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AMSA-INTERNATIONAL
NEWSLETTER EDITION #3
Featuring news from various aspects of AMSA!
In Partnership with…
…and many more!
AMSA Australia
AMSA International Australia (AIA) presents….
Hello friends!
Much has happened since our last update and here are a few of the highlights. Enjoy!
AMSEP
A total of 20 delegates from Hong Kong and Thailand converged on Melbourne for the first of two
planned exchange programmes in Australia in 2015. From the 22nd to the 28th of February, the delegates
spent time getting to know their Australian counterparts as they toured the city’s finest medical
establishments, partook in a series of academic lectures, tutorials and simulation sessions as well as
visiting some of Victoria’s most well-known tourist destinations. Suffice to say AMSEP Melbourne was a
great success, with many new friendships forged and memories made.
Echoing the success of AMSEP Melbourne, 6 Australian delegates visited Hong Kong on March 8-15,
meeting up with the friends they’d made only a few weeks previously. Judging from the delegates’
reports and the dozens of happy photos on social media, it was an experience that they will not forget
anytime soon.
The AIA would like to thank all the volunteers who helped out at AMSEP Melbourne, and for the
generosity of AMSEP Hong Kong in looking after our own delegates while they were there. The
Australian delegates will be visiting Thailand on April 7-14; we look forward to hearing about what surely
will be an amazing experience!
AMSA International Day
For AMSA International Day, the AIA’s very own Chief Social Officer, Joey Lam, held a talk about
preventative health in the elderly to a group of Vietnamese migrants. For more details, check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWnJZ0U-LCo
Podcasts
Want to learn more about important public and global health issues? Check out our podcasts in which
our Education and Advocacy Officer Sam Ognenis interviews experts in their respective fields. Don’t
forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLmFGTw2A2m3zggcTwuV6PA
Upcoming projects
As well as our travel medicine-based community outreach program, we are planning to launch a refugee
health and sexual health education program that we are preparing with some of our friends at Crossing
Borders 4 Health. Watch this space! To learn more about Crossing Borders 4 Health, check out
http://globalhealth.amsa.org.au/projects/crossing-borders-for-health-cb4h-national-project/.
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AMSA Japan
Domestic Assembly 2014 Autumn
On November 29th and 30th, we had AMSA Japan’s Domestic Assembly 2014 at Okayama University
(Nagashima Aiseien). Medical students gathered from all over Japan. The Domestic Assembly, which
takes place every year in spring and summer, is one of the biggest events held by AMSA Japan.
This program was supported by Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, a supporting group for Hansen’s
disease patients (HP: http://www.smhf.or.jp/). This time, the assembly was held as a side event of the
World Leprosy Day (January 27th, 2015).
Day 1@ Okayama University
Workshop1: What is “discrimination”?
Before the lecture we talked about the idea of “discrimination”. Each group had a variety of opinions.
Lecture: “Solutions for Lookism” by Hiroko Togawa, the representative of My Face My Style (NPO)
My Face My Style (MFMS) is a supporting group for people who are suffering from discrimination or bias
because of their diseases. Ms. Togawa is the representative of this group. She gave us a lecture about
the voice of sufferers and the opinions of herself. Most of us are going to be medical professionals in the
future, so it was a very precious experience.
Workshop2: Suppose you faced discrimination or bias, what would you do?
After the lecture we discussed how we should deal with the problem of lookism. We were given four
examples including albino patients. There are many points of view, so it is difficult to solve this problem.
But each group was exchanging many ideas.
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Final Workshop:
We talked together about the following topics;
What is the cause of discrimination?
What can we do to prevent discrimination?
How should we interact with people who are discriminated?
Get-together Meeting @ Carillon House
A get-together meeting was held at the Carillon House in Mae Island, which is located in Ushimado.
Ushimado is called the “Aegean Sea” in Japan. We had a hot pot party. At the party we talked
together a lot and deepened our friendship.
Day 2@ Nagashima Aiseien
Review of the 1st day
We reflected on what we had learned on the previous day. The theme was: What brings about
discrimination?
There is a sanatorium for the treatment of Hansen’s disease in Nagashima Aiseien. Now some people
who used to be a patient live there. They are still unable to go back to their hometowns. We visited the
sanatorium and thought about the cause of this problem by looking at discrimination against leprosy
patients.
A visit to the museum in Nagashima Aiseien: We watched a video about leprosy. We learned what kind
of disease it was and how patients were treated by the government.
Inside the museum, there were videos that showed the difficult situations patients went through,
histories recorded, and a model of Nagashima Aiseien in the past. From the model, we could see that
residences and even wharves had been separated in the way that discriminates patients.
Through this assembly, we had a lot of time to think carefully about “the discrimination as a product of
ignorance”. It was a fruitful event for many of the participants.
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AMSA Malaysia
AMSEP Malaysia-Indonesia 2014 Report
Date : 28th November 2014 – 4th December 2014
Venue : Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah
(UMS), Sabah, Malaysia
Day 1 (28th November 2014)
The Indonesian delegates have arrived Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) at 6.30 p.m. One of the
delegates, Ms. Euginia could not come with them because she had some medical illness. We had a short
introductory session with them. Then we brought them to Grace Point, the symbolic food court in Kota
Kinabalu, which is famous with foods from different ethnics in Sabah. Shortly after the dinner, we had
an ice breaking session in one of our university’s examination halls. At the end of the day, we sent them
back to their dormitory.
Day 2 (29th November 2014)
The delegates were brought to Kundasang to witness the beauty Sabah has to offer. Nine committee
members came along to accompany the delegates. We left UMS around 7.00 a.m. and the delegates had
their breakfast in the van. Before going to Kundasang, we went to Rumah Terbalik located in Tamparuli.
There, they were awed by the architectural beauty of the house and were indeed impressed by the
creativity of the creator of the house. They also got to know that there are only 10 houses of this kind
worldwide. Before we left for Kundasang around 9.00 a.m., they bought snacks for them to eat during
the 1 and half hour ride to Kundasang.
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Our first destination in Kundasang was Desa Dairy Farm. There, they had the chance to feed and pet the
goats. They also got to buy fresh milks and yogurts from the dairy farm. The delegates were excited and
stunned by the beauty of the dairy farm as if they were in New Zealand. Around 1.00 p.m. we had our
lunch in the nearest restaurant as everyone was famished. After lunch we headed to the War Memorial
Park. In the memorial park, they got to learn a little bit about history of Malaysia. Established in 1962,
this was one of the first memorials to commemorate the brave Australian and British Prisoners of War
who died in Sandakan and during the infamous death marches to Ranau during World War II. The
memorial also remembers the people of North Borneo who risked their lives to help the prisoners of war
(POWs). The Memorial is made up of four beautiful gardens - the Australian Garden, the English Garden,
the Borneo Garden and the Contemplation Garden and Pool - to represent the different nationalities.
Our last destination of this Kundasang trip was Kinabalu Park. This is the best spot to view Mount
Kinabalu. We were lucky enough to see the peak of Mt. Kinabalu eventhough it was raining and misty.
We arrived in UMS around 4.30 p.m. We let the delegates to rest for a few hours before going to the
opening ceremony at night.
The main event which took place on the evening was the Opening Ceremony to officially officiate the
presence of the Indonesian delegates in AMSEP Malaysia-Indonesia 2014. This event was held at
Theatrette Ahmad Nifsu, in Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Heritage, UMS. At quarter past 7.00 p.m.
our delegates reached our venue, shortly after which our VIPs Ms. Atiqah, the advisor of AMSA UMS,
Mr. Nizam bin Muttalib, the staff representative, and Mr. Badrul Hisyam, the president of UMS Medical
Students’ Association (MEDSTAS). Our dean was unable to attend the event due to undue
circumstances.
The event commenced with the singing of our national anthem Negaraku and the Indonesian national
anthem, Indonesia Raya. A brief but substantial speech was given by the lecturer advisor of AMSA,
followed by the speech and a slideshow presentation by our event director Mr. Chris Teh, who
introduced the whole hierarchy of UMS administration, and followed by the speech from Mr. Asfarul
Anam, the chief delegate from Indonesia. The event was then officiated by our VIP by cutting the
ribbons of the officiating banner.
The better part of the night begun with a floor rocking performance by the second year students who
performed Indian dance, Wushu and Chinese fan dance gracefully in their cultural outfits. A wonderful
knowledge imbibing video was also displayed to briefly educate the delegates and to show them what
awaits them for the next 6 days to come. But the night definitely perked during the most anticipated
performance, which lasted for almost 20 minutes, involving 12 performers, and 4 different songs
including the Ngajat, Zapin, Sumazau and the adrenaline pumping Mangunatip (bamboo dance) which
were the famous dances among Sabahans. After which the night ended with an exaggerated photo
session that lasted until 11.00 p.m.
Day 3 (30th November 2014)
13 of the committee members and 9 Indonesian delegates departed from UMS at 7.00 a.m. and reached
Fook Yuen Coffee Shop, one of the most famous restaurant in Kota Kinabalu which is located in Gaya
Street approximately at 7.30 a.m. We took our breakfast there. After that, we went to the Sunday
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Market. The delegates had the opportunity to buy souvenirs there. After spending one and half an hour
in the Sunday Market, we brought the delegates to Suria Sabah Shopping Mall. They enjoyed shopping
in the mall. Then we bought our lunch from the food court. The Indonesian delegates had the chance to
enjoy the sea view from the food court.
At 12.30 p.m., we walked to the Jesselton Point which is located nearby to the Suria Sabah. From there,
we traveled to Sapi Island by boat. We reached Sapi Island after 15 minutes. We enjoyed snorkeling and
swimming in the sea. There are a variety of coral reefs and also fish. We departed from the island at 4.30
p.m. Then we went to our last destination which is Philippino market and had our dinner there.
After the dinner, we brought the delegates back to our faculty for cultural teaching session. To teach
them about Chinese and Kadazan cultures, we prepared calligraphy for chinese culture and bamboo
dance and traditional foods for Kadazan
culture. Calligraphy, of the art of writing, was the visual art from all others in China. We have prepared
brushes, ink, red papers and newspapers for them. After a short briefing, our member demonstrated to
them of how to write calligraphy in the correct ways. We also taught them how to write Sabah in
Chinese. The delegates were enthusiastic to learn the calligraphy. After that, we distributed each one of
them a red paper to write on it. They asked us to teach them to write their names in Chinese too.
Although this was their first time writing calligraphy, they managed to write ‘Sabah’ and their names
very well. They even brought back the papers with them.
On the other hand, during evening we had also sent our members to the Kota Kinabalu International
Airport to fetch Ms. Euginia, who could not come with the other delegates due to some medical illness.
We sent her to our faculty to meet her friends which was having Chinese cultural teaching session at
that time. We had prepared dinner for her in our faculty.
After that, we taught them Kadazan culture. Kadazan is the largest race of Sabah. We had briefly told
them about kadazan history, their jobs, festival, foods and etc. They felt so excited after seeing the
bamboo dance performance during the Opening Ceremony of AMSEP. So we decided to let them to
have their own experience. After we taught and demonstrated to them, the delegates were paired up
and tried it. Bamboo dance involves the movement of jumping in and out between the the beating
bamboo trunks, following the rhythm of the songs. Some of them felt so nervous because it might hurt
them if they missed the rhythm. After jumping in and out, they also tried beating the bamboo trunks
according to the rhythms of the songs. Furthermore, we also prepared three Kadazan cuisines like
Bambangan, Tuhau and Hinava for delegates to try. They were curious about those traditional foods that
they had never tried before. Around 11:00p.m we ended our activities. We found that all delegates are
very active and dare to try for the new things. Even though they all just went back from Island Hopping
and felt so tired, they still participated in all the activities that we prepared for them.
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Day 4 (1st December 2014)
In this day, the delegates joined year 2 lectures from 8.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. Then, we brought them to
visit our faculty. The delegates were first brought to the library, then to the surau and Ibnu Sina
Resource Centre. After that, they were brought to the student room, academic unit, gym room,
recreation room, and computer room. They were briefed on the facilities visited by our members. The
delegates were brought to the café for their lunch after the visit.
After having their lunch, the delegates were brought to the clinical skill learning (CSL) room. Some
models and equipment such as an auscultation mannequin, sphygmomanometer, and tuning fork were
provided for the delegates to try. Later, they were brought to our practical laboratory. A few slides of
microscopic specimens and gross specimens were prepared and they, indeed, were quite excited to see
them. Besides, we also explained to them about the medical education system in our faculty.
Next, we brought them to ‘Da Vinci Club’, which was a quite unique club that the main core of it was all
about robotics and mechatronics. Professor Dr. Maher Safein, which was one of our lecturers, and also
an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon, had welcomed them and he gave a brief introduction about the
club. They were allowed to have a look on the medical-related instrument and the products that being
created by our students.
Last but not least, we went to tuberculosis research lab where a Cepheid GeneXpert machine had been
placed as to aid in the diagnosis of mycobacterium-causing diseases (such as tuberculosis or Hansen’s
disease). Professor Dr. Amalina, our lecturer had explained about the epidemiology of Tuberculosis in
Sabah. She also demonstrated on how this machine functions. Since most of the delegates have not
learned anything about tuberculosis, Professor Dr. Amalina explained from the basic so that it is easier
for the delegates to understand and remember.
After the laboratory session, the delegates were brought to 1Borneo Hypermall, the largest shopping
mall in Borneo, which is only a few kilometers away from UMS. They were given a few hours to go
shopping and enjoy leisure activities like bowling and archery. For dinner, they tried one of the Sabah’s
famous delicacies which was Mee Tuaran. After dinner, we brought them back to UMS so that they
could practice for their closing ceremony’s performance.
Day 5 (2nd December 2014)
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This day, the Indonesian delegates got the chance to attend year 1 lectures and year 2 Clinical Skills
Learning (CSL) session. The delegates arrived at our faculty at 7.30 a.m. Then, they had breakfast at our
café.
After the breakfast, the first year academic department members of AMSEP brought the delegates to
Lecture Hall 1 which is situated at level 2 of Block B. The delegates were introduced to first year students
and the lecturer. The first lecture was on Gaseous Exchange by Associated Professor Dr. Kyaw Min and
the second lecture was on Control of Respiration by Prof Dr. Dilip Murthy. The lectures started at 8 a.m.
and ended around 10 a.m. The delegates were very interested in lectures. They actively participated
during lecture by answering some questions asked by the lecturers.
After finishing the lecture, the delegates were then attended CSL session with year 2 students. At first,
the delegates were allowed to sit in the first row for the lecture given by Prof. Dr. Khin Ye Myint on
clinical examination of respiratory system. After that, all the delegates were arranged into one CSL room
with a subject inside. Professor Khin Ye Myint taught them personally while our students accompanied
them in that room to guide them the correct way of examination. The CSL session ended at 12.30 p.m.
Through these activities, we had golden opportunity to get closer with the delegates. The delegates also
enjoyed the study environment with year 1 and year 2 students.
After the CSL session, the delegates were brought for campus tour. Before that, we took them to UMS
main library café for lunch. Then they were taken to the Aquarium and Marine Museum located at the
Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI). The delegates experienced a lively atmosphere in the
aquarium when they were face to face with the ocean life and were entertained by unique behavior of
living corals, clams, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, shrimp, lobster, fish and turtle among other groups. We
then took them to UMS’s Outdoor Development Center (ODEC) which is in UMS’s beach. They were
amazed with the beautiful scenery at the beach and were also in love with this place because some of
them refused to leave the place when it was time to go back to the faculty. Before we left for the
faculty, we went to Medical Museum in UMS. The museum contains the various plasticized specimens
along with detailed explanation on the anatomy of the specimen. The delegates totally envied us as our
specimens were kept neat and nicely.
Shortly after the campus tour, we had an Indian Cultural Teaching Session with them. The purpose of
this activity is to educate and introduce the delegates to Indian culture which is one of the major
cultures in Malaysia. We had prepared a presentation about Indian culture for them. In the
presentation, we explained to them about Indian food, Indian attire, Indian festivals, Indian cultural
dance and Kolam. The delegates were very much intrigued and asked many questions about Indian
culture.
Shortly after the slide show presentation, we showed them the Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam.
The delegates were very interested and watched with rapt attention. Soon after that, we had a dancing
session with the delegates. We taught them some simple movements for them to follow. After that, we
thought them how to make a Kolam. Kolam activity is a form of painting that is drawn by using rice
powder/chalk/chalk powder/white rock powder often using naturally/synthetically colored powders in
Tamil Nadu. The delegates were then split into two groups and then given the coloured rice and paper.
Before the activity began, we showed them a few samples of the Kolam. Using their creativity, they
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drew different designs and started filling them with the coloured rice. After completing their respective
Kolam's they took many pictures for remembrance.
In evening, the delegates had a nice dinner with our dean, deputy dean, staffs and our main organizing
committee members in Kampung Nelayan Floating Seafood Restaurant. Before we started eating, we
had a short ice breaking session between our deans, staffs and the delegates. After that, the delegates
tried tasty and fresh seafood. They also were able to watch traditional performance on the stage while
having their
meals. They even enjoyed the karaoke service provided in the restaurant. We had a very long photo
session there before we left the restaurant.
In a nutshell, we had a good time with the delegates and had an opportunity to bond with them. It was a
well spent day and the delegates left with a good knowledge with Malaysian culture. They had a great
time and we were very much honoured to help them out.
Day 6 (3rd December 2014)
In the morning, we visited the 2 largest hospitals in Kota Kinabalu, Queen Elizabeth 1 and 2. We
departed from UMS at 7.15 a.m. and reached Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 at 8.00 a.m. We had some light
breakfast at the cafe in the hospital and began our tour at 9.00 a.m.
Sister Irene was responsible for our guide in the hospital. We visited many places such as hematology
wards, gastrointestinal ward, ophthalmology ward, otorhinolaryngology ward, forensic departments,
and female respiratory ward. During each department visit, the nurses there gave a short briefing about
the facilities and services provided by the department. The delegates improved their understanding by
asking some questions. After that, we took some photos together with them and finished our first tour
at 10.30 a.m.
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Around 11.00 a.m., we reached Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2. We were brought to the meeting room by
Matron Monica for the briefing session. They introduced us about the history, departments, facilities
and services of the hospital. The director of the hospital also welcomed us by giving his speech. We had
a teatime session before we started our visit.
We were divided into 2 groups with 7 persons in each group respectively. This made the Matron more
convenient in explaining for us. Firstly, we visited the cardiorehabilitation ward, surgical ward, medical
ward and neurosurgery ward. The delegates were keen in knowing each department and they asked a
lot of questions. Before going back, we thanked all the matrons that showed us around the hospital. We
took some photos together as a memory. Around 1.00 p.m., we left Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2.
We brought the delegates for a short city tour. The delegates bought some souvenirs in the town. This
tour ended early because the delegates need to be prepared for closing ceremony.
The closing ceremony was organized in the Examination Hall of, Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sciences. At 7.00 p.m., we awaited the arrival of all the delegates, other committee members and the
VIPs. At half past 7, the VIPs’ consisting of the dean, deputy dean, academic member made their entry.
The night’s event begun with the singing of Negaraku, Indonesia Raya, Sabah State Song and UMS Song.
Next the dean gave a brief speech that expressed his gratitude to all committee members for the
wonderful work done. In his speech, he also expressed his innate
desire to receive more foreign exchange students to foster better understanding between countries.
After that, all the ten delegates were called done-by-one to express their feelings regarding the entire
programed. As expected, they were delighted by our hospitality, the wonderful nature Sabah was
blessed with and the exposure that they received regarding our health system.
The second year committee members then presented an acoustic performance to entertain the crowd
while they were happily filling their stomach with the dinner served. The delegates too had their fair
share of performance by performing 3 dances and 1 acoustic, which ended with a group song for all of
us. The nursing students then performed the Igal-Igal and tarian Rampaian, which are traditional
Sabahan dances’. We were totally touched during the video of the entire 6 days of the AMSEP was
played. A group singing session, followed by the photo session ended the day at about 11.00 p.m.
Day 7 (4th December 2014)
This was the last day of AMSEP Malaysia-Indonesia 2014. We had breakfast in Apiwon restaurant which
is famous with their noodles. After the breakfast, we departed to Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
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We reached the airport at 9.00 a.m. and helped them to check in the flight. We had a photo session
before watching them proceed to the waiting hall.
The AMSEP Malaysia-Indonesia was ended with them going into the waiting hall and us singing “Sayang
Kinabalu” song.
AMSA Pakistan
INTER-MEDICAL COLLEGE QUIZ COMETITION ON
COMMON GERIATRIC DISEASES
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Asian
Medical Students’ Association Pakistan organized an Inter- Medical College Quiz
Competition on 4th March, 2015 at Frontier Medical College, Abbottabad. The event was
organized on national level in connection to the yearly theme of AMSA International. The quiz
competition was based on common geriatric diseases that included hypertension, diabetes
mellitus, atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, stroke, Parkinson's disease and
Alzheimer's disease. Total 12 teams participated from different prestigious medical colleges of
Pakistan including Rawalpindi Medical College, Peshawar Medical and Dental College, Ayub
Medical College, Rehman Medical College, Bannu Medical College, Frontier Medical College,
and Foundation University
Medical College.
The pleasant day started
with an extreme state of
excitement. The Chief
Guest of the event was
Deputy
Commissioner
Officer;
Capt.
Khalid
Mehmood. The audience
was honoured by the
presence of Executive
Director Officer of Frontier
Medical College, Lt. Col.
Shaheena Jamil and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Asad Jamil Khan along with the senior faculty
members. The Regional Chairperson of AMSA Pakistan, Salman Qureshi and Vice Regional
Chair, Nimra H. Malik were also present on the occasion. Nayab Niazi, College Repesentative of
AMSA Pakistan was serving as the Incharge Coordinator of the event.
The event formally started with the recitation of Holy Quran which
was followed by the presidential address by the Mr. Salman Qureshi,
Regional Chairperson of AMSA Pakistan. Then Miss. Nimra Malik
and Hamza Qamar took the charge of stage and started the quiz
competition and all the teams were invited to the stage to start the
first round of quiz competition.
After that all the participants and guests were served with a hi-tea on
behalf of AMSA Pakistan and Frontier Welfare Society. The
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competition was resumed soon after
the hi-tea. The zeal, spirit and ardor of
the audience were worth watching
while they were supporting their
respective institutes. The hall was
echoing with clapping and shouting
by the cheer-up teams.
The event concluded with the prize
distribution ceremony. Shields were
awarded to the winning teams while
all other participating teams were
awarded with certificates of appreciation. Miss Shaheena Jamil, Executive Director Officer of
Frontier Medical College congratulated the winning teams and appreciated the efforts of AMSA
Pakistan. The efforts of AMSA Pakistan were also
admired the Chief Guest of the occasion, Mr.
Khalid Mehmood, Deputy Commisioner Officer.
He said that such activities bring a positive
impact on society so should be carried on in all
such institutes. Mr. Salman Qureshi, Regional
Chair of AMSA Pakistan showed his full support
to provide such healthily platforms to the medical
students o f different medical colleges of
Pakistan.
For correspondence: [email protected]
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AMSA Singapore
Post-EAMSC Conference Report
Sharing Session by Ms Vanessa from Project X
Ms Vanessa is a lively and passionate speaker who advocates the rights of sex workers in Singapore. It is
clear that from the moment the sharing session began, we would be treated to a fresh perspective of
Singapore, one that is commonly hidden behind shadows. Sex work, or crudely termed “prostitution”, is
undoubtedly a taboo issue in Singapore and sex workers are often portrayed in a negative light by the
media or shunted by the public. However, it is also without doubt that this hidden community is often
undeservedly abused, physically or verbally, by others.
It is for this reason that Project X was started. Project X strongly fights for the notion that sex work is a
legitimate form of work. Sex workers, as humans in their own rights and with their own rights, do not
deserve to be abused by the public or their customers. Ms Vanessa, as current leader of Project X, often
goes around sharing about interesting perspectives of sex workers, and it was an engaging session about
the social aspects of sex work.
As medical students, it is important that we understand the social context of our patients before hastily
recommending treatment. In the sensitive issue of sex trade, a seemingly innocuous condom in the
pockets of a sex worker can cause an outrage by an anti-vice police. Safe sex? It is certainly easier said
than done. Sex workers have recounted incidences of customers who irresponsibly tear the tips of
condoms just to gain some perverse joy while having sex. Customers have also used violence when the
sex workers refused to allow unsafe sex. These are but just few of the many cases of sex workers being
mistreated, which commonly lead to transmission of STIs. As a doctor, simply adopting the cliché “ABC
Rule – Abstinence, Behave, Condoms” would not work and is certainly impractical at times.
Ms Vanessa shared with us the various difficulties she faced while trying to fight for the human rights of
the sex workers. Many of these sex workers simply cannot afford to contract any STIs. Hence, it is not
uncommon to have sex workers hiding their conditions from their pimps or their customers. The control
of STI is also further complicated by the fact that besides ‘licensed’ sex workers plying their trade, there
are probably many ‘unlicensed’ sex workers behind the scenes who escape the regular mandatory
health screening. STIs can spread very quickly beneath our noses and yet as doctors we cannot
effectively eradicate STIs unless the society is willing to be transparent about this issue. The key to
stopping STIs is arguably more social in nature rather than medical. As the old saying goes, prevention is
better than cure.
In all, we were thankful for the direct and frank discussion Ms Vanessa had with us. Through her, we
have changed our perception of sex work in Singapore. No longer are we rigidly standing firmly on our
preconceived notions. Rather, Ms Vanessa has thrown out our preconceived notion and challenged the
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status quo. Medical knowledge can only get so far; it is when we truly venture deep into the lives of our
patients that we see the disease in a different light, and treat the patient, not the disease.
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AMSA New Zealand
It seems like medical students might just benefit from
going to the movies!
Associate Professor Nick Wilson and Dr Peter Gallagher are both senior academics at the Public
Health Department of the University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. They compiled 35
movies for teaching. These movies were based on several public health issues and they also
assured that these movies had achieved at least a 7 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes, ensuring a
“minimum level of entertainment value”.
The movies picked included a range of topics from human rights and infectious disease issues
(eg. How to Survive a Plague), to environmental health issues (eg. Erin Brockovich), to societal
habits (eg. The Insider and Traffic), and others like An Inconvenient Truth.
Maybe we should watch more movies and stop rotting in the library! ;)
Adapted from:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/medicine/news/article.cfm?c_id=255&objectid=11431622.
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AMSA Thailand
An overview of the project done by AMSA Thailand 1ST LAW AND MEDICAL SHARING: SURROGACY AND THE LAW
Organizations: Asian Law Students’ Association of Thailand (ALSA-Thailand) and Asian Medical Students’
Association of Thailand (AMSA-Thailand)
Premise: In August 2014, there was one surrogacy case which went viral online and this particular news
had ignited the concerns and understandings of surrogacy in Thailand in both social and mainstream
media. ALSA-Thailand and AMSA-Thailand agreed that this issue should be better addressed because it is
pertinent to both law and medical professions and it also involves many other social and educational
factors. As such, we, ALSA-Thailand and AMSA-Thailand, had joined our hands for the first time and
organized the first law and medical sharing with the theme ‘Surrogacy and the Law’. The activities included
lectures on the surrogacy and the law from prestigious law and medical professors and table discussions
about the surrogacy and related issues.
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Date: Saturday, 21 March 2015
Time: 09:00-16:00
Location: Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Person in Charge (on behalf of AMSA-Thailand): Suwanna Boonsirichan, Regional Chairperson of AMSAThailand
Participants: 120 law and medical students in total (staff included)
Objectives:
1.
To clarify and explain about the surrogacy and other related issues.
2.
To foster better understandings among law and medical students. This is because the law is the
ultimate judge when any medical mishaps happen.
3.
To foster good relationship between law and medical students. They will hopefully consult and
assist each other in the future.
Activities:
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1.
Morning session: Lectures by the prestigious professors from faculty of law and faculty of
medicine, Chulalongkorn University
2.
Afternoon sessions: Table discussions on the surrogacy and other related issues (law and medical
students were mixed)
Assessment:
Very Satisfactory = 4.01 - 5.00 Satisfactory = 3.25 - 4.00
Average = 2.50 - 3.24 Unsatisfactory < 2.49
A. Location
1.
Location appropriateness
4.08 Very satisfactory
2.
Well-equipped multimedia
4.00 Satisfactory
B. Lectures on Surrogacy and the Law
1.
Lecture contents
4.60 Very satisfactory
2.
Knowledge obtained from the activity 4.27 Very satisfactory
3.
Duration appropriateness
4.12 Very satisfactory
C. Table discussions
1.
Topic of the discussion 4.56 Very satisfactory
2.
Topic discussion contents
4.28 Very satisfactory
3.
Duration appropriateness
2.58 Average
D. Overall (after attending the activities)
1.
Understandings about surrogacy and the
4.28 Very satisfactory
law
2.
Exchange knowledge between law and 4.81 Very satisfactory
medical students
3.
Better relationship between law and
4.56 Very satisfactory
medical students
4.
Should this project be continued next year?
3.79 Satisfactory
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