helped saving lives. Some may call us naïve, say that we can not change the world or that is just a little group of people fighting against these diseases… but, fortunately, that’s not the case. We are making a difference! With one person that changes his way of thinking and acting because we provided the right information, and saves his life and other people lives trough prevention is more than enough. Because acting locally we obtain global results, and big changes begin individually.
The IFMSA and the SCORA have given us the opportunity to serve a large amount of people, and I invite you to keep doing this! We can make a difference; we can reach more people and make even bigger changes! I do believe we can change the world, it’s just matter of believing we can and doing something about it as we already are.
So remember SCORAddicts, think global, act local! I hope I meet all of you soon, and let’s keep SCORA rocking!
LovePatricia
12 PAMSA HeartBeat
SCORPHave you ever wondered what a world of equality, respect, mutual acceptation and sharing would be like? You might not think that you, as medical students or even as doctors, could actually do anything to reach this perfect world drawn by the universal respect of fundamental human rights and peace. You might also feel that it is not your responsibility, when in fact, you can take charge.
As future doctors, you will have a population’s well-being in your hands. Through your counseling and personal choices, you will influence your patient’s everyday life and opinions. You must be a model and demonstrate the importance of your actions, caring for patients of different socioeconomic levels, fighting for one’s right to be treated and to receive the necessary medicine. Moreover, you will be the health expert, and we all know that social justice and life’s conditions are closely related to health and well-being.
If you believe in social justice, in your power to fight for it, I ask you to join us within the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace (SCORP). We all work together to let the world know that we care for people around us and that we care for the absolute respect of human rights. Medical students of the Americas along with the rest of the world will gather around principles of equality.
An additional theme involves the access to essential medicines and concern for neglected populations. I still cannot believe that individuals around the world can die from diseases due to low socioeconomic status. I cannot understand how individuals can face social rejection for trivial concepts, such as ethnicity or sexual orientation. I do not accept that the aboriginal people, those who lived in our fields long before we did, are now facing the worst health conditions when compared to other population groups in our countries.
My name is Marc-André Lavallée, and I am your current Regional Assistant for the SCORP. Last year, I worked to raise the SCORP in our national member organization (IFMSA-Québec), motivated by all that I described above. This year, I want to make sure that everyone has the necessary tools to prepare campaigns and to raise a strong SCORP in their countries. I also want to improve sharing between our different countries because we often face the same problems.
What matters the most? You! Without you, my position does not mean anything. I need you to describe your projects as well as what stimulates or frustrates you. Do you feel enraged and ashamed when you see people dying around you from not having enough money to treat themselves? Transform your frustrations into concrete and positive actions! It is irrelevant whether you hold an IFMSA position, because real actions come from people and crowds.
I think that there are two ways to make change happen. First, you act as a model when you participate in a movement and fight for your principles. Second, you can educate and sensitize people so that they understand and may join your cause. SCORP allows you to do both, so come with us and act for what you believe in!
Marc-André LavalléeSCORP RA for the Americas
13 PAMSA HeartBeat
WHat makes a Good mediCal eduCation?
Abraham Flexner had an answer 100 years ago. In his 1910, Flexner report he found that a lack of quality and direction in medical education was producing ill-equipped physicians that compromised patient care. His recommendations to integrate modern science into curricula and set standards in education created unprecedented advancement in medical education. This “good” medical education contributed to the doubling of life span in the 20th century in countries around the world1.
Today, our healthcare systems worldwide face new problems and our medical education is not keeping peace. Modern science has brought us medical advancements, but increased demands on students already facing “too much to learn”. Life span and quality of life has increased, but also created new infectious, environmental, and behavioural diseases to treat. Globalization allows us to travel the world, but has brought new pandemics wherever we go. Worldwide and across disciplines resources exist to treat natural and human-made disease, but growing gaps and inequities within and between countries hinders the healing. In this interdependent world that knows no social or regional boundaries, our healthcare systems are struggling to survive new and emerging threats. As future physicians it is our medical education that will train us to overcome them.
Medical education should be a concern of every medical student. It shapes not only the quality of future doctors, but also the quality of healthcare. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) Standing Committee on Medical Education (SCOME) believes that all medical students should have an optimal learning environment for the benefit of their healthcare system, locally and globally.
Focusing on curriculum development, resource sharing, and training, we provide a discussion forum for all medical students interested in medical education to share knowledge, skills, and tools needed to build better education in their schools, countries, and worldwide.
Medical students can make a difference. We can have a say in what is important in our medical education. We can and should share medical knowledge to fill gaps and break down inequities.
And working together we must move forward to implement new medical education reform including the recommendations in the recent Global Commission on Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century2
,3.
We live in an exciting time of change in healthcare systems worldwide, starting with transformation in our medical education. As your Pan-American Medical Students’ Association SCOME Regional Assistant I will work with you to understand the medical education needs of your country, help our region work together to overcome its medical education hurdles, and ultimately help you strengthen healthcare systems locally and globally.
What makes a good medical education?
Great medical students working together worldwide. Together we will transform education to strengthen healthcare systems in our brave new interdependent world.
Ian PereiraPAMSA SCOME RA 2010-2011
1 Flexner A. Medical education in the United States and Ca-nada: a report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance-ment of Teaching. New York: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1910. 2 Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, et al. Health professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet 2010; published online Nov 29. 3 Stigler, Florian; Duvivier, Robbert; Weggemans M, Salzer H. Health professionals for the 21st century : a student’s view. Lancet. 2010;6736(10):5-6.
14 PAMSA HeartBeat
Hiv in an ever-evolvinG World
They had months, maybe years to live at most. Today, in Western society, people can be tested for HIV with high accuracy 4 months after the moment that they have come into contact with the virus and have their results in 20 minutes. They then have access to antiretroviral therapy and can live long and fruitful lives.
We have our work cut out for us. South East Asia and Sub Saharan Africa have HIV rates that are still on the rise, poor use of protection and practically no access to antiretroviral therapy. We do not yet have a cure and the world population is not yet fully aware of what this virus is, but we are getting closer.
In 2000, the members of the United Nations came together and set the 10 Millennium Development Goals. The sixth goal was to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Although we have made progress on this front globally, many countries have been unable to aid in the achievement of this goal. However; we, the SCORAngels of the world, can rest assured that we have made a difference on this issue.
SCORAddicts, we are the change, we are the future and we will stop the spread of AIDS!
Aris HadjinicolaouSCORA RA for the Amercias
Since it’s discovery in 1981 the human immunodeficiency virus has been the subject of thousands of studies worldwide. But why does one virus call so much attention upon itself? Is it because it can single-handedly destroy one’s immune system? Is it because it’s a human rights issue, because the rest of society stigmatizes people living with HIV? Is it because the transmission is constantly increasing and it’s a public health issue? Is it because it affects over 33 million people worldwide?
All these reasons are valid and they are why the “A” in SCORA is so important to thousands of medical students around the world. For years, we all have been working hard; planning as many activities as we could for World AIDS Day, raising awareness around us about this pandemic and eliminating stigma wherever we see it. We have educated others through peer education, we have organized conferences, we have marched in solidarity for all those who are stigmatized and we have lit candles in the memory of all those who have passed away from this devastating disease.
We are the change, the reason that AIDS will be eradicated one day. We will become the researchers who will find a cure, who will discover better protection, who will educate others on what AIDS used to do. What makes me so confident about this? In 1981, when someone was diagnosed with AIDS this was in the later stages of the disease and the prognosis was never good.
15 PAMSA HeartBeat
Canadian Pre-deParture traininG
A Closer Look at Canadian Pre-departure Training Core Competencies
Canadian medical students leading peer preparation for safe, ethical, and effective placements in low-resource settings.
Interest in global health continues to expand with more than 30% of graduating American medical students had participated in a global health experience during medical school in 20101. The literature has documented the benefits of elective experiences abroad in low resource settings: students have reported enhanced clinical skills, and those who travel to such settings more readily admit the importance of being culturally aware of patient populations and more likely want to pursue a career in working with underserved populations2. However, elective experiences can also be harmful to both the medical learner and the community that the student works with, especially when the learner is ill-prepared for their elective. Pre-departure training that is developed specifically for medical students aims to better prepare learners for their electives to maximize the learning potential and mitigate the modifiable risks of their experiences abroad or in low resource settings.
Recent years have seen incredible progress towards ensuring Canadian medical students are adequately prepared for electives in low resource settings, nationally and internationally. Some fortunate schools have faculty-led training but consistently there has been significant local and national student leadership. In 2008, the Global Health Resource Group of the Associations of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC-GHRG) and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) co-authored the National Pre-Departure Training (PDT) Guidelines3 outlining core competencies for PDT: Personal Health, Travel Safety, Cultural Competency, Language Competency, and Ethical Considerations.
1. Personal Health training guides decision-making around immunizations, personal protective equipment, health insurance, region-specific health risks such as HIV, malaria, and TB. Additionally, schools such as McMaster University provide HIV post-exposure prophylaxis kits to students travelling to an area of significant risk.
2. Travel safety addresses risks encountered on electives, including loss or theft, motor vehicle collisions, political unrest, gender-related concerns and weather warnings. PDT encourages emergency preparedness and risk assessment plans, registration with embassies, travel advisories, and packing safety essentials.
3. Cultural Competency can become a heightened issue. PDT focuses on understanding the concept of cultural safety as well as region specific sociopolitical history, gender roles, frameworks for health, and traditional health practices. Training encourages continual learning prior to, and throughout an elective. Hopefully, this appreciation benefits patient care as well as improving relationships students form and impressions they leave.
4. Language competency is critical to communicate with patients, fellow learners, preceptors, and other members of the healthcare team and local community. PDT addresses the use of translators, non-verbal communication, and necessary language development.
5. Ethical considerations experienced in these electives are often distressing to students in content or magnitude. PDT promotes understanding of such ethical challenges (e.g., resources used in going abroad, consent and power dynamics), allows students to evaluate personal motivations for conducting electives, discusses roles and responsibilities appropriate to student level of training, and outlines licensing and malpractice insurance issues.
Despite guidelines, the 2009 CFMS PDT survey revealed a scattered approach to PDT across Canada. Some schools have well-established and sustainable programs while others offer it on an ad-hoc basis depending on available resources and student leadership.
Although often beneficial, these uncoordinated and inconsistent approaches limit the overall effectiveness of training.
Consistent national competencies serve as a necessary framework for more effective training. By promoting their use and ensuring their continued relevance we will move towards faculty-driven, standardized training that facilitates coordinated approaches to training delivery, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement.
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Canadian Pre-deParture traininG
The CFMS Pre-Departure Training Working Group, in collaboration with our stakeholders3, including the Canadian Association of Internes and Residents (CAIR), the Canadian Society of International Health (CSIH), and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), continue to make progress. At the student level, we have also continued in our advocacy efforts for PDT with new initiative to have PDT accredited through the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the body that accredits all Canadian and the majority of American medical schools.
The goal to have PDT become an accreditation standard is to facilitate sustainable faculty support for PDT. Recent resolutions at CMA4 and CSIH5 have supported expanded PDT to help students select appropriate electives and provide support on-the-ground and upon return. A CFMS-led international working group that arose from the IFMSA August 2009 Meeting developed the Ethical Guidelines for IFMSA Exchanges6 which addresses some of these pre-engagement ethical issues. These guidelines recommend criteria which all IFMSA clinical exchanges should meet to create a safe and fruitful experience for learners. Additionally, at the IFMSA August 2010 Meeting, PDT attained IFMSA endorsement, with an objective to partner with other NMOs to generate PDT guidelines that are relevant to all students pursuing international electives. Such initiatives place Canada in a position to encourage and lead PDT collaborations at an international level for best practices ensuring students, those they care for, and those they work with, get maximum benefit from safe, ethical, and effective placements.
Gail Robson and Eileen Cheung on behalf of the CFMS Pre-Departure Training Working Grouphttp://[email protected]
1. Association of American medical Colleges. Medical stu-dent graduation questionnaire. Washington, DC: Asso-ciation of American Medical Colleges, 2010. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/download/140716/data/2010_gq_all_schools.pdf
2. Godkin M, Savageau J. The effect of medical students’ in-ternational experiences on attitudes toward serving under-served multicultural populations. Fam Med. Apr 2003; 35(4): 273-278.
3. Anderson K, Bocking N. Preparing Medical Students for Electives in Low-Resource Settings : A Template for Natio-nal Guidelines for Pre-Depa rture Training. AFMC Global Health Resource Group CFMS Global Health Program. May 2008. Available at: http://www.cfms.org/pictures/file/Global Health/Pre-Departure Guidelines Final.pdf.
4. Roona DS, Jillian Schwartz D. PDT CMA Resolution (DM 5-28). Canadian Medical Association Annual Mee-ting. September 2010. Available at: http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/CMA/Content_Images/Inside_cma/Annual_Meeting/2010/resolutions/BD11-009_GC_Resolutions.pdf.
5. Fung S, Raza D, Pereira I. PDT CSIH Resolution. Cana-dian Conference on Global Health: Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of International Health; 2010 Oct 31-Nov 3; Ottawa, Ontario.
6. Slatnik M et al. Ethical Guidelines for IFMSA Clinical Ex-changes. Forthcoming 2011.
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letters from PamsaWhat does IFMSA Argentina means to me?It is the effort we do when we want to climb a mountain, that wild desire to scream “I love it!”; that feeling when you wake up smiling or even go to bed happy, knowing that you got the job done. It is a group of people with thousands of qualities, friends that not only have Medicine in common, but also want to give their best to “be the change you want to see in the world”.
Last April we committed ourselves to create this wonderful and amazing group called IFMSA Argentina. I’m not going to say it was all easy from the beginning, it was really hard on us sometimes, but I have to say, I don’t think we ever lack motivation, because, to be honest, we have plenty of it. We were never alone, since the other NMOs, especially PAMSA, Geni, Fio and Andrea always reached out for us, giving invaluable advice and the tools we needed to keep on the right track.
We had a hard time getting people motivated, many of them said to us: “I don’t even know what that is, do you really think it’s going to work in Argentina?” But you know what? Today I tell them: “I DO KNOW WHAT IS AND IT SURELY WORKS!
Our projects were born little by little… before being accepted as an official IFMSA member, we counted two full projects done in our list. Even when we didn’t have the certainty of what could happen in Canada (“what if we got a NO for an answer from the EB? What if we came back with nothing but empty hands?”) it never crossed my mind that we should not give it a chance; because it’s hard to fail, but it’s even worse to not having at least tried.
Until one day I came to realize that, no matter the response we would get from the EB, nothing was going to stop us now, since we all got a plan B: Moving on with our community projects and helping everyone that needed aid. But the wind was blowing in our favor and again, thanks to the PAMSA and IFMSA-Spain help, the ugly no became the wonderful ¡YES!
I have three great memories in my life, and becoming part of IFMSA as IFMSA-Argentina is one of them. I still remember the applause, the joy, the support and the excitement. Those feelings will never leave me and I’m so thankful for it.
We came back to Argentina with a smile from cheek to cheek, and the warmth of everyone that was waiting for us gave us new-found happiness. Now it is the beginning of a new stage, as members of IFMSA we have the major task of becoming an NMO, representing IFMSA in our country and doing our projects with our heads up high. We are proud and willing to work very hard.
I tell everyone out there that wants to become a part of IFMSA, that it’s not that hard, it’s possible. You just need to want it, is very important to know the necessary standards to be part of IFMSA, like the deadlines, creating constitution and bylaws (of course according to your country), you do not even need to travel to a GA to apply.
But the experience of going to a GA is unbelievable, you learn things that you never thought of, you open yourself to other cultures, other realities and other ways of living Medicine. You realize how big the IFMSA is, and you get that crazy urge of giving away all your knowledge to everyone that desires this as much as you. That’s what recruiting is about, and that’s how IFMSA encouraged us to ‘be the change you want to see in the world’.
Everyone here in Argentina has something to give, and that has helped us a lot to grow as an NMO, to continue to improve every day, and maybe, someday, we can reach every corner of our country. We definitely want to follow the example that Chile, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Bolivia and so many other countries set for us.
We are a team, and it’s so great to feel that just in one reunion you can meet wonderful people and real friends that, even thousands of miles away, are still connected by all those things we want to make for a better world, to help without asking anything in return, to train ourselves in order to be better doctors in the future, not only by acquiring academic tools, but also those skills which make you a better person, that help you grow and share every single thing the IFMSA gives you.
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letters from Pamsa
A letter to my family
According to the RAE (Real Academia de la Lengua Española) the definition of “familia” goes from group of people related to bee swarm.
For us, there is one that seems to be acceptable: group of people having a condition, opinion or tendence in common. However, this definition does not symbolize the feeling of the members of this amazing family that is PAMSA. For IFMSA Peru, to be part of PAMSA is much more than participating in a regional ensemble; it is a feeling because you just need to go to our Regional Meeting to feel like at home. It is to be joyful, knowing that nothing bad can happen, and to be sure that even if there are some arguments we will reach an agreement and be happy sharing nice moments.
Having the opportunity to work with you, bros’ and sis’, is a blessing. During the Assemblies we always have unforgettable moments – we work, we laugh, we cry and obviously we dance… you know that PAMSA is characterized by its happiness.
A memorable moment that will be in our hearts forever (we even cried a little bit about it) was the AM10, offered by our PAMSean brother IFMSA-Quebec, when IFMSA-Argentina became part of the family, and IFMSA-Grenada accomplished their objective, to become a full member.
Our applauses and emotion were endless, and the love, the joy and the brotherhood that characterized us was filling the air. We believe that, until now, no other Region has achieved those special things that we are acknowledged for as PAMSA.
A thank you is the only thing left to say. Thanks for the smiles, the love… for being you and for continuing to give us a bow of trust as brothers… at last, as a family.Love,
IFMSA Peru
It’s not enough to say THANK YOU again and again. I think the IFMSA world is a gift that I would love to share with every medical student in Argentina. I sincerely hope one day we’ll reach them all, make them proud of being a part of this and give them the opportunity to express themselves because that is what will make us better medical students today and the best doctors tomorrow.
THANK YOU IFMSA FAMILY! EVERYONE IN ARGENTINA IS THANKFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT. I hope we will go through this wonderful path together.
Francisca AlvealVicepresident of External Affairs
IFMSA-Argentina
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faCts of tHe ifmsa offiCials
– IFMSA is managed by an International Board, the Team of Officials (TO).
– Within the TO there is an Executive Board (EB).
– The EB has 5 positions: president, VPI, VPE, treasurer and secretary general.
– The rest of the TO: • Standing Committee Directors (6). • Support Division Directors: Alumni, Publications, New Technologies, Trainings and Projects. • Regional Coordinators (5). • Liaison Officers (9). • Supervising Council (5). • There is one RC for each Region (Africa, EMR, Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe).
– The Liaison Officers take care of relations with externals in different fields.
– The EB is elected at the March Meeting, the rest of the TO at the August Meeting.
– The term for Officials goes from October 1st to September 30th, both for the EB and TO.
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