|
 MedSIN
is a young organisation. We were only born in 1997 but it is a
testament to the enthusiasm of the students involved that we now
have branches in every medical school in the UK. MedSIN is the
UK branch of the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical
Students Associations).
The
organisation provides an opportunity for healthcare students,
not just medical students, to get involved in changing the world
in which we live by carrying out local action while at the same
time encouraging ourselves to think globally.
MedSIN’s
mission is “to offer support, training and opportunities to
future health care professionals in the UK, so that they are
better able to…
- Inform
themselves about local and global inequalities in health and
the causes of those inequalities
- Act
to improve the health and welfare of their local communities
- Campaign
on health issues that concern them”
We
achieve this with a “bottoms-up” approach, in which local
branches tell the national committee what we can do for them.
The national organisation’s primary purpose is to allow each
MedSIN group to operate more effectively. The strength of this
system is that new projects, ideas, and proposals are constantly
evolving in each branch. These new initiatives then spread, with
the help of the national committee, to other medical schools and
allow individual MedSIN groups to learn from each other.
MedSIN
groups run a variety of practical projects that operate very
effectively at a local level. For example, Marrow is a project
in which medical students recruit volunteers on to the UK
national bone marrow register. This project is carried out in
conjunction with the UK charity, The Anthony Bone Marrow Trust.
Medical students take part in all aspects of the process –
fundraising, counselling before recruitment, blood testing and
so forth.
MedSIN
groups are beginning to become more active in campaigning on
international issues as well. For example, MedSIN has been
campaigning about issues related to AIDS by making students
considered the local and global impacts of this devastating
disease. Many MedSIN groups held conferences recently, to mark
World AIDS Day (1st December), which were well
attended by medics and non-medics alike.
Also,
as the UK branch of the IFMSA, MedSIN is also responsible for
organising exchanges and helps interested students find projects
abroad. Exchanges allow medical students studying in the UK to
spend some time studying abroad, as part of their degree.
So,
all in all, MedSIN has had a busy first few years of life but we
have far more planned. Campaigns about improving access to water
in the developing world, tackling homelessness in the UK and
abroad, and new projects such as teaching basic life support in
schools are sure to keep everyone busy – at least until
we’ve grown even more!
The
Conference
This
year’s fantastic annual MedSIN conference was held in
Birmingham. It provided an awesome opportunity for both new
recruits and old-timers to learn more about some important
issues that are frequently overlooked in our training. This
includes learning about water shortage in the developing world,
unfair trade barriers exacerbating poverty and the shocking
problem of homelessness within the UK but also without.
The
conference took place during one rainy weekend but was a
wonderful occasion, with people travelling from all over the UK,
and even from abroad, to be there. The conference included talks
with speakers from Medecins Sans Frontieres, WaterAID, MedACT
and various other non-governmental organisations. These talks
were complemented by small group workshops which allowed more
interaction with the speakers.
The
Birmingham hosts also made sure that we were well entertained as
well as educated, with students mingling over a lovely meal
accompanied by some live music. The only downside for most
people was the weather – typical for the UK – rain.
Vittal
Katikireddi
National News Coordinator, MedSIN
www.medsin.org
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