American Medical Student Association

Sarah Kleinfeld
National Exchange Officer (NEO)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)

My last SCOPE session was an exciting one, because Marianne, our current SCOPE director, introduced all of the NEOs to the new exchange database! Our database, where students fill out their applications and upload required documents, is how we keep track of our exchanges. It is old and outdated, and getting a new one has been something that has been in the works for a long time. The new database should be launched this fall, in conjunction with the revamping of IFMSA’s own website. We will be using it on a trial basis for the next month, working though glitches and suggesting any improvements that we want made. I was excited to see what the format would like and I’m happy to say it’s much better than what we currently have — I think it will be much more user friendly for our students and local exchange officers, and I can’t wait for them to be able to use it this fall!

Although the GA is running through tomorrow. yesterday was my last full day in Mumbai. I am sad to be leaving all my AMSA and IFMSA friends but definitely ready to be home and sleeping in my own bed again! Most importantly, attending this GA gave me a much needed energy boost – after being a NEO for 1 1/2 years, I am leaving Mumbai with so many great ideas and improvements for the upcoming exchange season. It reminded how much I love being a part of IFMSA and SCOPE and how sad I’m going to be when my term ends this spring.

Finally, it wasn’t until I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight back to the states that I realized how quickly March Meeting 2013 is approaching — it is the next time that all of IFMSA will come together, and I’m so honored that AMSA will be hosting what could potentially be the largest gathering of medical students ever. I’m proud of the OC team for all of their hardwork thus far, and I can’t wait to show off Washington, DC and AMSA to all of the international medical students that will be attending!

Sarah Kleinfeld
National Exchange Officer (NEO)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)

As the NEO, the most important part of any August GA for me is the contract fair. This is where the NEO and National Officer for Research Exchanges (NORE) sign contracts with other countries for the upcoming exchange season – April 2013-March 2014. Each country sets up a table and chaos ensues — other delegates come to check out the proceedings and man their country’s table as NEOs and NOREs frantically run around to sign contracts It’s a fun but hectic two hours for everyone involved. In addition, most tables give out promotional materials related to their country including pins, flags, and stickers. Sometimes students even wear clothes representative of their culutre – my favorite this year was the Japanese kimonos!

Sarah Kleinfeld
National Exchange Officer (NEO)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)

Day 3 was a busy day as well — it kicked off in the morning with another SCOPE session, regional meetings and trainings in the afternoon, followed by plenary in the evening.

Plenary is IFMSA’s version of AMSA’s House of Delegates. Each national member organization (NMO) is represented in plenary by their organization’s president or head of delegation. It’s really cool when you first experience it, because many times countries hang their flags on their table, giving it the feel of a medical student’s version of model UN. During roll call, its fun to hear all of the different countries represented, and many times students sitting in the back of the hall will do a country specific cheer when their country is called. Basically, all of IFMSA’s official business is conducted through plenaries, which are held each evening – bylaws are passed or suspended, reports and projects are approved, and candidates for IFMSA offices present their candidatures and are elected.

Some of the highlights from plenaries throughout the past few days include: presentation of an update on the status of March Meeting 2013, which is being hosted by AMSA in Washington, DC, Chile’s presentation of their candidature to host next year’s August Meeting, and, for me, the election of next year’s SCOPE director (one of the many IFMSA positions voted on). Marianne Koch (Austria), this year’s SCOPE Director has done amazing job, and I will be sad to see her go. I’m very excited for our new SCOPE Director-elect, David Arku (Ghana) — he was last year’s regional coordinator for Africa, and he has done a great job building up the exchange programs there! I’ve included a pic of plenaries below – enjoy!

Sarah Kleinfeld
National Exchange Officer (NEO)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)

IFMSA’s 62nd General Assembly kicked off for me when I arrived in Mumbai on Thursday night. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the hotel until after the Opening Ceremonies ended. The first night was spent mostly getting settled into the hotel and trying to catch up on some sleep — I was coming off of 20+ hours in airports/planes!

Day 2 started early Friday with an AMSA delegation meeting at breakfast. There were 13 AMSA representatives there, including members of the BOT, AMSA Fellows, MM2013 Organizing Committee members, AMSA Action Committee members, and members of the IFMSA Advisory Council (which includes my role as a NEO).

The rest of my day was taken up with the first SCOPE session of the GA. For those of you who don’t know, IFMSA is composed of six standing committees. The two that deal with exchange are: the Standing Committee on Professional (Clinical) Exchanges – SCOPE and the Standing Committee on Research Exchages – SCORE. SCOPE is composed of an international director, 5 regional coordinators, several other support positions for things like marketing and academic quality, and then all of the national exchange officers (NEOs) from the participating countries. We started out first with some energizers to get to know everyone; I had met a few of the other NEOs there at the GA last August in Copenhagen, but many were new. It was great to meet in person a lot of the people that Carrie and I have been emailing!!! The rest of the session was taken up with discussions regarding a policy statement our SCOPE director proposed, some bylaw changes, and general updates.

It was a long day, but I did have some free time in the afternoon to venture out of the hotel and explore a little bit of the nearby area with one of the other AMSA delegates. It was a local holiday, and there was a celebration going which included a group of men creating a human pyramid!

(that's me on the right!)