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IFMSA Asia-Pacific Regional Newsletter - Issue #2 - March 2021  View this email in your browser 
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Editorial

A message from the Regional Director for Asia-Pacific

Dear IFMSA Asia-Pacific,

I hope that this publication finds you well. To those that have participated actively in our online General Assembly March Meeting 2021, I hope that it was an enjoyable experience, and that you were able to discover the wonders of IFMSA, albeit in an online setting. The past three months have been eventful, and we have seen the energy of the Asia-Pacific coalesce in more ways than ever before.

As you browse through the second edition of the IFMSA Asia-Pacific Newsletter “AP View”, you will find our Regional Team Updates, Events on an International, Regional and National level, as well as any upcoming events. We have also added a new section “AProfile” to highlight notable profiles from across Asia-Pacific region..

The Asia-Pacific Regional Team has been working tirelessly during the first half of the term, amidst personal struggles, academic commitments and ever-changing schedules, and have managed to stay true to the spirit of IFMSA, working towards a vision of thinking globally, collaborating regionally, and acting locally. I must thank them for their perseverance, and must also kindly ask for you, as medical students of the Asia-Pacific region, to keep your eyes peeled for all that we have to offer.

Happy reading!


Best Regards,

Mathew Chow, RD Asia-Pacific 2020-21

On behalf of Asia-Pacific Regional Team 2020-21
Aarya, Hiba, James, Kenneth, Kevin, Mathew, Michelle, Myesha, Poorvaprabha, Prinrasar, Putri, Shashank, and Tomoki

 

Asia-Pacific Regional Team 20/21 Updates

OGA March Meeting 2021

 

This year's March Meeting 2021, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, is held in an online setting. The Meeting took place from 26th of February to 14th of March. This included Plenaries, Sessions, Activities, and Theme events. 

All AP NMOs had sent their delegations to the March Meeting 2021 and we have up to 323 participants from the Asia-Pacific region!

Memberships
We are happy to announce and congratulate that both AMSA-Kyrgyzstan (AMSA-KG), and Afghanistan Medical Students Association (AMSA-Afghanistan) had successfully upgraded their membership to full membership after gaining their candidate membership in the March Meeting 2020. This had proven both NMOs had sustainable and rapid development hence gained the trust of other NMOs in our federation. We are now a 20-member strong family, with 19 full members and 1 associate member. Looking forward to seeing the continuation of growth within our region and hopefully, we will have new members joining our Asia-Pacific region family in the next General Assembly.

Name Change of AP NMOs
In this General Assembly, we had 3 AP NMOs change their NMO name. They are as follows:

  • SiMSA-Singapore to AMSA SG or Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) Singapore
  • Phenomenon Uzbekistan to Uzbekistan Medical Students' Association (UzMSA)
  • Razi`s Medical Students Association (RMSA-Afghanistan) to Afghanistan Medical Students Association (AMSA-Afghanistan)


Rex Crossley Award and Activities Fair Awards
Activities are also an important part of our federation. In each General Assembly, we will have the presentation of the Rex Crossley Award and Activities Fair Awards to highlight outstanding activities from NMOs.

Rex Crossley Award 2021 results

  • 1st Place: Fresh COVID-19 Perspective in a Halted World (AMSAHK Hong Kong)
  • 2nd Place: Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Campaign (MSAI India)
  • 3rd Place: Research Integration in Medical Education (LeMSIC Lebanon)


MM 2021 Activities Fair Awards results

  • The Wow Award: International Day of Peace 2020 (CIMSA-Indonesia)
  • The “Changemaker” Award: LAMHA: Lockdown Affecting Mental Health of Homemakers Adversely (MSAI India)
  • The “Avant-garde” Award: Flex-Joint (KazMSA Kazakhstan)


Congratulations to all awardees and we look forward to seeing more wonderful activities from the AP Region!

Elections
During the March Meeting 2021, the new Executive Board (EB) for the term 2021/2022 is elected. We have two members from the Asia Pacific Region elected as the next EB members, are Sahiba Maniar and Rajesh Sharma. They, with the elected Executive Board, will lead our federation to greater heights in the next term. 

EB-Elect (2021/2022) is as follows:

  • President: Mohamed El Amine Youcef Ali (LeSouk-Algeria)
  • Vice-President for Activities: Sahiba Maniar (MSAI India)
  • Vice-President for Finance: Rajesh Sharma (NMSS-Nepal)
  • Vice-President for Capacity Building: Zainulabdden Muthanna Ibrahim AL-BADRI (IFMSA-Iraq)
  • Vice-President for External Affairs: Maria Inês Francisco Viva (ANEM Portugal)
  • Vice-President for Members: vacant
  • Vice President for Public Relations & Communication: Mustafa Hushyar Mohammed Ameen Kamala (IFMSA-Kurdistan)


Finally, MMSA-Macedonia was elected as the host for the 71st General Assembly March Meeting 2022 and will invite IFMSA members to their home after last hosting an IFMSA General Assembly in August 2015. We wish to see one another in the near future.

Asia-Pacific Regional Session

MM2021’s Asia-Pacific Regional Session was held on March 8th, and with more than 240 members actively participating. 

There were two interactive sessions in total - the first surrounded our Asia-Pacific Regional Priorities - Planetary Health, Mental Health, and CSE, while the second was a more traditional ‘Presidents’ and Standing Committee Parallel Session’. You may read more about these sessions below, as detailed by my Regional Team.

Overall, the AP Regional Sessions were a success - we were able to have a smooth Regional Plenary, passing multiple Regional Regulations Change Proposals, and were able to crystallise and congregate the ideas and thoughts of medical students across our region on important topics. I look forward to seeing more achievements and improvements of the Asia-Pacific NMOs and individual members in the near future!

AP SIG on Planetary Health

Tomoki Kishaba (SCORP RA for AP),
Kevin Alvaro Handoko (SCORE RA for AP),
Michelle Choa (AP DA), Shashank Timilsina (AP FA)

We have invited Omnia (IFMSA Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues) to talk about Planetary Health and youth involvement in IFMSA. At first, she has introduced the systematic and individualistic health impacts that climate change is bringing. Then she has explored the actions we can take at the local, national and international level, by introducing the opportunities in IFMSA.

Though Climate Change is the biggest health threat of the 21st century, only 15% of the medical school had a mention of climate change in the curriculum. As a future healthcare provider, we need to know more about this potential health emergency. Omnia’s session was a good start for the coming Planetary Health SIG month in April. We are truly excited to further advocate together soon!

 

AP SIG on Mental Health

James Haley Young (SCOME RA for AP)
 Hiba M. Thasleem (SCOPH RA for AP),
Putri Azzahra Nur Azrina (AP DA)

Our main objective for the session was to introduce the idea of our SIG on Mental Health, highlight our goals, and promote our themed month in May. The session started off with Putri highlighting the initiative of SIG and its goals for the Asia Pacific region. This was followed by Hiba delving into the topic of Mental Health and how the SIG members decided to break it into two main themes to address the multitude of focus areas in Mental Health. James later proceeded with introducing the concept of the Global Health Workforce, the relation it has with Mental Health, and the need to promote GHWF in IFMSA as a part of IFMSA’s Global Priorities.

The activity was then carried out by the participants where they spoke of mental health in various topics of people-centered approach and profession-centered approach. Stay tuned for Mental Health Themed Month in May! We hope you are as excited as we are!

 

AP SIG on Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Myesha Maliha Prema (SCORA RA for AP),
Prinrasar Mongkolkul (SCOPE RA for AP),
Tsz Chun Lam (AP GA)

SIG on CSE session was facilitated by Myesha, Prinrasar, and Chun Lam. The session’s name was CSE for generations because comprehensive sexuality education is believed to be a necessity for all age groups. The session started with what is CSE and what are its basic components, what are the levels at which implementation of CSE is necessary followed by small working groups where participants were allocated different age groups and were asked to design a session with age-appropriate contents for those specific age groups. This was a warming-up session for the upcoming CSE SIG and we are truly excited for our further activities on CSE.

 

AP SCOPE x SCORE Session

SCORE and SCOPE conducted collaborative sessions facilitated by Kevin Alvaro Handoko (SCORE RA AP) and Prinrasar Mongkolkul (SCOPE RA AP). In this session, we were introducing the most basic yet the most important for Exchanges development: 9 Steps of Academic Quality and How To Improve Them, including the importance of Academic Quality for Academic Recognition.

In this session, we also have an activity and presentation on how to improve the current steps of Academic Quality. The participants are divided into 4 groups, with 2 groups focus on NMOs development and the other 2 focuses on LCs development.

This session is perfect for acquainting general members to the importance of Academic Quality in the Asia-Pacific region as well as improving LCs and NMOs Academic Quality. Hopefully, all of the discussion on improvement will be implemented in LCs and NMOs level; and new members would be interested in engaging with Exchanges!
Bluest Hugs!

AP SCOME x SCORA Session

SCOME conducted a collaborative session with SCORA on “sexual discrepancies on medical education”. The session started with an ice breaker with discussion on the evidence of sexual discrepancies in their medical school, thoughts on body image, gender differences and possible solutions to these problems.

In the second part of the session we discussed the relevance of STIs in medical education and how it can be changed to a more ‘socially accountable’ approach. The whole session was designed to address challenges relevant regionally and we hope to have more joint sessions in the future. It was a pleasure working with SCORA and through such an initiative, we would like to continue on with the theme of intersectionality.

 

AP SCORP Session

In response to the recent events in Asia-Pacific, we have decided to deliver this session on the topics of “Human rights and democracy”. Exploring the definition of democracy, we have exchanged the ideas on the essentials of democracy and if democracy is needed to protect human rights or not. 

Thanks to the motivated and inspirational delegates coming across the Asia-Pacific regions, we had truly productive discussion. We will further advocate for human rights and peace, by making AP and the entire world much more greener!! 

AP SCOPH Session

In order to enhance knowledge of external affairs among the SCOPHeroes in the Asia Pacific region, this session was delivered by Iris Blom, the IFMSA LWHO and Poorvaprabha Patil, the EA RA AP, who enlightened the participants with their knowledge and experience in attending external events as part of the IFMSA delegation. Tips on how to apply for future opportunities were provided to encourage participants to take keen interest and apply for future external events.

For the activity, with the idea of representation in mind, the participants were divided into SWG and asked to prepare a 1-minute statement on SCOPH topics like UHC, AMR and Immunization Agenda. Wonderful statements were prepared by the participants in the limited time! Looking forward to more Asia Pacific members speaking up for Public Health in the future!

International Events

WHO Executive Board Meeting
Written by Hiba Thasleem, SCOPH Regional Assistant for IFMSA Asia-Pacific

One of the highlights this year was the opportunity to attend the 148th Executive Board Meeting of the World Health Organization, which took place on the 18th-26th of January. The delegation was led by Iris Blom, Liaison Officer to the WHO, included 11 delegates including 2 members from the Asia Pacific Region. The meeting started with the opening statement of the DG-WHO, Dr. Tedros, who expressed his concerns in vaccine equity and emphasized its importance with “no one is safe until everyone is safe.” The agenda items discussed during the 8-day meeting spanned across different health issues- some of the important topics included the COVID19 response and health emergencies, the involvement of Non-State Actors, and health innovation. IFMSA participated by delivering 8 statements on different topics, which were supported by the International Veterinary Students’ Association. The delegation also attended two side events, organized by the Geneva Global Health Hub, in advance of the meeting, and took a keen eye for youth watch and gender watch throughout the course of the meeting. To know more about the WHO EBM, do check out the link to the report here

APMEC 2021
Written by Tsz Chun Lam, General Assistant for IFMSA Asia-Pacific

The main conferences of Asia-Pacific Medical Education Conference took place on the 23rd-24th of January. The Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Mathew, led 11 delegates from 7 AP NMOs as IFMSA delegation to join the conference. This year's theme of the conference is “Continuing Medical Education: Building Resilience in Challenging Times”. With the situation of COVID-19 affecting Medical Education within the Asia-Pacific region, speakers from different countries shared how they adapted to these challenging times with different teaching approaches and methods. Although the event happened in an online setting, the discussion atmosphere is not affected. Mathew, the Regional Director, was also invited to share the perspective of medical students about adapting to the COVID-19 situation and what initiatives IFMSA had worked on to assist medical students.

WPAME Board Meeting
Written by Mathew Chow, Regional Director for IFMSA Asia-Pacific

The annual WPAME Board Meeting took place on February 25th, 2021, with the IFMSA RD Asia-Pacific, Mathew, representing IFMSA as a WPAME Board Member. IFMSA activities were presented during this WPAME Board Meeting, with particular emphasis on COVID-19 related initiatives within the Asia-Pacific Region. SCOME, SCOPE and SCORE related issues, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on global professional and research exchanges. 

Regional and National Events

APRO Talk

Written by Mathew Chow, Regional Director for Asia-Pacific

The world is vast and the jobs offered will vary. The oft-trodden path of working within the traditional healthcare setting - hospitals, pharmacies, private clinics, are the mainstay of job opportunities for graduates from health disciplines. However, a wide portfolio of possible job prospects presents themselves, as healthcare students are willing to continue their career development in inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, or the private sector. 

APRO Talk, which is an online talk show hosted by IPSF APRO,  aiming to educate and empower youth in various aspects. This special edition specifically focuses on interprofessional education and collaboration, particularly within careers in international organisations. It was the first collaboration between IPSF APRO and IVSA Asia during this tenure, in which 3 speakers, one from each discipline, were invited to share about their journeys as healthcare professionals, and their working pathways of interest in serving communities and societies through international organisations.

The two-hour event was held on February 21, 2021, with more than 400 participants from various healthcare disciplines. Overall, it was well-received as reflected from participant feedback and evaluation, and we hope to see more collaborations between student organisations on a regional level in the near future.

Climate Migration

Written by Tomoki Kishaba, SCORP Regional Assistant for Asia-Pacific

In the first half of 2020, 6.1 million were internally displaced due to climate change. Climate change is bringing more and more impacts on human rights and public health. To tackle this issue collaboratively, we have had APxEuro SCORPxSCOPH collaboration at the end of February. Through infographics, we have explored the impacts of global warming on both impacts. At the CB session for NPOs and NORPs, we have discussed the psychological first aid in response to natural disasters caused by climate change. Last but not least, during the webinar, we have talked about the situation of the environmental migrants, as well as youth engagement through the panel discussion. “We are the last generation who has a chance to stop climate change before it is too late”. From this collaboration we are hoping to further advocate for Planetary Health through intersectional approach!

Gender Bias in Research

Written by Putri Azzahra Nur Azrina, Development Assistant for Asia-Pacific

Gender bias in research was conducted as an intersectional session arranged by SCORA and SCORE of the Asia-Pacific. The bias against women in academia is a documented phenomenon that has had detrimental consequences, not only for women but also for the quality of science. Gender bias in academia affects female scientists, resulting in their underrepresentation in academic institutions, particularly in higher ranks. The second type of gender bias in science relates to some findings applying only to male participants, which produces biased knowledge. This session was facilitated by Myesha Maliha Prema as SCORA RA for AP, Kevin Alvaro Handoko as SCORE RA for AP, and Klaudia Szymuś as NORA for IFMSA-Poland and former SCORA GA. This session was live-streamed in the IFMSA AP Facebook group and is still accessible to all, kindly click here to watch the recorded session.

Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2021

Written by Salin Amponnavarat, Vice President for External Affairs, IFMSA-Thailand

The Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) is an annual international conference which gathers global health leaders to discuss global health agendas. Under the theme of "COVID-19 Advancing Towards an Equitable and Healthy World", PMAC2021 was hosted on a virtual platform and attended by over 30 delegates from IFMSA-Thailand, who also contributed as rapporteurs. The Conference was very insightful and highlighted key approaches such as One Health, Building Back Greener and Regional Cooperation. All in all a one-of-a-kind experience!

IFMSA-Thailand and IFMSA have also co-hosted a virtual side meeting on “Investigating the Role of Digital Health in Healthcare Emergencies” to explore how digital transformation of health can influence changes in the healthcare sector, moderated by Bhoowit Lerttiandamrong (IFMSA-TH Liaison to PMAC). You can watch the recorded session through this link or read our summary report here!

For those interested, we hope to welcome all of you to PMAC2022 in Bangkok! Please stay tuned for the updates.

My fight for mental health.  Tell us what helps you maintain your mental health with a poster

Written by Preeti Boddu, National Public Health Officer, AMSA-Kyrgyzstan

The event was held on 10th September on the occasion of world suicide prevention day. 

As the pandemic had made and still is continuing to make a lot of snake pits and tumbles, everything is deteriorating and drastically changing on one hand and the stress levels are bumping up on the other.

Like animals in a zoo, we were also caught up between the walls of our houses, but the only   difference is that we are fortunate enough to raise our voice and speak, and, think and imagine our best to reduce this stress and keep our mental health at sanity. 

SCOPH-KG came up with this event and helped the public realize what they can do to maintain their mental health.  This event was a huge ice breaker and a stress buster and at the same time an awareness program as to what we can do to keep our mental health at peace."

Bahagi: Social Accountability Workshop for Medical Students

Written by Asher Jethro Veleña, National Officer on Medical Education, AMSA-Philippines

The Standing Committee on Medical Education (SCOME) of AMSA-Philippines had the opportunity to pilot a social accountability workshop at San Beda University College of Medicine in Manila. This workshop was intended to advocate for social accountability in medical school. The workshop was attended by the 25 selected applicants from different year levels of SBU-COM from 1st year to 4th year. Different stakeholders were present in the workshop. It was attended by the Dean, Vice-dean, Program Coordinator of Family and Community Medicine, and the Unit Head for Curriculum and Instructions. The workshop was facilitated by James Young, the SCOME RA of Asia-Pacific Region, and Ali Channawi, the SCOME-D of IFMSA.


WHO Simulation in Japan



Written by Risa Sugimoto, Organizing Chair, IFMSA Japan


Last month, we held our annual WHO Simulation event. Our topic this year was, “Emergency medicine and disaster management during a pandemic.” Participants were able to utilize actions taken during this ongoing pandemic when crafting their resolutions. Though it was our third time hosting this event, it proved to be more memorable since it was the first time being hosted online. Our staff prepared meticulously in order to provide an environment so no participant was left behind, even if we could not meet face-to-face. In the end, we were able to get many satisfactory comments and passed three great resolutions. Hopefully, this event will be carried on for many years to come!

National Policymaking Workshop

Written by Salin Amponnavarat, Vice President for External Affairs, IFMSA-Thailand

On 25 February, IFMSA-Thailand has kickstarted our very first national policy initiatives. The topics nominated by our three standing committees are Open Science, Freedom of Expression, and Mental Health. The External Affairs Team organized a Policy 101 workshop for our enthusiastic SWG members to introduce them to policy and advocacy, the policymaking process including policy writing. We were joined by Poorva, our External Affairs Regional Assistant who gave us advice from her experience with national policymaking. We are very excited about this journey and hope to share with AP the outcome of this initiative.

People's Plan for the 21st Century Online Conference

Written by Napassorn Wongakkarakhun, Liaison for SCORP, IFMSA-Thailand

People's Plan for the 21st Century is an 1-day online conference on the topic of "Youth and Social Change in Asia: A Cry for Justice, Freedom, and Democracy amidst the Global Crisis", hosted by the PP21 Alliance of Hope: A Transborder People's Alliance and co-sponsored by CFODA and ARENA Hong Kong. IFMSA-Thailand's Liaison Officer for Human Rights and Peace and SCORP member had the opportunity to present the key issues raised by Thai citizens in their protest against the current coup d'état as well as hear from other aspiring youth activists from Asia-Pacific. IFMSA-Thailand’s standpoint on police brutality was also highlighted in addition to the introduction of the organization’s core values.

Medical School: Choosing the “Right One” for you

Written by Thanyaporn Teeraputorn, National Officer on Medical Education, IFMSA-Thailand

Deciding which medical school is the best fit for you has never been an easy task for any pre-med student, especially those studying in Thailand, where the options are seemingly endless. Especially during the pandemic, when there are fewer on-site events, students may have difficulties navigating through the correct website for each respective medical school, which can be extremely time-consuming and taxing. 

To help aid this issue, SCOME Thailand has produced the ""Pre-Med"" project to assist students in selecting which medical schools to apply for. The Pre-Med project is a series of posts specifying significant points about all of the major medical schools in Thailand. The content covered in our project includes the syllabus/curriculum, tuition fee, application round/process, study location, faculty events/activities, and interesting faculty projects as well as links for each respective university for students who want further information. 

World AIDS Day: Going to the Three Zero, Will We Be Able To?

Written by Annisa Nurul Azrina, VPE for LC CIMSA FK YARSI, CIMSA Indonesia

"SCORA of LC CIMSA FK YARSI held a webinar with the topic of "Going to the Three Zero, Will We Be Able To?" to celebrate World AIDS Day.

This webinar discussed HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. Topics addressed are ways to prevent HIV transmission, how to avoid stigmatization of PLWHA, preventing HIV/AIDS complications, and how to get counseling during pandemics. There were 2 sessions for different audiences, first for the general public and the second one as PLWHA counseling session.

Notable speakers of this event were from UNAIDS Indonesia, Indonesian Society of Dermatology & Venereology, Indonesian Society of Internal Medicine, Indonesia AIDS Coalition, and YARSI HIV Care."

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