Medical
students from Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q) and the College of
Medicine at Qatar University (QU) travelled to Morocco to attend the
14th Congress of the International Federation of Medical Students
Associations (IFMSA) of the Mediterranean and East Region.
The IFMS
Regional Assembly, held in Marrakech, brought together over 300
delegates from more than 20 countries and was an opportunity for medical
students to share news of national and local projects, such as clinical
and research internship exchange programmes.
For the students - two
each from WCM-Q and QU who attended as members of Qatar Medical
Students Association (QMSA), the event was also an opportunity for
cultural exchange with fellow medical students from across the region.
The
regional assembly offered a week of training, conferences and workshops
on the themes of public health, human rights and peace, reproductive
health and medical education.
Delegates also benefited from special
sessions on adolescent health with the participation of internationally
renowned experts, such as Dr Hateem Alaa of the World Young Doctors’
Organisation, Dr Kamal Alami, president of UNAIDS Morocco, and Dr Jan
Peloza of the World Health Organisation Venice Office.
WCM-Q students in attendance at the event were Aballah Tom of the Class of 2021 and Priyamvada Pillai of the Class of 2020.
Tom,
QMSA member and president of the WCM-Q Medical Students Executive
Committee, said, “To attend this important regional conference, with
WCM-Q and QU College of Medicine students represented side by side, was
an important moment for Qatar Medical Students Association. We are a
young organisation and it was therefore very encouraging for us to be
able to make a positive contribution to such an important event. We look
forward to many more positive collaborations in the future.”
Established
in 2017, QMSA is the first student medical association to be formed in
Qatar through a collaboration of medical students from WCM-Q and the
College of Medicine at QU. The organisation exists to promote
humanitarian issues and public health initiatives among medical students
in Qatar and seeks to contribute to the development of responsible
future physicians.
Founded in 1951, the IFMSA is one of the world’s
oldest and largest student-run organisations. It is recognised as a
non-governmental organisation by the United Nations and the World Health
Organisation and brings together 1.3mn medical students from 136
national members organisations in 127 countries around the globe.