MMSA NEWSLETTER
message from the president Dear friends, This year 2021 will be a memorable one for us as MMSA celebrates its 70th Year Anniversary! What we represent today - our campaigns, ethos and energy are all thanks to our predecessors on the Board including reputable decision
makers
such
as
the
President
of
Malta,
Hon.Chris Fearne, Hon. Godfrey Farrugia who all held roles as active members back in their days as medical students. In light of COVID-19 vaccine, thanks to MMSA Public Health’s discussions with the authorities and through support from the Faculty Board, we welcome the decision to vaccinate all clinical medical students. The Board
looks
optimistically
ahead
to
support
the
authorities in this final push through the pandemic. Moreover, we have a jam packed calendar of events to kick start following our exams ! As stressful as this exam period will be, I hope that you keep in mind the importance of balance, mindfulness and rest. Do not let a couple of credits take a toll on your mental health, and health in general ! Feel free to contact us if we can be of any help. All the very best!
message from eb VPe IFMSA After the February exams, IFMSA will be holding the 2021 Online March Meeting with the other National Member Organisations from around the globe. Stay tuned for more information on this opportunity and look out for a call for participants to help the NMO officers attend the Standing Committee sessions. This is a great opportunity to learn more about IFMSA, meet new international people and get to know more about MMSA’s role on an international level. Collaborations MMSA collaborated with ESO on an article focusing on the European Union's positive influence on a trusted healthcare system. Well done Matthew Pace for your work on this collaboration. You can read up on it from the following link: https://mmsa.org.mt/Posts?pageNum=1 MMSA also participated in UM Futsal’s fundraising opportunity, through their calendar for the year 2021.
External opportunities THINK Magazine are in the process of sourcing content for this year's edition and they are looking for exciting research stories and new writing talent. If you are interested in participating in this opportunity, you can contact Mr. Mizzi on david.mizzi@um.edu.mt.
VPi Events During the month of January, MMSA hosted 4 events in preparation for our upcoming medical exams and 8 peer education sessions! A warm-hearted thank you, goes to our officers, assistants, coordinators and helpers in the planning and putting up of these events. We hope you enjoyed our events, found the sessions informative and valuable, and had the opportunity to get to know and interact with members across different MD years. SCOME:- Easy A - Easy A 2.0 - Easy A 3.0 SCORP:- Peace of Mind | Untoasting Toast - Mental Health Peer Ed Session at Scouts Malta SCOPET:- Physical Health Peer Ed Sessions to Naxxar Scouts Group - First aid and Respiratory Health Peer Ed Session to Malta Girl Guides Looking forward to seeing you at future events!
MMSA’s February Monthly Forum The MMSA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be back in a few weeks time! Thus together with the Secretary General Office, we would like to host next month’s online forum to brief you more on the upcoming MMSA’s Elections. During this forum, we’ll be going over each step of the electoral process starting from the calls for candidates, the annual general meeting procedures explaining the different motions, reports and Bylaws proposed for the upcoming term, the presentation and debates of candidatures and finally the election day and voting regulations! We believe that our association is built on student work and activism - thus we encourage YOU to join us and gain more insight on our internal workings! More information on this forum will be out soon. Stay tuned!
SecGen Our 4th edition of Student Spotlight was released earlier this month, with the next theme being Gourmet! The deadline for nominations is the 1st of February 23:59 so make sure to send in your nominations on time!
March will bring with it MMSA's Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is followed by the MMSA Elections. In preparation for this, the SecGen Office will be collaborating once again with the VPi for another feedback forum, this time focusing on the election process. The AGM is the highest authority and decision making body of MMSA and therefore is the perfect opportunity for members to have a say in MMSA's internal workings. Stay tuned to find out more about the AGM very soon!
ELECTIVES
During the month of January we have had our new innovative MEDICAL ELECTIVES OUTGOINGS BOOKLET release! This is a booklet containing all the Elective experiences available for Summer 2021 - unless there are changes due to the pandemic, which we are on the lookout for to keep you updated. Should you not wish to go on an elective this year, we suggest you have a look through the booklet nonetheless, since many opportunities require early registration - so you can get a headstart for next year! During the second semester we aim to be prepared to welcome the first incoming elective students for this term with an essential On arrival Programme as well as a safe, social distanced, social program! We shall also continue keeping you informed about our Office through posters published on our Facebook page!
SCOpet Peer Education Continuation of our yearlong Children’s Health Campaign. This month 2 online physical health sessions were delivered to children at the Naxxar Scout Group and 5 online sessions, 3 on respiratory health and 2 on basic first aid, were delivered to around 80 girl guides at the Malta Girl Guides Association.
Looking forward to continuing this peer ed campaign throughout the rest of this term! Stay tuned for the many training workshops and courses we have lined up for 2nd semester! Keep an eye out for our annual IFMSA-certified Training New Trainers workshop‌.
SCOPH Throughout the beginning of the new year the SCOPH office together with the MMSA President advocated for COVID-19 vaccination of clinical year medical students. Our concerns regarding patient safety were communicated to several entities and individuals. This was successful and through official communication from faculty students were informed regarding our prioritization for the vaccine. We proudly collaborated with KSU on their ‘Beyond the Influence: A Drug Awareness Campaign’ on their panel discussion titled ‘The Drug Effect I - The Body & Mind’. This was live on facebook with several guest speakers and aimed to raise awareness about the topic. The start of the new year marks the middle of our MMSA term. This allows us to look back at what we have already achieved throughout the first half and look forward to what is yet to achieve. We could not be prouder of what the team has been able to achieve and all the successful, safe events and campaigns we managed to do despite being in a pandemic. We now look forward to what the new year will bring and will strive to keep the momentum going. January is a slow month in terms of events and campaigns due to exams but in the meantime we are planning a Climate Change & Health webinar as well as other exciting events to look forward to. Goodluck and Take Care
SCOME Welcome to the new year! With January being the dreaded month where exam season really starts to ramp up, SCOME kept their schedule for the month simple with the organisation of three Easy A events. These were quizzes set in an online format (different to the physical format of previous years to abide by public health protocols) tailored for the first, second and third years to tackle material of each study unit that would give an idea for what should be examined in the coming exams. All three events had a very high turnout and overwhelmingly positive reception despite the change in format. This gives more incentive for SCOME to keep organising similar events in the coming terms and appreciates all the high quality given in order to improve on events like these. This was also the first year were Easy A was organised for the third years in addition to the first and second years. This was very well received by the clinical students so it will definitely be on the books for coming terms. We'd also like to take this time to remind you that SCOME has uploaded hundreds of pages of resources for students to take a look at on the MMSA website under SCOME resources, including study guides, notes, and flashcards, to help you ace the coming exam session.
Finally, everyone in the SCOME team would like to wish you good luck for the coming exam season. Please don't hesitate to contact anyone in the team should you need any help throughout these next few weeks!
SCOra During the month of January, SCORA has focused on preparing for the next semester which will have multiple events for all MMSA members to take part in! Our first event for the second semester will be our MAMA Campaign which will be centred around maternal health, including conditions that are seen during maternity and many more! This will be an opportunity for members to get involved in the compilation of our maternal health journal for this year by writing articles and doing their own research on the focuses included in the campaign.
The second semester will also host the Abortion Debate which the SCORA administration has been working towards all term. This will be an opportunity for you to learn more about both sides of the debate as well as pose any questions you may have to the speakers.
supco Congratulations to Luigi Dimech, this month’s winner of Student Spotlight! Well done to the other nominees, too! Your artistic skills never cease to amaze us! Know a medical student who is also a great chef? The theme for next month’s Student Spotlight is Gourmet! Deadline to submit your nomination is 1st February at 23:59. Once again, we look forward to receiving your nominations and shining the spotlight on another one of our highly talented MMSA members!
SupCo wishes you all the best of luck for the upcoming exams! Study hard, stay motivated but remember to take frequent breaks. We would finally like to remind our members that, should any issue arise, they may approach us either through Facebook chat, via email sent on supco@mmsa.org.mt, or through our anonymous complaints form, available on the ‘Contact Us’ section on the MMSA Website.
from our gallery
SCOPET's Peer Ed Session