CANDIDATE FOR SCORA OFFICER FOR THE TERM 2020-2021
MICHAELA ZAMMIT
CANDIDATE FOR SCORA OFFICER
MOTIVATIONAL LETTER Dear MMSA Members, My name is Michaela Zammit, a second year medical student, and I am proud to announce my candidature for the Sexual and Reproductive Health officer within MMSA board of directors for the term of 2020-2021. Â In the past two years I have found a love for student activism I did not know I had through taking an active role within MMSA. Through this organisation, one feels a sense of fulfilment through our events, as well as a sense of belonging.
This led to me successfully applying for the SCORA assistant position which I have held for the past year. Through my experience as SCORA assistant, my love and passion for this Standing Committee has increased and so applying for officer felt like a natural step in my journey within MMSA.
Being SCORA assistant for the past year has taught me all about what SCORA is. Being on the forefront of all the As soon as I entered first year I decided campaigns we successfully implemented to take an active role within MMSA. Even this year has taught me the ins and outs though I dabbled within all the Standing of what to do from a planning point of Committees, I always felt more drawn view as well as what to do when faced towards SCORA. with a crisis. Â
The most important lesson from this past year is the importance of teamwork within such a large team, and how each of us played a role in executing the best version of SCORA we could. Through my experience and thanks to the guidance I got this past year, I feel that I have gained insight into what it is like to be part of the Board of Directors and what it takes to run a Standing Committee. Along with my experience within this Standing Committee, it is my love for SCORA and passion for advocacy that drive me to further my experience within MMSA. The stigma around sexual health and education can still be felt within our society. Through the work SCORA does as a Standing Committee we can dampen the stigma by educating not only students through peer ed sessions, but also our peers through discussion and debate. I am very passionate about stopping the stigma around our sexual health and I feel that being SCORA officer will help me to do so. In conclusion, I would like to assure you all that I am a hard working individual that puts my 100% in everything I commit to. Should I be elected, I will commit greatly to not only my role, but to my team and to MMSA as a whole and will make sure that SCORA continues to excel! I would also like to add that in light of the COVID-19 situation, changes will be made to any ideas I had planned for our events in order to keep up with developments of the pandemic. Yours truly, Michaela Zammit mickyzammit2000@gmail.com
PLAN OF ACTION My My Objectives Objectives Effective communication with every part of my team, exchanging feedback with one another being a top priority to help improve our work ethic! Early event preparation to lead to easier execution of great events. Keeping everything up to date, such as peer ed sessions. Making sure resources are available for the team, such as condoms, HIV test kits and necessary leaflets for events. All events should have the greatest impact possible, social media can be our best asset to reach the masses.
Keeping our events sustainable, minimising printing and finding alternatives.
The Team Team The The team would consist of: 1 Assistant 2 World AIDS Day Coordinators 3 Peer Ed Coordinators 3 Awareness Coordinators 2 MAMA Campaign Coordinators
If I were to be elected, I would issue in the first set of calls the majority of my team, that being the Assistant role as well as Peer Ed Coordinators, and the Awareness team. World AIDS Day coordinators and MAMA Campaign coordinators call will be issued in the second set. A standing committee will not be able to reach the heights that it does without their team! I will work hand in hand with my team in order to execute successful events.
The The Campaigns Campaigns
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN Abortion Debate For the upcoming term, I am planning on dividing the Abortion Debate into two events. One would involve a debate between doctors only. This way, the opinions are more set in ground rather than having students advocate for the doctors. The other would be an event solely for medical students. This will be an internal discussion between the students where they will be divided into small working groups and prompted with questions. After having discussions in their group, they will have one representative to present the small group's idea to all.
Lockdown After a great success last year, I would like to carry on with the awareness on LGBTIQ+ rights. Last year the event was held at the KSU common room, but this year I would like to move it away from university and get an off campus location in an attempt to attract more people, other than just university students.
Planning must start early in this case to try and achieve possible sponsors as well as coordinating with externals such as ARC for the best possible outcome of the event. Of course, execution of this event is dependent on the developments of the COVID-19 situation. The aim of the event will not be forgotten and alternatives to pass on our message will be considered.
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Valentine s Day Cards are still left over from this year. These can be used again to spread the love on valentines day and make sure everyone practices safe sex – everyday!
Pink October and Movember Even though Pink October and Movember are advocated for through Peer Ed, I feel that a proper campaign for these two months was forgotten this year. I aim to do a social media campaign throughout the two months. The coordinators and myself will work in hand with the PRO team to come up with posters to advocate for the true meaning of Pink October and Movember. In this way, we can also use the posters as a form of education.
PEER EDUCATION CAMPAIGN Mr and Ms Breastestis This was a great success this year, with many schools requesting this session. The presentation has been received well and I intend on keeping this session for the next term and work hand in hand with the coordinators to keep up the standard and quality of the session. That being said, I am very open to new ideas presented to me by the future coordinators as there is always room for improvement.
RUDI? This session had a few updates this year, and I would like to also keep it as it is, as it has proven to be highly successful.
Birds and the Bees This session was introduced this year at a small scale event at Esplora. This new session was received well by the children and they seemed to understand the concepts they were approached with. I would like to keep pushing for this session and contact schools during the summer to schedule sessions with the younger years throughout the term. I would also look into seeking help from some externals to review the session to optimise it for the target audience.
WORLD AIDS DAY CAMPAIGN The World AIDS Day Campaign is by far the biggest event on the SCORA calendar. With great success year after year it is definitely a campaign I will include if I am elected and would love to keep improving upon. This year the WAD campaign focused on the importance of contraception, with our tag line being #UseCondomSense, as well as bringing into the discussion the use of the drugs PrEP and PEP that help reduce the risk of contracting HIV. These topics were very well received during the execution of this event, as well as by students during our workshop. In the upcoming term I find that it is also important to include information regarding STDs and STIs as they are relevant topics locally. During execution of our event this year, we came across some hurdles which resulted in the last minute change of location of our event, having it take place at Tigne Point Pjazza rather than in Valletta. Apart from wishing to keep our event at our Capital in the upcoming term, I would like to collaborate with institutions such as the GU clinic to continue to emphasise the importance of preventing the contraction of STIs and STDs through the use of contraception, specifically condoms.
The Workshop I would like to keep the concept of having a workshop prior to the event, as I feel that it informs the students that are playing an active role more directly. The workshop prepares all participants efficiently for the event, especially since the event is based mainly on outreaching and is an educational one. I would like to keep the workshop as interactive as possible as this may allow for a greater impact as well as keeping the quality of the event as high as possible.
Social Media Campaign I cannot emphasise the importance of this platform enough! This year we included a social media campaign on the SCORA Facebook page which I feel is an efficient form of outreaching, apart from the event itself. I would like to repeat this in the upcoming term and this will be done through the use of posters which can be published during the week of World AIDS Day. I would also like to try include a form of AfterMovie which can put on display the hard work behind the execution of such an event, as well as showing the results of such work.
Valletta and Quad Events
With regards to our main event I would like to keep this in Valletta. Even though Tigne Point reached a younger audience there were significantly less people than Valletta during many hours that we were there. I feel that the Quad event is where we hit our main target audience for such topics and should be kept on our calendar. In the case of both events I would like to push for the flashmob as it creates the greatest impact as well as being loads of fun. Should I be elected, I will ensure to keep in great contact with HPDP and the GU clinic for execution of these events as well as other relevant institutions. Obviously, execution of such events are highly dependent on the development of the COVID-19 situation and changes to any form of planning and/or execution will be made accordingly.
THE MAMA MAMA CAMPAIGN Maternal Health is an important pillar within this standing committee which this year was executed beautifully this year through our MATERNA project. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, some of our plans for this campaign had to be cancelled. For the upcoming term I would like to focus on a number of topics throughout this campaign such as: Maternal and Paternal Mental Health, this could also include a collaboration with SCORP; Nutrition throughout Pregnancy; Breastfeeding; and What to expect when you're expecting with regards to bodily changes for example. I wish to execute this event in a seminar-like manner such that we could contact doctors from specialities such as obstetrics, as well as contacting dieticians to join us throughout the event and inform attendees on such topics efficiently and accurately. I would like to focus on the awareness on mental health during and after pregnancy, particularly on topics such as postpartum depression and the risks that are associated with it. Disorders such as gestational diabetes as well as pre-eclampsia can be included within such an informational event. I would like to keep the concept of compiling a journal for this campaign. Not only does it provide facts that can be accessed by the public but it also allows our MMSA members to play a central role in this campaign. I would also like to add a form of a social media campaign, as I feel this has great impact. This would consist of informational posters that are simple and eye-catching about conditions such as postpartum depression to further increase awareness.
Collaborations Collaborations MAMA CAMPAIGN - SCORP AND SCOPH Since this campaign includes a variety of topics and the campaign can in fact be so vast, I would like to look into possible collaborations with other Standing Committees, particularly SCORP with regards to topics such as Mental Health as well as SCOPH with regards to the nutritional aspect of this campaign.
LGBTIQ+ AWARENESS - ALLIED RAINBOW COMMUNITY (ARC) As we did last year for our Lockdown event, I would like to look into collaborating with ARC once more. I would like to work with them on advocating for the LGBTIQ+ community, especially throughout Pride Week in Malta. This can be done through a social media campaign where we share informative posters about sexuality, gender identity as well as mental health within the community. If events such as last year's Lockdown can take place, I would look into planning the event alongside ARC in order to provide another successful and fruitful event.
SEXUAL HISTORY TAKING WORKSHOP - SCOME I would like to collaborate with SCOME in order to execute this event once more (COVID-19 permitting). It is important for medical students, especially the ones in their clinical years, to distinguish between sexual history taking and a normal history taking. Taking a sexual history can be quite sensitive for some individuals and it is important that as future doctors we are informed of the different mannerisms, tone of voice as well as the different questions that are asked, especially the way such questions are asked.
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE - SCORP Being that Gender Based Violence is advocated for through SCORA within IFMSA, I would like to look at possible collaboration with SCORP, who has tackled this topic in the past term, in the development of an educational awareness campaign in this sector. I feel that such a topic is relevant and should be advocated for in the upcoming term.
Past Past Experience Experience SCORA SCORA Assistant '19-'20 including participation in all SCORA campaigns throughout the term, which includes Peer Ed, WAD, Awareness, Abortion Debate, PPS Workshop among others. World AIDS Day participant Valletta, Quad and Workshop '18. RUDI? sessions '18-'19. Mr and Mrs Breastestis Sessions '18-'19.
WAD 2018
FLASHMOB REHEARSALS WAD 2018
WAD PARTICIPANT 2018
WAD TEAM 2019
LGBTIQ+ LOCKDOWN 2019
SCOPH
WDD 2018
World Diabetes Day Participant '18 Swieqi Fest Health Checks Watch Your Head Workshop '18 Health Checks at Melita World Diabetes Day Leader '19
WDD 2019 WDD 2019
SCORP
Defending Your Rights Workshop '19 Defending Your Rights event on Quad '19
DYR QUAD EVENT '19
DYR WORKSHOP '19
DYR QUAD EVENT '19
SCOPET Peer Education Workshop '18 Peer Ed Sessions '18-'19 (multiple) World Children's day '19
SCOME First Aid by the Beach PMP Suturing and Anaesthesia PMP What's in your Blood? PMP Buddy for a Year ECG Workshop Welcome Meds! Video Participant
BUDDY FOR A YEAR MD1 GROUP
WHAT'S IN YOUR BLOOD? PMP
FIRST AID BY THE BEACH
PARLIAMENT DISCUSSION
Other Roles Freshers' Week Coordinator '19 Science in the City Workshop Participant representing SCORA TRD Participant '18 TRD Participant, Crew and Dancer '19 MMSA Appreciation Night '19 MMSA AGM '19 MMSA EGM '19 Medicolegal Conference '20 Student Representative on the panel. Represented SCORA at parliament for a discussion on human trafficking and prostitution.
SITC WORKSHOP '19
MEDICOLEGAL CONFERENCE '20
FRESHERS' WEEK COORDINATOR '19