MM20 RWANDA SCORA REPORT PREPARED BY: AREEJ NAUMAN
SHAMIN HAYAT MAHMUD
SCORA QMSA MM20 Delegate arn4001@qatar-med.cornell.edu
SCORA QMSA MM20 Delegate shm4001@qatar-med.cornell.edu
SCORA Publication Assistant 2019-2020 scora.qmsa.pub@gmail.com
ABOUT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Every year, the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students' Association) comes together in March and August to meet with members from all over the world to discuss work being done in the 6 standing committees (SCORA, SCOPH, SCOME, SCORP, SCOPE, & SCORE), with workshops, training sessions, and sessions on delivering projects and campaigns regarding pressing concerns. This year, the March meeting was held in Rwanda, allowing members the privilege of traveling to the beautiful Heart of Africa to unite people from all over the world. SCORA met and discussed several important topics which will be delineated in this report, and it is truly an incredible and once in a lifetime experience for medical students everywhere to positively impact the communities we will serve.
The GA was an exhilarating experience with the perfect balance of work and social events. The beautiful tropical weather, the kind and hospitable people, and the compelling social events ensure that all the sleepless nights were totally worth it. With people arriving from all corners of the world, the GA is rich in cultural and social diversity, a lot of which is captured and displayed in the ever-popular cultural night. Interacting with people of such different cultures and appreciating their uniqueness and diversity is the true highlight of our GA, as it helps one truly understand and admire the world we live in and better prepares us as future physicians.
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MM20 RWANDA SCORA REPORT SCORA SESSIONS
DAY BY DAY: DAY 1 "Grow Your Wings" For SCORA, they had divided the sessions into a) "grow your wings" for delegates whom it was their first GA, which was an overview and summary of what SCORA is and what it aims to achieve, and b) "spread your wings" for recurring and more experienced delegates. Since it was the first exposure to a GA for both delegates, the "grow your wings" session was chosen. During these sessions, QMSA paired up with other NMOs to discuss the current status and projects of SCORA within our NMOs. QMSA SCORA was paired up with Democratic Republic of Congo SCORA to compare and contrast the achievements and active projects. The commendable activity of QMSA SCORA was recognized and praised by several NMOs.
DAY 2 Joint SCORA/SCOPH Session on Mental Health & HIV
There was a SCORA/SCOPH joint session about the often disregarded topic of the mental health of those with HIV. Members from both SCORA and SCOPH arranged into small groups and discussed a case in which a man was diagnosed with HIV and then alienated by everyone around him, including his family, friends, significant other, and workplace. It was interesting to hear everyone's different perspectives from both SCORA regarding the sexual health aspect of things and from SCOPH on their opinions of HIV as a public health topic. The delegates had all brainstormed ideas of how communities can help improve the lives of people with HIV/AIDS and alleviate their suffering.
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DAY 3 Institutionalized Obstetric Violence; HIV in Politics; Living Library
First was a SCORA session dealing with institutional obstetric violence, and politics involved were an interesting conversation to have as it was shifted away from the medical aspects of things to deep rooted issues in our society. Another session discussed the political aspects of HIV, where the criminalization of HIV was discussed, such as learning that it is necessary to disclose your HIV serological status to your partner and not doing so is illegal. The human rights aspect of being a medical professional treating someone with HIV was compared in different areas of the world, as one is not legally permitted in most countries to disclose the status of the patient to anyone else, whereas other countries (usually developing ones) do allow doctors to inform the partner to prevent further spreading of HIV. Finally was the living library, where the trainers each enacted a character from a chosen book, and each book represents a story based on the themes of SCORA. One such book talked about how the main character was sexually assaulted as a young teen and how that affected his mental health and what could be done to prevent this for other kids in the future.
DAY 4 Activities Fair; SCORA Plenary
At the SCORA activities fair, QMSA presented our Beyond Positive campaign regarding HIV/AIDS education in Qatar and it got a wide variety of praise from different people who visited the SCORA activities fair. Many people were very intrigued and interested that we took such an initiative in a country from the EMR, and the art gallery submissions that we had was an idea that both IFMSA India and Quebec praised and decided to take on while taking inspiration from us. After the activities fair there was a SCORA session on sexual rights for people living with disabilities, which involved a Jubilee-esque style agree/disagree game in which they gave statements to see our thoughts and clarify misconceptions to share ideas. Many people's perspectives began to change based on what was being said. Day 4 also involved a SCORA plenary, which is discussed further. 04
ABOUT THE PLENARY A plenary is a session in which all IFMSA NMOs gather to discuss and vote for changes regarding the constitution and bylaws of IFMSA. These changes are achieved by NMOs setting forward motions which will then be voted for by all present NMOs with voting rights. Plenaries are moderated by a chair, the leader of the session, a vice chair and a secretary, alongside the constitution credential committee (CCC), who are in charge of supervising all motions and procedures directly regarding the existing IFMSA constitution and bylaws. The SCORA plenary shares all such traits of a normal plenary with the main exception being that all motions and agendas directly address SCORA issues and topics. The SCORA MM2020 plenary was smoothly and efficiently run by the heads of plenary and the CCC, with most of the proposed motions and amendments voted on being successful.
DAY 5 Intersectionality; Toxic Masculinity; Gender-Based Violence
Day 5 was about intersectionality, in which the achievements and hardships of many disadvantaged communities was discussed. Many SCORA sessions regarding this took place on the last day, one of them being toxic masculinity - this aimed to deconstruct the notion of toxic masculinity and how we can apply them in our context and in our societies, as the notion of toxic masculinity is highly variable amongst cultures and communities and has a direct link to GBV. There also was an introductory GBV session which explained the basics of GBV and what it actually entails, as well as what we, as IFMSA, can do to address and tackle the issues surrounding GBV.
Many thanks to IFMSA, QMSA, and the Rwandan OC for this wonderful conference, and to SCORA for generating safe, inclusive spaces for fruitful conversation.
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