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Dear IFMSA member,Welcome to the IFMSA’s monthly E-newsletter !As the IFMSA March General Assembly approaches, the eyes of theIFMSA world turn towards the United States, and Baltimore in particular. In the meantime, however, you can enjoy different updates from all over the world in our Newsletter. Read more about the Regional European Meet-ing, and updates from as far north as Quebec to as far south as Brazil, and everything in between. We hope to see you in Baltimore!Ismail El-Kharbotly - Newsletter Editor

February 2013

Issue1st

In this Issue

President´s Message

News and updates from:• NMOs Brazil Dominican Republic Iran Italy Jordan Libya Quebec

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News and updates from:• Sponsors

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Pulse oximetry is recently being recognized worldwide as a promising tool in neonatal screening for critical congenital heart diseases. Nicknamed in Brazil as the “Little Heart Test”, it has been endorsed in 2012 by the Brazilian Pediatrics Society and over forty cities, including Juiz de Fora, have already sanctioned laws which make the test locally mandatory. Despiteitsrelevance,theprocedureisgenerallyunknowninBrazilandinsufficientlyimplemented in maternity centers. Considering that, our local IFMSA committee has idealized an awareness campaign, in order to enlighten mothers and pregnant women onthetest’sbenefitsforthenewborncare.Accomplished within a week (10th- 14th December 2012), the campaign was held by fifty-twomedicalstudents,scheduledtovisitwaitingroomsatthematernitycenterofahospital, the pregnancy assistance service of a public healthcare center and a private pediatric clinic. Our approach included the distribution of instructive material and a brief verbal explanation on the subject.Asgroundwork, studentsattended toaqualification lecture ledbyaknowledgeablepediatric cardiologist, at which we have learned about the method, such as the main congenital diseases diagnosed by its appliance.According to participant’s testimonials, the waiting room public (around one hundred and eighty people) has overwhelmingly shown interest and receptivity to the informa-tion provided. They shared doubts and personal stories, encouraging our initiative. Vol-unteerstudentswerealsogreatlybenefitedwiththeopportunitytogetintouchwithourlocal community.Even though it has been an unprecedented campaign and will certainly need improve-ments, our main targets were achieved. Strongly committed to the enhancement of publichealth,webelievetohavegivenatiny,buthopefullysignificantcontributiontowiden popular health consciousness!

Brazil“Little Heart Test”: Time to broadcast!Júlia Boechat Farani, Local Public Health Officer, IFMSA Brazil

Dominican RepublicIFMSA-Dominican Republic celebrates World Cancer Day 2013Dr. Andrea De Lemos Kelner, NPO

Dr. Andrea De Lemos Kelner is a recent graduate from the Iberoamerican University (UNIBE) School of Medicine in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She served as theODEMLocalPublicHealthOfficer(LPO,2012)andiscurrentlytheODEMNationalPublicHealthOfficer(NPO,2013).FromFebruary4to15,2013,ourSCOPHteamdevelopedatwo-weekcampaigntoeducate our community about the dispelling myths and misconceptions about cancer. Using the theme, “Face up to Cancer” (“Hagámosle Frente al Cáncer”), the ODEM na-tional health initiative promoted health education through the social media from Febru-ary 4th to 10th, and through university and community health campaigns from February 11th to 17th. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, http://ifmsard.blogspot.com) provided theplatformtopromotehealthinformation,includingscientificarticles,statistics,web-pages and promotional messages. Health campaigns provided opportunities to wear ODEM World Cancer Day t-shirts, hang posters and distribute pamphlets within the uni-versities, hospitals and parks, including cancer statistics, risk factors and pathogenesis as well as the importance for primary and secondary prevention strategies for different cancer types (e.g. breast, cervical, liver, lung, prostate). By creating a dynamic video for the SCOPH campaign, ODEM members joined efforts with other IFMSA-SCOPH teams to promote cancer awareness across the globe:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofou4otoa7w&feature=youtu.be

IranStand Up 2 CancerAfter the call from Union of International Cancer Control (UICC) for translating materials of WCD, as our initial action we translated factsheets, infographics and posters to Farsi and prepared materials such as brochures for cancer awareness campaigns.On February 4th, the WCD, SCOPHians of 4 local committees conducted 2 projects in Tehran and Isfahan Cities.SCOPHians from Tehran and Beheshti local committees visited Cancer Patients at the Chemotherapy Ward of the Cancer Institute - Imam Khomeini Complex. Fifteen medical students participating in this project asked admitted cancer patients about their prob-lems,difficultiesandconcernsoverfriendlychatsandalsogavethempacksofthreebooks regarding cancer care.Moreover, on WCD, Isfahan university of medical sciences hosted 41 Isfahan and 9 Kashan SCOPHians gathered together to celebrate this day and introduce their pro-jectsaboutcancer.InthisgatheringUICCWCD2013themewasintroducedbyNPOand after that there was a big Cancer cake attired with a pink ribbon as the symbol of breast cancer. Thereafter both participating local committees introduced their cancer projects.Raising awareness is always of great concern. Young population and pupils seems to be the most appropriate target group in some cases specially for being educated on anissuelikecancer.Agreatdiscussablepartofthatislifestylemodificationpreferablyfrom early ages. From February 5th, Isfahan SCOPH Cancer Education at Schools started and by today more than 200 students and 60 parents have been educated and informed regarding various aspects of cancer, emphasizing prevention, screening and earlydetection.Classeshavebeenheld in3differenthighschoolsofIsfahancity.Ateam of more than 15 medical students are involved in this project and have planned for going to more schools until March.WCD is only one day; IRAN-SCOPH cancer projects will be continued.

ItalySISM Italy National General Assembly, a new way to organize eventsFrom the 8th to the 11th of November 2012 in Genova, SISM Italy organized its National Genaral Assembly.We thought about an alternative idea of convention, based on a low environmental impact and without wasting money. From to this idea, we decided that the issues discussed during the assembly had to be supported by a practical organization of the event, based on sustainability and attention to the environment.That’s why we decided to move to a small village in the countryside, in order to interact with the local community,whohelpedusfindaccommodation (thestudentsslept inseven different small hotels, all close to each other) and provided meals for all the participants every day.Foodwasmadeusinglocalproductsonly;groceriescamefromthefieldsaroundthevillage.The gadget for the participants was a metal water bottle, in order to eliminate plastic waste. These items were part of “Battle to the Bottle” project, a SISM initiative thought for avoiding the waste of plastic bottles in Italian medical universities.All the stationary items (paper, pens, pencils, folders) were made of recycled materials; also dishes and glasses were biodegradable.Of course, participants had the responsibility to pay attention to correctly differentiate rubbish. Even if during the assembly there were no extra comforts, most of participant understood the ethical reason supporting this new kind of event, and enjoyed it as always. The OC hopes next assemblies will be organized following the same principles.

IFMSA-Dominican Republic celebrates World Day of the SickHane Lore King, NORP

Using the theme: “Remember your patient!” our SCORP members celebrated World DayoftheSickonFebruary11,2013.Withincreasedglobalizationanddiversitywithinthe hospitals that may lead to health disparities through limited access to healthcare services, lack of trust for healthcare providers or ineffective physician-patient commu-nication, ODEM members wanted to educate fellow medical students and clinicians about our important role in the physical, mental and emotional recovery of patients in our hospitals and clinics. ODEM members from six schools of medicine utilized social media to promote the health message, “Your duty as a physician is not to mistreat your patients. Your duty is to take care of your patients!”, to national and international com-munities.

JordanIFMSA-Jordan’s 3rd National General Assembly“Think Global: Act Local”: the motto that has long motivated IFMSAians around the globe. The powerhouse of any NMO of IFMSA is its national meeting and in accordance withthat,the3rdNationalGeneralAssembly(NGA)ofIFMSA-Joisduetotakeplaceat the end of the upcoming month after the conclusion of the MM in the United States.The NGA will adopt a theme of substance abuse, a widely spread issue in Jordanian society and will take place at JUST, one of the four medical faculties found in Jordan. The NGA is due to encompass standing committee sessions, training sessions as well as a number of other surprises!More information about the NGA will be released at IFMSA-Jo’s website within the up-coming few weeks.www.ifmsa-jo.org

LibyaThe 1st Medical Training Course 2013Mohamed A Jouan (Assistant LOME – LMSA)

After coming back from SCOME sessions at EMR9, we got the opportunity of having expert Libyan doctors at UK and USA to arrange a course. The course organized from 10-12February2013atZlitenTeachingHospital.The course mainly revolved around discussing & sharing great experiences about med-ical education aspects , health system and some real comparisons from the developed countries and divided into two sessions . Morning sessions were theoretical full of updated information, and then afternoon sessions were clinical work at the ward with intern and junior doctors.Theyfinallywroteareporttothelocalauthoritiesinordertoimprovehealthcareinthecity.

Basics Of Research Methodology CourseMohamed A Jouan (Assistant LOME – LMSA)

As a part of continuous medical education, we organized this course for medical stu-dentsandjuniordoctorsfrom5-10January2013atZlitenteachinghospital.Thelectureswereafternoonfor3hoursdailyandgivenbyspecialistsfromuniversitiesand National Center For Disease Control (NCDC).At the end of the course, the participants learned about how to write a protocol and statistical analysis and some of them suggest topics to be research and supervised by those specialists.

The 2nd School Clinic ProjectAbdolFattah Alghannai (LPO-LMSA)

Thegoaloftheschoolclinicprojectistoteachteachersandstudentshowtodofirstaid in school if it is needed, plus uncovering any physical or psychological conditions the students might have and dealing with such conditions in school if no further medical attention is required.LMSA-Misrata had the 2nd school clinic project this time in Alentisaar Elementary – Misratathistimefocusingonfirstaid,comparedtothe1stschoolclinicprojectwhichwasheldinMisrataElementaryandwasconductedasasurveytofindoutanyhealthrelated problems pupils might have. LMSA-Misrata is planning on redoing the project in different schools until hopefully everyschool inMisratawillhavefirstaidequipmentand the teacherswillhavehadproperfirstaidtraining.

QuebecTraining New Trainers in Saguenay, Quebec

IFMSA-QuebechostedaTNTonFebruary8th-10th,2013inSaguenay.Wehadthepleasure to welcome Juan Carlos Trejo Fernandez, who made his way directly from Spain to help us train 20 new dynamic and great trainers. According to them, a leader is someone who can facilitate by empowering a group to achieve a common goal through open communication, accepting and sharing ideas, listening actively, motivating, know-ing when to take decisions and having the humility to let others take the lead. The week-end went beyond our expectations! As we say, keep training, keep rocking ;)

IFMSA-Quebec on the road: Read our blog!

It is now a tradition that IFMSA-Québec delegates going to General Assemblies and Regional Meeting write on a daily blog, to follow upontheirgeneralobjectivesandmorepersonalviewsofthemeeting.YouareinvitedtoreadthepastRMblogathttp://rm2013.ifmsa.qc.ca.StaytunedfortheMM2013,asdelegateswillstartbloggingsoonathttp://mm2013.ifmsa.qc.ca.EntriesareinEnglishand in French.

MonWHO : March 22-24, 2013

The Montreal World Health Organization Simulation, also known as the MonWHO, is an annual 3-day conference in Montrealwhere engaged individuals interested in public health gather to tackle a global issue. This year’s theme is Corruption in Global Healthcare Systems and takes place from March 22-24. Regis-trationisopenuntilMarch1st,2013.Formore,pleasevisithttp://www.monwho.org.

Global Health Colloquium : April 6-7, 2013

TheGlobalHealthColloquiumisaninspiringweekendfilledwith lecturesandactivi-ties open to students from Quebec, Canada and abroad. Reuniting over 20 speakers, it aims to raise awareness and allows participants to learn about a variety of topics directly related to global health. This year edition takes place in Montreal on April 6-7, 2013.Formore,http://csm.ifmsa.qc.ca

Global Health Newsletter

IFMSA-Québec proudly presents you the lastest edition of our Global Health Newslet-ter,ourofficialpublication.Itisfilledwithinspiringarticlesonvarioustopics,allrelatedto global health. The next GHN is due late march / early april and you can submit an article at bsm@ifmsa. Enjoy the read:http://issuu.com/ifmsa_quebec/docs/bsm_7_-_02-2013/1

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Editor of the E-newsletter:• Ismail El-Kharbotly

Layout and Designing:• Ibrahim Mousa• Airin Aldiani• Hassan Aboul-Nour• Eric Melendez

IFMSA Publications Support D.D:• Bronwyn Jones

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