Newsletter 157

Contents

Action of the week

The right of a large group of vulnerable UK residents to freely access primary healthcare is currently under threat. Hundreds of thousands of people could find themselves affected. An announcement from the government is expected later this month.

In a Medsin endorsed campaign, GhAP and Crossing Borders are working with Medact and other groups to oppose these changes.

To get involved, please join the asylum campaign mailing list, join the facebook group, read the Medact brieifing and look at the website, where there are lots of suggestions about what you can do now. If you would like someone to visit your university to talk about this issue, please get in touch.

Join the mailing list

Best wishes Tom Yates

National News and Events

International News and Events

Anything Else

Of the Month

Website and News

The website is for YOUR events being held by YOUR branches, projects and campaigns. It is really, really easy to submit events and news, so please do, and let everyone know what wonderful things you are up to!

National News and Events

Could your branch host the National Conference 2008?

Organising a Medsin conference is an essential part of the network's annual activities and gives your branch the opportunity to play a really important role in raising awareness about global health issues amongst students.

Guidance is available form the National Committee throughout the process and we hope that you will benefit from the experience of branches who have previously organised conferences on behalf of Medsin.

If your branch is interested, you will have the opportunity to bid to host the meeting at the voting session that will take place on the Saturday afternoon of this year's National Conference in Dundee. You should think about getting a team together, have some ideas of themes and your capability to host the conference and present these to Medsin members at the voting session.

If you are interested or have any questions about organising the conference, please email the committee.

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Voting at National Conference 2007, Dundee

An extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly of Medsin will take place at the National Conference in Dundee.

In other words, branch presidents, campaigns and projects coordinators will have a chance to represent their members by voting on issues central to the running of Medsin as an organisation.

The deadline for submission to changes of Medsin's constitution and bylaws is Friday 12th October 2007.

This is also the deadline for new project, campaign and branch proposals. If you would like to vote in a new project, campaign or branch, please get in touch with the national committee

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Join a Medsin Small Working Group

2 Opportunities to join a small working group which need to be formed after the AGA:

  • Conferences

To review the expenditure of the last 6 major conferences and to decide priorities for core expenditure of future conferences. We are looking for 5 people for this small working group.

  • IFMSA

To investigate how we work with the IFMSA, such that both networks benefit. The National Committee will select a gruop that complies with the guidance statement passed at the AGA.

To express an interest in either group, please send an e-mail to the committee by midnight Fiday 26th October.

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SEXBALL - 24th November, Birmingham

Sexpression will be hosting an afternoon of great speakers on sexual and maternal health globally at Birmingham Medical School. We have speakers lined up to talk on everything from Female Genital Mutilation to HIV/AIDS.

This interesting afternoon will be followed by a evening of Sexpression fun! The evening starts with a champagne reception followed by 3 course dinner and disco. Dress code is black tie with a splash of red with World AIDS Day collections throughout the night.

Tickets are £35 for all of this. For more information or to buy your tickets contact Emily.

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Join the campaigns team, no experience required!

Medsin has recently expanded its campaigns team to encourage more people to get involved. You can help by doing a range of things such as:

  • Media work
  • Creating campaign resources for branches
  • Helping with our policy work
  • Publicity
  • Organising the campaigns day
  • Organising actions at conferences

Or just being generally involved with our work

Its an easy way to learn more about campaigning, and help make Medsin campaigns really successful. If you are interested at all, please email Pete and Jen.

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New Teddy Bear Hospital Coordinator - Amy Rowan

The National Committee would like to welcome Amy Rowan to her new role as Teddy Bear Hospital National Coordinator. If your branch has a Teddy Bear Hospital or would like one then please get in contact with Amy to say hello!

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Medact 2007 Elisabeth James Lecture

Will be given by Dr. Helen Bamber OBE Helen has worked tirelessly in the human rights field for 60 years helping thousands of survivors worldwide, starting in Belsen after WWII. She was a founder member of Amnesty International and in 1985 established The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, where she was a guiding light until early 2005. Named European Woman of Achievement in 1993, she was awarded the OBE in 1997 and in the same year also received a lifetime Human Rights Achievement award for her work. She is on a number of advisory boards in related fields and holds honorary degrees from Oxford, Dundee, Ulster, Essex, Kingston & American Intl. University.

There is sure to be a great demand so please reserve your tickets early

Details:

  • Friday 26th of October at 7pm
  • 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5BA
  • Tickets are £5 for Medact and Medsin Members all others £10

For tickets or more information, please e-mail moyrarushby@medact.org or telephone 020 7324 4739

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STAR conference

The 10th national conference hosted by Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is taking place 10th-11th November 2007 at the Human Rights Action Centre in Shoreditch, Central London.

The only conference for students and young people on refugee issues, this year's line up features an impressive array of contributors from notable organisations such as the Refugee Council, UNHCR, Amnesty and the Medical Foundation. In addition, there will be speakers ranging from MPs and journalists to writers and refugees with personal experiences to share, as well as workshops, a Question Time panel and a lively party with live music and DJs to celebrate the fact that this is our tenth conference.

STAR Conference is open to anyone aged 16-25. It costs just £25, which includes the full weekend Conference programme, all food, crashpad accommodation on Saturday night and free admission to the legendary STAR party. We have a limited number of bursaries for those who can't afford the Conference fee, and anyone with a refugee experience is welcome for free.

To take part in Conference or for more information, visit our website, email us or call 020 7840 4443.

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International News and Events

Become a Medsin Trainer!

BVMD training is proud to announce that the application process for the TNT Germany 2007 is now open for you!

Our Training New Trainers (TNT) Workshop will take place on the 28th till 30th of November 2007 (arrival on the 27th) in the Youth Hostel Lauenburg near Hamburg.

The TNT will be held in English and is open for six international guests from IFMSA, so you are all very welcome to apply and be part of this event.

Right after the TNT, participants are going to bring their newly gained skills into action at the bvmd Workshop-Weekend on the 1st and 2nd of December in Hamburg itself.

Registration fee for the TNT is 100EUR and approximately 20EUR for the Workshop-Weekend and will cover food and accommodation.

Sooo, do you have experience in project management or leadership? Are you interested in sharing your knowledge and experience with others? Want to learn how? Then our TNT is the way to go!

Application Procedure is available here

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Anything Else

The following are not affilliated with Medsin, but we thought you might be interested.

The St Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical School

Ethiopia is amongst the world's poorest countries and has less than 1800 doctors to treat over 80 million people. Most doctors qualifying from the country's five medical schools leave on graduation to work in the United States.

St Paul's Hospital is a new medical school which will open in 2008. At least 30% of the intake will be from the poorest areas of Ethiopia and at least 30% will be women. A new integrated curriculum to produce doctors fit for purpose for Ethiopia has been developed.

The problem is finding doctors in Ethiopia to teach and train the students. I am looking for volunteers, either medical students or doctors, who are available for a minimum of two weeks, to teach and train both clinically and in the basic sciences.

Modules in 2008 will include: the foundation of health and disease, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the gut and nutrition. In addition, the opportunity to provide assistance with community based health and research projects will be available. Experience of IT and long distance learning would be great appreciated.

Volunteers will need to be available for a minimum of two weeks starting in early 2008. At the moment we are not in a position to pay expenses although we can offer accommodation. We are looking for grants from the Royal Colleges and institutional donors, but in the meantime volunteers will need to be self-funding.

For more information please contact Professor G Williams, Dean of the medical school at gwillians@hhnt.org until 12 October and then gorwilliams@yahoo.com thereafter.

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Of the Month

Project focus: Marrow: A Trans-national Project

At the 57th IFMSA General Assembly held this summer in Canterbury, UK, Marrow was awarded trans-national project status. This was the culmination of several years of hard work by different national Marrow co-ordinators and members of the Medsin national committee. Acquiring trans-national status means that Marrow, a project that has existed in the UK for the past 10 years, is now internationally recognised by IFMSA affiliated national member organisations. This will undoubtedly be beneficial in helping to establish Marrow in other countries around the world.

Marrow was created in 1998 by medical students from Nottingham University. It has since grown to become one of Medsin’s biggest projects, with branches in every UK medical school and some overseas institutions. In 2006 it won the IFMSA’s Rex Crossley Award for best international project. An application for trans-national status was first proposed in 2005 by the then national committee. The application included detailed explanations of what Marrow aims to achieve and the means by which will go about this, the setting and discussion of a ten year plan, including long and short term objectives and support for overseas groups.

Following several re-submissions over the past two years, each time after improving on previous criticisms from the project proposals review committee, trans-national status was finally granted this year.

Mark Prince National Co-ordinator

See the Marrow page for more info.

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Last updated on Monday 08 October 2007 at 17:38.