#SunnySocks4Docs 2019 CAMPAIGN REPORT
Publisher Belgian Medical Students’ Association VZW (BeMSA) Brusselsestraat 246 3000 Leuven, Belgium Contact information Homepage: www.BeMSA.be Email: pr@BeMSA.be /BeMSA.Belgium @BeMSA_Belgium @BeMSA_Belgium
This is a BeMSA publication © 2019 - Only portions of this publication may be reproduced for non-political and non-profit purposes, provided mentioning the source. Disclaimer This publication contains the collective views of different contributors, the opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of BeMSA. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by BeMSA in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Notice All reasonable precautions have been taken by BeMSA to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material herein lies with the reader. Some of the photos and graphics used in this publication are the property of their respective authors. We have taken every consideration not to violate their rights.
About BeMSA The Belgian Medical Students’ Association (BeMSA) is a Belgian student-run organisation. As of the 2018-2019 academic year, it represents medical students from 8 of the faculties across the country, while also establishing international connections through the existing network of 137 national member organisations of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). Each year we organise a series of events on a local, national and international level. Additionally, our clinical and research exchange programs send over 100 Belgian students abroad every year, while accommodating the same number of foreign students. This allows them to explore innovations in medicine, healthcare systems and healthcare delivery in various settings across the globe. BeMSA brings people together to exchange, discuss and initiate projects with the goal of creating a healthier world. It provides medical students with the skills and resources needed to be health leaders. With the help of the IFMSA, it also advocates for the pressing issues that matter to us to shape the world we want to live in. And it does deliver: our projects, our campaigns and our activities positively impact the physicians-to be alongside the communities they serve.
CONTENTS
1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 3
2
PREPARING THE CAMPAIGN .............................................. 3
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5 2.6 3
EXECUTING THE CAMPAIGN ............................................. 10
3.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.3 3.4 4 4.1 4.2 4.3
TEAM ............................................................................... 3 TIMELINE........................................................................... 4 EXTERNAL PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS ................................ 5 ENROLMENT IN IFMSA PROGRAMS ........................................ 5 SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE....................................................... 5 POSTER AND BANNER ............................................................ 6 FACEBOOK EVENT ................................................................. 7 FACEBOOK FRAME ................................................................ 7 CONTESTS ........................................................................... 7 INFOGRAPHICS ..................................................................... 7 PRESS ............................................................................... 9
SOCIAL MEDIA REACH BY BEMSA ......................................... 10 HASHTAG USAGE ON TWITTER.............................................. 10 ACTIVITY ........................................................................... 11 CONTRIBUTORS .................................................................. 11 IN THE NEWS .................................................................... 12 SWOT-ANALYSIS OF THE CAMPAIGN ..................................... 12
FUTURE PLANS ................................................................. 13 POLICY DOCUMENT ............................................................ 13 REPORT........................................................................... 13 FUTURE CAMPAIGN ........................................................... 13
www.BeMSA.be
ATTACHMENTS ...................................................................... 14 ATTACHMENT 1 – FORMAL INVITATION EMAIL.................................. 14 ATTACHMENT 2 – PERSBERICHT (NL) ............................................. 15 ATTACHMENT 3 – COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE (FR) ............................. 16 ATTACHMENT 4 – ARTICLE ARTSENKRANT 31ST OF MAY (NL) .............. 17 ATTACHMENT 5 – CARTOON ARTSENKRANT 31ST OF MAY (NL)............ 18 ATTACHMENT 6 – ARTICLE MEDI-SFEER 3RD OF JUNE (NL) .................. 18 ATTACHMENT 7 – ARTICLE DE SPECIALIST 27TH OF JUNE (NL) .............. 19
Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
1 Introduction On the 7th of June, BeMSA organized a national campaign in order to raise awareness about mental health issues in medical students and healthcare professionals. #SunnySocks4Docs, the name and hashtag of the campaign, aimed to make as many Belgian healthcare professionals wear colourful socks on the mentioned day, in order to open a discussion on the topic and to show colleagues that might be dealing with mental health issues that they are not alone. The campaign was held in English, French and Dutch. The campaign draws inspiration from an international campaign called #CrazySocks4Docs, originally launched by the Australian Dr. Geoff Toogood a couple of years ago. Last year we noticed that this campaign was relatively unknown in Belgium, so we decided to take on the role of launching it here. We also decided to rename the campaign to #SunnySocks4Docs, because of the possible negative connotation of ‘crazy’ in regard to mental health issues. This report attempts to give an outline of the campaign, both regarding its preparations, the execution and future plans that BeMSA has in order to follow-up with it. It aims to give the general public an overview of the campaign and its impact. Additionally, it allows future generations of BeMSA members, as well as other IFMSA national member organizations, to easily organize the campaign again in future terms. Finally, it’s important to note that during the whole campaign, we focused on providing people that are experiencing such issues with organizations and a safety net to get in touch with.
2 Preparing the campaign 2.1
Team
Behind a successful campaign is a strong team. Within BeMSA, we launched a ‘Small Working Group’ (SWG) that was tasked with organizing the campaign. The call for SWG members was open for everyone within BeMSA. Everyone who wanted to help was admitted into the team. Name
Position within BeMSA
Position within SWG
Basiel Weyers
President
Coordinator
Arizona Binst
National Officer on Human Rights and Peace (NORP)
Member
Stephanie Delcroix
Vice-President for Finance (VPF)
Member
An Goethals
National Officer on Public Health (NPO) Member
Eduardo Montes de Oca National Officer on Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights including HIV and AIDS (NORA)
Member
Vincent Raymaekers
Vice-President for Members (VPM)
Member
Lori Van den Hurk
National Officer on Public Health (NPO - IFMSA-NL)
Observer
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 2.2
Timeline
The preparations for the campaign started about 1 month before the date, on May 8th. The whole process is outlined below. Date
Activity
08/05
Call for SWG within BeMSA
11/05
Selection of first applicants and creating WhatsApp group
12/05
First SWG online meeting
12/05
Started the process of getting in touch with possible external partners
14/05
Creation of webpage to inform the public about the progression of the campaign www.BeMSA.be/campaigns/SunnySocks4Docs
14/05
Creation of email address for the SWG
19/05
Second SWG online meeting
21/05
Launch of the Facebook event
22/05
Sending emails to BeMSA members about the campaign
29/05
Third SWG online meeting
02/06
Release of contest to win a pair of Happy Socks when sharing the event
02/06
Press release sent to Belgian press
02/06
Start using Facebook profile picture frame
03/06
Launching first infographic on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
03/06
Activity enrolled in IFMSA programs
04/06
Second infographic + sending reminders to external partners to help sharing them
05/06
Third infographic
06/06
Fourth infographic + reminder + release contest of sunniest socks
07/06
#SunnySocks4Docs 2019 -
final reminder to post pictures in the morning being very active on social media during the day reposting/retweeting pictures
08/06
Picking runners-up and posting collage of their pictures + thanking everyone for their participation
09/06
Announcing the winner of the sunniest socks
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 2.3
External partners and stakeholders
One of the first steps that the SWG took was to get in touch with external stakeholders to back the campaign. The aim of this was to strengthen our position and to get some help in promoting the campaign, in order to reach more students and healthcare professionals. We got in touch with all stakeholders mentioned below, some of them spontaneously contacted us. Only one stakeholder did not answer our emails (Arts in Nood / Médecins en Difficulté). Stakeholder
Contribution
Artsenkrant
Published multiple articles about the campaign, both in print, online and in their newsletter.
Medi-Sfeer
Published one article before the campaign.
De Specialist
Published one article after the campaign, looking back on our impact and future steps.
VLESP (Vlaams Expertisecentrum Suïcidepreventie)
Spread the word within their network of organizations and professionals, as well as online.
Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign.
CRéSaM (Centre de Référence en Santé Mentale)
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign.
Doctors4Doctors
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign.
UZ Gent / UGent
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign.
UZ Brussel / VUB
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign, projected the banners on screens within the faculty.
KU Leuven
Made some social media posts to promote the campaign.
Additionally, we asked our Local Committees to help spread the campaign, both within their own networks and towards their respective hospitals and faculties. To this end, we prepared a formal email in 3 languages (EN, FR, NL) that members could use as a template to get in touch with stakeholders. We would like to thank all external partners, stakeholders and everyone who contributed to the promotion of the campaign. 2.4
Enrolment in IFMSA Programs
We enrolled our activity into the IFMSA Program (www.IFMSA.org/programs) of Mental Health. This will allow us to promote our campaign within IFMSA, such as at their meetings. Additionally, they provided us with assistance to promote and review the campaign. 2.5
Social media presence
In the weeks leading up to the campaign, one of the ways of reaching as many students and healthcare professionals as possible was through our social media channels. The goal was to get as many people as possible to know about the idea and the date, so that they can join the campaign.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 2.5.1
Poster and banner
A poster (square) and banner (widescreen) were prepared in 3 languages. These were used on our social media channels, but were also made available to our external partners, as well as our members (Local Committees), so that they could spread the message on their own social media channels in their native language. Both designs included the logo, the date, the idea of the campaign in 3 short sentences with an icon, a short explanation of the campaign, the BeMSA logo and a link to the webpage (text + QR code).
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 2.5.2
Facebook event
On Facebook, an event for the campaign was created through our Facebook page. The event included our banner in English, as well as a more in-depth explanation in English, French and Dutch. It also included a link to the webpage. The event was used to share regular updates, the infographics and some people used it to post their pictures on the day itself. 2.5.3
Facebook frame
A Facebook profile picture frame was launched which people could use to put over their existing profile picture in order to help spread the message. The frame was mostly used by BeMSA members in order to let their fellow medical students know what we had planned.
2.5.4
Contests
Two contests were launched where people could win a pair of HappySocks®: •
•
2.5.5
About one week before the campaign, people were encouraged to share the Facebook event on their personal accounts. Afterwards, a random person was picked, and they received a pair of HappySocks® after the event. On the day before the campaign, we launched a second contest for the ‘Sunniest Picture’, where we announced that we would give away a second pair of socks to the person that posted the most original picture of their socks with the hashtag. Infographics
Infographics are posters, that can be printed or just posted online, that give more information about a certain topic in a very visual and clear way. We launched 4 infographics on the topic on mental health issues in healthcare professionals. The first two gave an overview of the magnitude of the problem in Belgium, one in doctors in training and the other in established doctors. The second one looks at the possible causes that lie behind these issues. The fourth and final one gives possible solutions that could be implemented to mitigate the issues. The infographics were shared on our Facebook page, the Facebook event, our Instagram stories and our Twitter account. Some of them were also shared by our partners or members.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
2.6
Press
4 days before the campaign, we launched a bilingual press release that was sent to national press and explained the idea of the campaign. The press release was aimed at raising awareness about the issue among the general public. The text can be found in Attachment 2 (Dutch) and 3 (French).
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
3 Executing the campaign After the preparations, which took about 1 month in total, the 7th of June finally arrived. On the day itself, we posted another final reminder to post pictures with the hashtag #SunnySocks4Docs on all our social media channels. During the day, we tried to be very active on social media by liking, retweeting and responding to people using the hashtag. 3.1
Social media reach by BeMSA
As mentioned before, we made posts on all social media channels of BeMSA (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) in the weeks going up to the campaign as well as on the day itself. The table below shows the number of posts, their cumulative reach (unique accounts) and/or impressions (number of times viewed, including accounts viewing it multiple times), as well as engagements (likes, comments, shares, retweets, link clicks, ‌). Medium
Number of posts
Reach (cumulative)
Impressions (cumulative)
Engagements (cumulative)
Facebook posts
12
27.225
858
Facebook event
N.A.
12.000
419
Instagram posts
2
909
132
Instagram stories
21
5.391
Twitter posts (tweets) Total
6.821
29
16
15.994
498
51
62.949
1.936
It is important to note that the cumulative numbers are an overestimation of the number of people reached, since one person will likely have seen multiple posts on multiple media. The biggest reach by a single post was 12.000 (the Facebook event), so this means that we reached at least 12.000 unique people with our campaign. 3.2
Hashtag usage on Twitter
In total, there were 141 tweets that used the hashtag #SunnySocks4Docs, accounting for a theoretic estimated economic value of $194,99.
For Instagram and Facebook, hashtag insights are difficult to interpret because of the high number of private accounts. Therefore, these were not included in this report. Below are some more insights into the hashtag usage on Twitter.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 3.2.1
Activity
3.2.2
Contributors
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs 3.3
In the news
Our campaign was featured in 3 articles in different healthcare journals. Unfortunately, we got no response from regular media on the press release. It is our aim to improve our efforts in this area in future campaigns. We were featured in Artsenkrant on the 31st of May, of which the article can be found in Attachment 4. They also released a cartoon about the campaign in the same publication (Attachment 5). Additionally, they published the same article online, as well as a smaller article on the 28th of May to announce the campaign. The campaign was featured in their newsletter on the 28th of May, the 31st of May and the 4th of June. Additionally, we were featured in Medi-Sfeer on the 3rd of June (Attachment 6) and in De Specialist on the 27th of June (Attachment 7). 3.4
SWOT-analysis of the campaign
Looking back on the campaign, the SWG reflected on what went well and what could be improved, both internally and externally. This resulted in the SWOT-analysis below. Strengths (internal) -
High motivation within SWG Good knowledge about the topic Good knowledge about social media usage Clear division of tasks within SWG Not much budget needed Clear and interesting infographics Impactful stakeholders that are willing to help
Opportunities (external) -
Highly relevant topic, relatively easy to create a buzz Easy to carry out for participants Room for further advocacy and awareness raising on the topic Many BeMSA members are excited to contribute
Weaknesses (internal)
-
Limited preparation time Many SWG members having exams during the preparation period Attendance of meetings Unequal division of tasks Not many stakeholders from Wallonia Not being featured by regular media, only healthcare journals
Threats (external) -
People not linking the campaign to BeMSA Campaign only taking place online Some stakeholders not answering on time Date maybe not ideal for Belgium due to exams
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
4 Future plans After a successful campaign, it’s time to think about the next steps. Of course, ending our work here would have a limited impact, so we wanted to go further. The following paragraphs will launch some future projects that fit within the theme of mental health in healthcare professionals. 4.1
Policy document
In the beginning of July, BeMSA will be launching another Small Working Group (SWG) that will work on a policy document on mental health in healthcare professionals. A policy document (NL: visietekst, beleidsnota; FR: document stratégique) represents the stance of our organization and can be used for advocacy by our representatives. The idea is to have the document ready by the beginning of the next term, so we can start our advocacy process at that point. More information and updates will follow soon. 4.2
Report
This report is important in order to reflect on our work and impact and think about what went well and what we could improve. Furthermore, the report can be used by future generations that want to organize the campaign. It is also a tool to measure impact and improvement over multiple editions of the campaign. 4.3
Future campaign
We are planning to organize the campaign again next year. #SunnySocks4Docs will always take place on the first Friday of June, which means that the next campaign will take place on Friday the 5th of June 2020.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs
Attachments Attachment 1 – Formal invitation email Subject: Request to participate in campaign on psychosocial health problems among healthcare professionals Dear Sir/Madam, Let me first introduce myself, my name is ... and I am … for BeMSA and medical student at … university. With BeMSA, we are organizing a national campaign on June 7th to raise awareness about mental health among doctors and other healthcare professionals. Hereby, we would like to ask you to participate in our activity, as well as to spread the call within your network. The idea of our #SunnySocks4Docs campaign is to encourage doctors, other healthcare professionals and students to wear different colourful socks on June 7th. Subsequently, everyone is encouraged to take a picture of their socks at work and post it on social media (mainly Twitter and Instagram) with the mentioned hashtag. The purpose of this campaign is to break the stigma surrounding psychosocial issues in the medical sector. 40% of all doctors in Belgium suffer from emotional exhaustion (KUL & Idewe 2012). We want to spark a national debate on the subject and and let people having a hard time know that that they are not alone. More information can be found on www.BeMSA.be/campaigns/SunnySocks4Docs. We kindly ask you to participate in our activity, as well as to spread our call to your colleagues. You can find our poster attached to this email. Thank you very much in advance for your enthusiasm, Best regards, The #SunnySocks4Docs Team Arizona Binst, Eduardo Brancho Montes de Oca, Stephanie Delcroix, An Goethals, Vincent Raymaekers and Basiel Weyers Belgian Medical Students' Association (BeMSA) www.BeMSA.be | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs Attachment 2 – Persbericht (NL)
Kleurrijke kousen voor sensibilisering rond psychosociale problemen bij zorgverleners Nu vrijdag, op 7 juni, lanceert de Belgian Medical Students' Association (BeMSA) de campagne #SunnySocks4Docs op sociale media. De studentenvereniging moedigt artsen en andere zorgverleners aan om die dag twee verschillende kleurrijke sokken aan te trekken en daarvan online een foto te posten. Daarmee wil ze aandacht vragen voor de mentale gezondheid van zorgprofessionals. De Belgian Medical Students' Association wil medestudenten geneeskunde en biomedische wetenschappen een platform bieden voor maatschappelijk engagement. Eén van de thema's waarop ze inzet is geestelijke gezondheid. "Er bestaan in onze maatschappij heel wat stigma's rond mentale gezondheidsproblemen. Vaak is dat heel subtiel, mensen weten niet goed hoe ze moeten reageren of hoe ze medeleven en compassie kunnen uitstralen. Ook binnen de gezondheidssector bestaat hierrond taboe", vertelt Vincent Raymaekers, geneeskundestudent en vice-voorzitter van BeMSA. "Uit onderzoek van de KU Leuven en IDEWE uit 2012 blijkt dat 40% van de Belgische artsen met emotionele uitputting kampt en dat is een hallucinant cijfer." Start to talk Vincent Raymaekers: "Vandaag wordt nog steeds verwacht van artsen dat hun werk op de eerste plaats komt, boven zichzelf, familie en vrienden. Maar als arts of paramedicus is een goede zelfzorg uiteindelijk het beste wat je je patiënten kan bieden. Lange dagen, korte nachten en depersonalisatie leiden immers tot minder goede kwaliteit en veiligheid van zorg." Voor haar medestudenten organiseert BeMSA praatsessies via het project 'Start To Talk', geneeskundestudenten kunnen er open communiceren over problemen die ze ervaren. "In het werkveld ontbreken deze initiatieven echter vaak, voor artsen en paramedici met mentale gezondheidsproblemen zijn er weinig aanspreekpunten", zegt Vincent Raymaekers. Het gebrek aan onderzoek en cijfers omtrent deze problematiek is volgens hem ook een van de factoren die beletten om de evolutie ervan op te volgen en specifieke acties op te zetten. Met de sociale mediacampagne #SunnySocks4Docs wil BeMSA mentale gezondheidsproblemen bij zorgprofessionals bespreekbaarder maken in de hoop dat de stigma's errond afnemen.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs Attachment 3 – Communiqué de presse (FR)
Chaussettes colorées pour sensibiliser aux problèmes psychosociaux dans le secteur médical Le vendredi 7 juin, l'association belge des étudiants en médecine (BeMSA) lance la campagne #SunnySocks4Docs sur les réseaux sociaux. L'association étudiante encourage les médecins et les autres professionnels de la santé à porter des chaussettes dépareillées et colorées ce jour-là et à en poster une photo sur les réseaux sociaux. Ainsi, elle souhaite susciter un débat national autour de la santé mentale des professionnels de la santé. Les étudiants membres de BeMSA veulent offrir une plateforme d'engagement social à leurs condisciples en médecine et en sciences biomédicales. L'un des thèmes sur lesquels elle se concentre est la santé mentale. "Il existe une réelle stigmatisation des problèmes de santé mentale dans notre société. C'est souvent très subtil, les gens ne savent pas comment réagir face à une telle situation ni comment exprimer leur compassion. Ces stigmates sont également présents dans le secteur des soins de santé", déclare Vincent Raymaekers, étudiant en médecine et vice-président de BeMSA. "Les recherches menées par la KUL et Idewe en 2012 montrent que 40% des médecins belges souffrent d'épuisement émotionnel, ce qui est un chiffre inimaginable." Start To Talk Vincent Raymaekers: "Aujourd'hui, on s'attend à ce que les médecins privilégient leur métier par rapport à eux-mêmes, leur famille et leurs amis. Pourtant, en tant que médecin, vous ne pouvez qu'offrir de bon soins de santé à vos patients en veillant sur vous-même. Après tout, les longues journées, les courtes nuits et la dépersonnalisation entraînent une baisse de la qualité des soins." BeMSA organise des groupes de discussion pour les étudiants via le projet «Start To Talk», au cours duquel les étudiants en médecine peuvent parler ouvertement des problèmes qu’ils rencontrent dans la vie. "Cependant, ces initiatives font souvent défaut dans le domaine professionnel, il existe peu de points de contact pour les médecins, paramédicaux et soignants ayant des problèmes de santé mentale", déclare Vincent Raymaekers. Le manque de recherche et de statistiques sur cette question est, selon lui, aussi un des facteurs qui empêchent une amélioration de la situation en mettant en place des actions spécifiques. Avec la campagne médiatique #SunnySocks4Docs, BeMSA souhaite rendre la discussion autour du thème de la santé mentale plus aisée, dans l’espoir que les stigmates qui les entourent diminuent.
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs Attachment 4 – Article Artsenkrant 31st of May (NL)
© Artsenkrant
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs Attachment 5 – Cartoon Artsenkrant 31st of May (NL)
© Artsenkrant Attachment 6 – Article Medi-Sfeer 3rd of June (NL)
© Medi-Sfeer
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Belgian Medical Students’ Association - #SunnySocks4Docs Attachment 7 – Article De Specialist 27th of June (NL)
© De Specialist
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