Newsletter 179

Contents

Action of the Week

RCP physicians and the pharma industry - Have your say

For a number of months the Royal College of Physicians has held informal meetings with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and others to discuss how to enhance and support working relationships between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry in the UK.

You are invited to contribute to the debate by sharing your views on all or some of the issues, and by adding any further thoughts of your own.

Click here to take part in the survey.

National 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! Join in Medsin discussions at http://www.medsin.org/discuss

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National News and Events

Be on the National Committee

Why not think about dedicating those few spare hours a week to Medsin? Anyone can candidate for any position, the only exception being that the president must be a medical student. Experience in Medsin is desired but enthusiasm is much more important. If you're interested, contact the person in that role already to find out a bit more.

Gemma Owens, Medsin President, is more than willing to give advice and information for people who would like to know a bit more before applying. It’s a wonderful opportunity to change the world. Contact her here

Have a read of the official job descriptions, and of the current committee's take on their role here, and follow the instructions!

Next: Print and sign the form, appear at the Spring General Assembly on 26th-27nd April in Leeds, and tell the voting members (branches, nationally recognised projects and priority campaigns) why they should vote for you in 2 minutes.

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Global Health Conference 08

Oxford Global Health Conference 2008 has sold out!

If you're lucky enough to have bought a ticket and would like accommodation, please go here and follow the instructions.

GHC08 Workshop Booking is now Open!

The motions for the voting session are available here

If you would like to be considered for the waiting list in case of cancellations, please e-mail the team.

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Marrow Expands!

Germany held their first marrow clinic recently and it was a big success! Go Marrow International! The expansion of marrow is always amazing news and we welcome the addition to our marrow family with embarrassingly big and gushy arms. If you have any international contacts and want to make a sister marrow in another country let us know because it will be a national effort to make international marrow work.

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ICAN - New Co-ordinator Wanted!

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was launched in 2007 by the Australian International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War group. Now over 50 countries worldwide are involved. ICAN UK has become partners with groups such as CND and Greenpeace UK to gain a stronger voice. Last year we aimed to develop a movement among UK healthcare students towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.

ICAN UK student activities have depended on support from ICAN members outside of the UK. The Medsin campaign is yet to have developed an active central committee or representatives across the branches. ICAN has great potential, with an expanse of resources available from its website, Medact UK and ICAN affiliates across the world. Medsin UK’s ICAN is looking for an enthusiastic co-ordinator to facilitate this- an amazing chance to get involved in the worldwide movement to abolish nuclear weapons. If interested please email ican@medsin.org by April 20th.

Kiran Cheedella

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IFMSA Podcast from the Lancet

Here you can find this week's featured podcast - an update on the Stop AIDS campaign, the IFMSA and AMSA Conferences from the Lancet Student. It's only 20 minutes long, perfect for breakfast time listening.

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Gerard's IFMSA Meeting Blog

The 57th Annual March Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) has just finished in Monterrey, Mexico. The theme for this General Assembly was Migration and Health. Gerard Millen, a medical student at Queens University, Northern Ireland was there and gives The Lancet Student.com a brief report on the main policy events here.

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Bargain of the Century!

A wonderful flipchart (complete with paper and some complimentary pens) for a bargain price of £15

Who wants one, get them whilst their hot!!

Can be picked up at the Global Health Conference

Useful for trainings, planning sessions and doing ENORMOUS drawings :)

Email training if you want one (I have 6 left!)

Daze XX

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Become a Medsin Trainer

This year, Medsin-UK is hosting a Training New Trainers (TNT) workshop, from the 18th-20th April 2008 and now is the time to apply.

The TNT workshop is an IFMSA-recognised course designed to train new trainers. Over three days, participants will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to design and deliver training workshops. Then, the following weekend, you will be putting your new training skills into operation at the Spring General Assembly.

The main TNT event will take place at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne on 18th-20th April. The SGA on the following weekend (which is complulsory to complete to course) is in Leeds on 26th-27th April.

Click here for more information and an application form

Daze

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Marrow Regional AGMs Update

  • 19th April 2008: South North-East at Leicester
  • 10th May 2008: North North-East at Newcastle

For more information about either, get in touch with Marrow

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Enormous Exciting Pharmaware Debate!

"This house believes that the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors is detrimental to health"

With speakers including

  • Peter Mansfield - world famous Pharma campaigner all the way from Australia
  • Assoc. British Pharmaceutical Industry
  • .....and other exciting people!

Friday 25 April, 18:30-21:00, Leeds.

This event is perhaps going to lead to Leeds becoming the first pharma free med school in the UK, following the example of some in the US such as Penn State and Standford...witness policy change in action!! And all this the evening before the Spring General Assembly in Leeds so you'll be in Leeds anyway!!! so come along! For more information, contact Medsin Leeds

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SGA08

Medsin's National Spring General Assembly, for a great weekend of.....

  • Mass Debating,
  • Training,
  • Networking,
  • Elections of next year's national committee
  • More Voting, including the NAME CHANGE!

Saturday 26 April- Sunday 27th April 2008

And of course, socialising!

All of this is happening in lovely Leeds!!!!

How to get involved NOW:

  • Send you ideas for mini-meetings and discussions to the committee

For more information, contact the national committee

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Nottingham Marrow Run

The Nottingham Marrow Run is back, and it's going to be bigger and better than ever! Last year we raised £4,000 so this year we have our sights sets on even greater things. Our aim is to have 700 runners with the hope of raising a whopping £8,000 for the ANT and we would love to get other Marrow groups involved in running the race and helping out on the day! The run is on Sunday the 20th April 2008 in Wollaton Park in Nottingham. For all you running fanatics there's a 10K course and for those of you who fancy a more relaxed time there is a 5K course.

Race entry fee is £10, although if you raise more than £25 through sponsorship you don’t have to pay!! There will be prizes on the day, for the best times - male and female in each race and a prize for the most money raised and the best superhero fancy dress so get designing! Signing up is easy!

Download the forms from our [website] (www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/marrow) print them out, sign them & return them with your entry fee of only £10 (cheque made payable to Marrow) to:

Lizzie Gaffney, 81 Harlaxton Drive, Nottingham NG7 1JD

Email us here, join the facebook group 'The Nottingham Marrow 10K and 5K Run 2008'

If running really isn’t your thing we'll be needing a small army of volunteers to help out on the day; marshalling, giving out prizes etc! Hope to see lots of you there and we'll let you know how it goes!

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Anything Else?

The following aren't officially affilliated with Medsin, but we thought you might be interested.

Geneva Health and Globalization Seminar

Dear IFMSA members and IFMSA alumni, We would like to announce the first formal call for applicants for the upcoming "Health and Globalization" Seminar in Geneva, Switzerland (May 15-21 / "Palaice des Nations" and at the HQ/Offices of an array of UN agencies throughout the week), just prior to the World Health Assembly 2008.

This call is made for medical students (senior yrs) and health care professionals interested in Global Health issues and the work done by UN agencies. For more information, please consult the attached document, and contact the committee.

IFMSA can have up to 8 spots for medical students, who are interested to take active part in this Seminar and would, in the future, like to pursue a career in public health or with one of the UN agencies.

Registration fee for all the participants is really high 700 Euros, but we are in the process of finding solutions to lower this fee for students together with the organizers. Also, it is important to state that this registration fee does not cover room and board. Unfortunately no scholarships or travel assistance is available. Non the less - taking part in a week long seminar in the hart of the place where all UN health related policies are decided upon, with high-profiled speakers, UN staff and sitting next to maybe your own country's Minister of Health - is a worth wile investment. This event is surely something your should inform your University, Public Health Institute or MoH when seeking finantial support - they probably would be interested to support you.

All those interested to apply should send in our CV (up to 4 pages) and Motivation Letter (up to 2 pages) by April 5th to lra@ifmsa.org.

IFMSA Liaison Officers will select the best 8 applicants, those selected applicants will be informed directly by the Organizers if they got accepted - and provided with all the technical aspects of their attendance.

Yours truly

IFMSA LOs

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The Health Worker Migration Policy Initiative

Invites all individuals, professionals, policy and programme managers and interest groups from around the world to participate in a virtual Global Community of Practice on Health Worker Migration.

We would like to add your voice, experience, views, successes and challenges to the policy dialogue addressing the issue of Health Worker Migration.

Join this Global Dialogue and discuss:

  • How can we best address the challenges raised by health worker migration?
  • What are our shared responsibilities as individuals, countries and as a global community to support the Code of Practice?

Chaired by the Honorable Mary Robinson The Global Discussion starts on 31 of March 2008 At 15.00 GMT

To join the global online community of practice, click here.

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Global launch of Medical Peace Work

Physicians, medical students and health workers around the world can now improve their skills on violence prevention and peace-building by linking up to the new Medical Peace Work course, launched in Tromsoe (Norway), New Delhi (India), Berlin (Germany), Mexico City (Mexico), Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and London (UK) on Tuesday March 11th.

The course is the world’s first of its kind and it applies the latest e-learning technology in offering seven separate but interlinked modules, available free of charge to physicians, health workers and students globally.

“All you need to undertake this course is a computer with an internet connection, which means you can access it from anywhere in the world,” says Michael Rowson, a senior teaching fellow at UCL’s Institute of Child Health and editor of the Medical Peace Work textbook. “A CD-ROM with an off-line version of the course is also available. We hope to make this course as internationally accessible as possible”.

With EU-funding, eleven partners from Norway, Germany, Slovenia, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom have worked for two years to develop the course, coordinated by Centre for International Health at the University of Tromsoe.

“We wanted to design a course that is technologically innovative and user-friendly,” says Project Manager Dr. Klaus Melf at the University of Tromsoe. “The peace capacity of the health sector is simply too big to fit into a regular, old-fashioned lecture hall.”

At the University Hospital North Norway, Ole Danbolt Mjøs, Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, hands over the first Medical Peace Work CD-ROM to physician and potential MPW student Morten Skandfer. (Picture attached)

For more information about Medical Peace Work, please visit our website: http://www.medicalpeacework.org

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Child Family Health International

Click here for more information.

Socially responsible, financially just, global health programs for Medical & other students of the health sciences in Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Nicaragua and South Africa.

Attend CFHI's workshops on Socially Responsible Electives at the Medsin GHC; March 29th and 30th

  • Choose from 17 program sites around the world.

  • Programs are 4 to 8 weeks long & run every month of the year.

  • Clinical rotations with local preceptors in a variety of settings
  • Housing with local home-stay families (guest houses where home-stays are not available)
  • Spanish language instruction (including Medical Spanish) in all Spanish-speaking programs

  • Fundraising resources (including scholarships) available

  • Academic credit arranged upon request

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Carbon reduction and health:A guide to reducing the footprint of the health sector

Where: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 5-11 Theobald’s Road London WC1X 8SH

When: Monday 30th June 2008

How much?: £10 fo students

More info and a booking form? See attachment.

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IFMSA-WHO initiative

Below is a link to a survey which is being run in association with the WHO. This is a great opportunity for the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students' Associations) to further solidify our relationship with the WHO, and an opportunity for future collaboration and joint projects.

The survey will only take 5 minutes to complete, and as an incentive to complete the questionnaire, there is an opportunity for some lucky people to win iPods and coupons for amazon.com.

Also, if more than 30 Medsin members complete the survey, Medsin will appear under the acknowldegement section of the WHO publication!

The survey is part of a research study about our educational experience in trauma and burn care during medical school, and will contribute to developing a worldwide curriculum/programme on trauma and burns management.

If you would like to participate, please go to www.traumasurvey.org.

Previous IFMSA research can be found here.

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£500 Student Essay Prize

MEDICINE, CONFLICT AND SURVIVAL is offering a £500 prize for the best essay BY A MEDSIN MEMBER on a topic covered by the Journal, and publication of the essay in a forthcoming issue.

The Essay should be no more than 2,500 words long and the deadline for submission is the end of July 2008

For the topics covered by the Journal, go here and click ‘Aims and Scope’. On the same page, click ‘Instructions for Authors’ to find how the essay should be presented.

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Of The Month

UAEM

Access to Medicines, Trade, and the Role of Universities

Millions Are Dying

The World Health Organisation estimates that 10 million people die every year because they’re unable to access existing drugs and vaccines. Several factors impede access to the medicines that exist, chief among them being the cost.

Yet generic competition has been able to lower the price of antiretroviral therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from more than $15 000 per patient-year 6 years ago to $99 today. Unfortunately, generic drug production has been impeded by trade agreements that prevent generic companies from producing new drugs for up to 20 years. Millions wind up dying because competition can no longer take place, and pharmaceutical companies wind up having exclusive rights to vital medicines.

Universities Can Help Change This

Because many of these life-saving drugs are developed in campus laboratories, universities wield substantial leverage when they license their drugs to pharmaceutical companies. That means that you have the power to help save lives without leaving your campus!

Our proposal is simple: When a university licenses a promising new drug candidate to a pharmaceutical company, it require that the company allow the drug to be made available in poor countries at the lowest possible cost. This would have virtually no financial impact on the company or university, but could ultimately save millions of lives.

You can help: A Call to Action

Events and Actions are planned throughout the UK, US, and Canada. Join students, faculty, and researchers at top research institutions in the UK, US and Canada for this Day of Action: Demand that lifesaving drugs developed in your campus laboratories be made available in poor countries.

Learn

  • Screen a movie: show the film Pills, Profits Protest on your campus to teach your fellow students about the barriers to ensuring access to medicines.
  • Organise or attend a workshop on trade agreements and access to medicines. Email Lauren.Smith@essentialmedicine.org if you need help finding a speaker.

Build

  • Have students from your whole school sign letters to the Board of Trustees to let them know how many of you care about the 10 million who don’t need to die!
  • Host a sign-on for the Philadelphia Consensus Statement (PCS) to add your campus’ voices to the thousands already calling for universities to play their role in ensuring access to medicines.

Act

  • Have a mass mailing – send the signed letters to your university’s Board of Directors urging them to address this issue within their Board and to the President.
  • Log your new PCS signatures on http://www.essentialmedicine.org/cs to be counted as more voices calling for change.

Our contact details are: E-mail: uaem.uk@gmail.com Website: http://www.essentialmedicine.org

Mori

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Last updated on Tuesday 25 March 2008 at 22:16.