Medsin: About - National Committee

About

National Committee

The Medsin National Committee comprises students from across the UK who help facilitate the functioning of the network. They are elected annually by the Medsin network at the Spring General Assembly and meet at least four times a year, as well as at Medsin's Conferences and General Assemblies. Minutes from previous National Committee meetings can be found here, and check out the events calendar for upcoming NC meetings which can be attended by any branch members.

If you would like to get in touch with anyone see below for more information about each individual member and their contact details. If you’re unsure of who to contact, email our secretary (Hannah) on info@medsin.org and she will forward your query to the appropriate person.

national director: jonathan meldrum

Hello! I am Jonny and I am the National Coordinator of Medsin-UK. It's my job to support and facilitate the network as we grow and develop into true a force to be reckoned with in the world of global health! My role has two main parts to it: I am responsible for coordinating and chairing the National Committee and facilitating the development of short- and long-term strategies for the network internally; and it's also my job to represent Medsin-UK to our many external partners (both nationally and internationally), acting as the official spokesperson. Along with our fantastic Board of Trustees I oversee the specific responsibilities and obligations of the charity. I am here to support any activity or work within the network, and am really happy to be contacted about anything within Medsin, to discuss our relationship with externals, or to advise about the charity status of Medsin. Feel free to contact me at any time! This year the National Coordinator role will be a full-time position (alongside some other global health work with Medsin's partners) and I want to be accountable to you, the network. You can always check my calendar here to see what current projects are afoot and how I'm spending my time.

director of branch affairs: cam stocks

Hi! I'm Cam, and I am the vice-coordinator for local affairs this year. My job is to provide a link between branches and the national committee, whilst also supporting the growth and development of the network in the UK. Essentially this means that I work with the regional coordinators to support branches in whatever way I can, and also listen to branches and feed back with their voice to the national committee. This year I want to help strengthen branches by building resources and promoting collaboration across the network. If there is anything at all that you want help with, whether its a specific issue your branch is having, your thinking of setting up a branch, or you want to tell us about something that worked really well so we can share your idea, then please get in touch!

director of international affairs: anya gopfert

Hi, I'm Anya and this year i'm taking on the new role of international coordinator. My job is to provide a link between Medsin-UK and the international global health forum. This involves leading Medsin-UK involvement in the International Federation of Medical Students internationally and at a European level, as well as acting as the point of contact for internatinoal contacts. Over the year I hope to develop Medsin's international relations, and to expand our international advocacy platform. I would like to ensure that Medsin develops partnerships with effective global health orgnaisations, and I would very much like to set up global health exchange weekends in individual UK and foreign universities. I would love to hear your ideas for this new role, or about anything else you'd like to discuss, contact me anytime!

activities director: joe mcarthur

Hi everybody, my name is Joe and I am the Activities Director this year, responsible for encouraging collaboration amongst all the Activities and Medsin. I am really excited about what we can achieve together and so this year my main aims are to: build on and encourage the development of links and partnerships amongst the Activities and Medsin at both a national and local level; raise awareness of the Medsin Activities and how to get involved at the local Medsin level; and support old and new Activities which wish to become affiliated to Medsin. If you have any questions about Activities, how to find the right Activity for you to get involved with or how to become an Affiliated Medsin Activity, then please do drop me an email!

global health education director: kevin garrity

My name is Kevin Garrity, a 4th year medical student from the University of Glasgow and I'm the GHE Director for 2012/2013. I'm keen on both global health and medical education and am looking forward to working hard to find new ways of getting more global health education in the medical curriculum through working nationally and on a more local level. Feel free to email me!

policy and advocacy director: Harrison Carter

My name is Harrison and I am the Policy and Advocacy Director. This year, I am keen to increase Medsin’s ability to undertake robust advocacy. I’d like to develop its capacity to be known as the ‘go to’ place for issues surrounding global health inequity. I look forward to providing training resources, toolkits and advice to members on all levels of the network about best practice. I’m also a strong believer in developing high-level advocacy with parliamentarians and external NGOs. Equally as important to me, is engaging in grassroots advocacy that allows our members to make the most of their time with us. As we plan campaigns for the future, I’m looking at ways we can strengthen our policy foundation and more effectively skill-share within the Policy and Advocacy National Working Group. Do get involved. Drop me an email policies@medsin.org. Follow me on Twitter @harrymyp. Look at what I’ve been getting up to and tell me if I should be doing something better www.medsinadvocacy.wordpress.com.Read about my previous work in parliamentary advocacy www.harrymyp.co.uk.

communications director: eleanor turner-moss

Hi! I'm Eleanor, the new Communications Director 2012-13. My job is to facilitate and encourage publicity of Medsin activities internally and externally (eg. with organisations, press and politicians) through the biannual magasine, website, social media and blogs. I aim to improve relations with branches and support them in communicating individual views and successes. With new tools like the website and magasine, I hope we will begin to feel more comfortable in raising our concerns in global health and realise the power we hold in demanding change! If you would like to write anything or if you have any questions, I would love to hear from you.

training director: beth thomas

Hi my name is Beth and I'm this year's National Training Director! I'm really excited about Training and getting Medsiners across the UK excited about it too! This year I am focusing on several areas. It's my job to find out the skills that individuals and branches need for this academic year, and to get as many training sessions focusing on these areas run throughout the year. Key to this is establishing Regional Trainer roles and establishing a Training network. I work alongside the different Medsin Activities, the Advocacy Director and Education Director to provide a full training programme and share skills throughout the network. Lastly, with the Education Director I'm working on getting Training accredited - giving Medsiners certificates or e-portfolio points for all their attended training sessions! Still not sure what training is about? Looking for training in areas such as time management? Want help for your branch budgeting? Want to be a Regional Trainer? Do get in touch with me!

secretary: hannah emmett

Hello all! I'm Hannah and I am the secretary this year. I do the newsletter - so if you want events shouted about, news shared or successes celebrated, I’d love to hear from you! I also do lots of other things behind the scenes, including the agendas and minutes for committee meetings and general assemblies - let me know if you want any issues raised or you’d like to know more about what goes on there. If you want to get in touch with Medsin, you’re not sure who to contact or you have any questions for us – just give me a shout!

treasurer: irfaan maan

Hi everybody, I'm Irfaan and I am the incoming treasurer. My job is to oversee Medsin's day to day finances, sending and paying invoices. I will also be working closely with branches to help them with record keeping. Apart from that I will also be working to expand our funding base and ensure Medsin has access to resources it needs for its future growth. If you want to get involved with this work or have ideas on how we should be doing this then please do get in contact!

national exchange officers: kirsty dolphin & francesca burns

Hi, we are Kirsty and Francesca and we will be helping coordinate bilateral exchanges between medical students from the UK and other member countries of the IFMSA. These are opportunities to undertake a clinical placement abroad, with the aim of incorporating a global health element to this experience. As exchanges are bilateral, we would love to see this model of reciprocity extended to electives - as such, we are working closely with Kevin on the Ethical Electives aspect of Medsin's work in Global Health Education. If Exchanges are already happening at your university, there should be a Local Exchange Officer who you can contact to find out the local arrangements - but feel free to drop us an email if you have any questions about how these work. If you're interested in setting up Exchanges, we'd love to hear from you!