message from the president Dear friends, Although MMSA is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year, and this may be associated with an old number, the spirit shared between our members is surely youthful and enthusiastic. This month MMSA celebrated its largest campaign - our HealthFest which showcased events from every standing committee. Each event was well attended and this reflects the relevance within activities and our members’
contribution
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participation.
Moreover, for the first time we kicked start a recruitment campaign for prospective coordinators and assistants. Although we all thought that student engagement would be a problem with relying solely on remote technology, this proved to be far from the truth as our members attended sessions to get informed and involved. Thank you for your energy in order to continue to support our strong momentum. Another feather in MMSA’s cap !
Prosit u Grazzi !
message from eb VPe IFMSA MMSA Malta participated in the 2021 Online EuRegMe meeting held between Friday 23rd and Sunday 25th April. This was a great opportunity to virtually discuss with people from Europe on important matters. I would like to thank the EuRegMe delegation representing MMSA at this international meeting – Julia A Zahra, Suhrid Roy and Nathalie Attard. EMSA The online EMSA Spring Assembly has held this month over 2 weekends: Plenary sessions – 10-11th April and Pillar sessions – 17-18th April. The delegation representing MMSA at this meeting were: Enya Aquilina, Emily Diacono, Julia A Zahra, Gerard Zammit Young, Nicole Mifsud, Rachel Muscat Baron, Rebekah St John and Rosie Attard. I would like to thank everyone who took part for representing MMSA at this international meeting.
Policy On the 6th of May, the Vaccine Policy Paper will be launched live on zoom at 4pm. Join our discussion with Dr. Charles Mallia Azzopardi (Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine) and Dr. Chris Barbara (Clinical Chairperson of the Pathology Department) to get to know more about vaccines.
VPi Events Within the month of April, MMSA hosted 13 events and held 25 online 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. President’s Office :- Backbone Workshop ‘21 - The Workings Behind MMSA’s Board In collaboration with Vice-President for Internal Affairs’ Office and SCOPET Vice-President for Internal Affairs’ Office :- HealthFest’21 : Be Kind To Your Mind Campaign In collaboration with all MMSA Offices - Backbone Workshop ‘21 - The Workings Behind MMSA’s Board In collaboration with President’s Office and SCOPET - Getting Involved in MMSA - 2-event guide to becoming a coordinator Training Tuesdays 5 - In collaboration with SCOPET Feedback Forum - In collaboration with Supervising Council
SCOPH :-HealthFest’21 : Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Me : Online Healthchecks -Let’s Talk! Cannabis Legislation - Panel Discussion In collaboration with SCORP SCORP:- HealthFest’ 21 : Unwind Your Mind : Yoga -HealthFest’21 : 9 Mental Health Peer Ed Sessions -Let’s Talk! Cannabis Legislation - Panel Discussion In collaboration with SCOPH SCOPET:-HealthFest’ 21 : Recognise.Act.Manage : Mastering Emotions at Your Workplace -HealthFest’21 : 16 Mental Well-Being Peer Ed Sessions -Backbone Workshop ‘21 - The Workings Behind MMSA’s Board In collaboration with President’s Office and VicePresident for Internal Affairs’ Office -Getting Involved in MMSA - 2-event guide to becoming a coordinator Training Tuesdays 5 - In collaboration with VicePresident for Internal Affairs’ Office
SCOME :-SCOME’s Back to Basics - Anaemias Workshop -HealthFest’21 : Life Beyond Med School : Through the Eyes of the Practitioners In collaboration with SCOPRE and Electives’ Office SCORA :- Let’s Talk Abortion - The MMSA Abortion Debate - HealthFest’21 : I’m sexy and I know it - A webinar on Body Confidence and Intimacy SCOPRE:-HealthFest’21 : Life Beyond Med School : Through the Eyes of the Practitioners In collaboration with SCOME and Electives’ Office Electives’ Office -HealthFest’21 : Life Beyond Med School : Through the Eyes of the Practitioners In collaboration with SCOPRE and SCOME Leisure Office -HealthFest’21 : Brainiacs - The Online Trivia Night Thanks for all your contributions. Looking forward to seeing you at future events!
Backbone Workshop ‘21 - The Workings Behind MMSA’s Board In collaboration with the President’s and SCOPET’s Office, the annual backbone workshop was hosted, this year virtually, for prospective MMSA active members to get a grasp of the preparation and admin side of MMSA events. Participants had the opportunity to discuss with various Standing Committee Officers in which they are looking forward to applying, in order to get to know more about different roles function in office.
HealthFest’21 : Be Kind to Your Mind Campaign This year’s HealthFest revolved around the central theme of how to ‘Be Kind to Your Mind’! All MMSA’s Offices worked together to showcase and celebrate their work in line with MMSA’s year-long priority : Mental Health. To kick-off this campaign, MMSA headed to the University of Malta Campus to ask the general public some questions about mental health whilst addressing and explaining common misconceptions on this important yet overlooked topic! The campaign was inaugurated by his excellency the president of Malta Dr George Vella, followed by a speech from MMSA’s President Ms Gloria Montebello, on Friday 23rd April. This was followed by a panel discussion with professional external speakers whom include the Commissioner for Mental Health in Malta, Mr John Cachia, MEP Alex Agius Saliba, UK based general practitioner with a special interest in Mental health, Dame Clare Gerada, Chief Executive Officer at Richmond Foundation, Ms Stephania Dimech Sant, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Alosia Camilleri and Founder for Mental Health for Medics, Ms Nicole Borg.
Following the panel discussion, medical students had the opportunity to present their research relevant to the sphere of mental health. Throughout the rest of the weekend, each of MMSA’s Standing Committees organised various events to raise awareness on different aspects affecting our mental health, relevant to both medical students and members of the public. A total amount of €350 was collected in aid of Richmond Foundation to provide monetary support for the Gift of Therapy. This equates to 7 free mental therapy sessions. We would like to thank all those who joined and supported our campaign <3 Let’s always try to #bekindtoyourmind
Getting Involved in MMSA - 2-event guide to becoming a coordinator During the first event, Training Tuesdays 5, we outlined the important points prospective coordinators and assistants need to keep in mind when planning an activity within MMSA. An interactive session, during which the participants had to plan their own event was carried out enabling members to get a feel of the process involved in activity management. The second event was April’s Feedback Forum, during which together with the Supervising Council (both current and elect), we explained the call for teams’ application process whilst also giving some tips on what is expected when filling up an application form.
ELECTIVES During the month of April, the Electives team took part in the Backbone Workshop ‘21. During this event, MMSA members had the opportunity to get to know what the Electives team is all about, and delve into all the work involved throughout the year. This was a great continuation to our social media campaign, This is Our Team - make sure to head to our Facebook page to check out these posters if you haven't already! The Electives team was also involved in the Healthfest event entitled Life Beyond Med School Through the Eyes of Practitioners. This event was done in collaboration with SCOME and SCOPRE and centred around the typical day of a practitioner and how one would manage to take care of both their physical and mental health in the meantime. While this may be challenging to do, we encourage everyone to make both a priority in their life and seek help if needed!
April has also brought good news - we shall be finally welcoming Elective Incoming students as of the 1st of July, given that the situation regarding the pandemic does not worsen once more. We look forward to greeting these students for a fruitful Elective experience! Lastly, we would like to welcome Suhrid Roy as the Electives Officer Elect for the term 2021-2022. We have no doubt that next term will be another successful one under his leadership! We also look forward to welcoming the new Electives team members - applications are out! Feel free to contact anyone from the current team should you have any queries.
SCOpet Peer Education Mental wellbeing peer ed sessions as part of the HealthFest ’21 campaign in collaboration with the Vice-President for Internal Affairs office. During the week leading up to the weekend HealthFest campaign, 20 MMSA members facilitated 16 online mental wellbeing and emotional intelligence peer ed sessions, targeting adolescents between the ages of 10 and 13, at 6 different schools across Malta and Gozo.
Training ‘Training Tuesdays 5: A-Z of Activity Management’ workshop in collaboration with the Vice-President for Internal Affairs office, as part of the ‘Getting Involved In MMSA: 2-Event Guide To Becoming A Coordinator’ campaign. In the first part of this online workshop, the principles underpinning effective activity management, especially as they relate to MMSA’s activities and campaigns, were discussed. In the second part of the workshop, participants were divided into breakout rooms, with each breakout room having to create a plan of how they would organise a random activity they were assigned, which was then presented in the main room, with feedback being given by the VPi and PETO. Around 50 MMSA members actively participated in this workshop!
SCOpet Training 4 training sessions as part of a video editing course in collaboration with the Public Relations office. 13 MMSA members completed this online course. Special thanks to professional videographer James Caselli for delivering these training sessions.
SCOpet ‘Recognise. Act. Manage.: Mastering Emotions At Your Workplace’ workshop as part of the HealthFest ’21 campaign in collaboration with the VicePresident for Internal Affairs office. Around 18 medical students and members of the general public participated in this interactive training session on emotional intelligence. The session delved into what emotional intelligence is and how a better understanding of it can lead to a more fulfilling personal life as well as to more harmonious workplace relationships. We wish to thank Ms Ritienne Xerri, head of MISCO’s Training and Development Unit, who facilitated this workshop.
SCOPH Vaccination voluntary continued throughout the month of April with over 170 medical students helping out in the filing and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. These include both preclinical and clinical year medical students who are currently helping out in different centres including University Gateway, MCAST Paola, Naxxar, St Venera and Aurora Gozo. The volunteers followed an online course to learn more about the vaccines and how to administer it and they are mentored by supervisors once they are administering the vaccine. As part of HealthFest we once again took a holistic approach to health and As the Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH) we focused both on the mental as well as the physical aspects as a healthy mind needs a healthy body! We gave the health checks MMSA has been renowned for online twist. Our online health checks were targeted towards the public where they had a unique opportunity to have a personal conversation with a few of our members about various aspects of their health. Our discussion included the perceived stress scale and coping mechanisms, tips to lead a healthier lifestyle and we also tackled some myths surrounding vaccination.
Before the online health checks, we had a presentation and group discussion with Tabib.mt about Digital Health which aimed to empower people to take charge of their own health and how to use digital platforms to improve their health. Afterall, telehealth is the future of medicine! Finally, as to what will probably be the final event of the term, we collaborated with MMSA - SCORP to host Let’s Talk! Cannabis Legislation. This took the form of a panel discussion centred around cannabis legislation and the newly proposed White Paper.We were joined by a number of professionals from various fields with varying opinions to find out more about what this reform entails through the lens of public health and human rights! Event was held on Zoom and livestreamed on our Facebook page.
leisure In such trying times during the pandemic which have jeopardised most people’s mental health, especially youths who have had to maintain their academic performance from home, socialisation has taken a back seat in order to safeguard our physical health. However, in line with the theme for this year’s Healthfest: Be Kind To Your Mind, the Leisure team sought to provide its participants with a safe opportunity to unwind and take part in a fun activity along with some of their close friends. So, MMSA-Leisure organised Brainiacs: The MMSA Online Trivia Night. This trivia night challenged our participants through a series of questions and bonus challenges regarding several different categories ranging from sports, to music, movies, pop culture, current events and even some Leisure Team Facts. Despite this event being held remotely, our members got the chance to have fun with one another and as some have even stated, the positive atmosphere which the MMSA-Leisure team is known to uphold could be felt even through the screen. This event has not only helped improve our members’ mental wellbeing by serving as a break from our hectic lives but has also managed to raise €250 in aid of Richmond Foundation to help other individuals struggling with mental health through the gift of therapy.
supco A huge well done to Elaine Piscopo for being chosen as this month’s Student Spotlight! Your selfless work towards making our environment a better place is truly inspirational. This month, SupCo took part in two separate events related to the formation of new MMSA teams. Firstly, we participated in the Backbone Workshop where we provided attendees with some insight into conflict management within teams by discussing a case scenario, whilst also reminding them the role of SupCo when it comes to such scenarios of conflict. Secondly, we took part in the last Feedback Forum of the term where together with the SupCo-Elect we discussed applications with the attendees. Whilst the SupCo-Elect explained in detail the process which is to be undertaken in order to apply to become part of the MMSA teams, SupCo current gave some insight into how to properly write an application. We created mock applications with some tips and tricks on what the officers expect and are looking for in a good application, which was found to be useful by the attendees. Moreover, we would 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.