WCM-Q, QU medical students attend international health conference

Medicalstudents from Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q) and the College ofMedicine at Qatar University (QU) travelled to Morocco to attend the14th Congress of the International Federation of Medical StudentsAssociations (IFMSA) of the Mediterranean and East Region.The IFMSRegional Assembly, held in Marrakech, brought together over 300delegates from more than 20 countries and was an opportunity for medicalstudents to share news of national and local projects, such as clinicaland research internship exchange programmes. For the students - twoeach from WCM-Q and QU who attended as members of Qatar MedicalStudents Association (QMSA), the event was also an opportunity forcultural exchange with fellow medical students from across the region. Theregional assembly offered a week of training, conferences and workshopson the themes of public health, human rights and peace, reproductivehealth and medical education. Delegates also benefited from specialsessions on adolescent health with the participation of internationallyrenowned experts, such as Dr Hateem Alaa of the World Young Doctors’Organisation, Dr Kamal Alami, president of UNAIDS Morocco, and Dr JanPeloza 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 ExecutiveCommittee, said, “To attend this important regional conference, withWCM-Q and QU College of Medicine students represented side by side, wasan important moment for Qatar Medical Students Association. We are ayoung organisation and it was therefore very encouraging for us to beable to make a positive contribution to such an important event. We lookforward to many more positive collaborations in the future.” Establishedin 2017, QMSA is the first student medical association to be formed inQatar through a collaboration of medical students from WCM-Q and theCollege of Medicine at QU. The organisation exists to promotehumanitarian issues and public health initiatives among medical studentsin Qatar and seeks to contribute to the development of responsiblefuture physicians.Founded in 1951, the IFMSA is one of the world’soldest and largest student-run organisations. It is recognised as anon-governmental organisation by the United Nations and the World HealthOrganisation and brings together 1.3mn medical students from 136national members organisations in 127 countries around the globe.