SOY AMMEF (Noviembre 2021)

an English Edition PAGE 12.

AMMEF PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

PAGE 24.

AMBOSS IN MEXICO

PAGE 58.

COVID-19: THE REAL VICTIMS

PAGE 78.

THE PANDEMIC'S IMPACT ON SCIENCE

PAGE 90.

BENEFITS OF USING PUBLIC DATABASES IN RESEARCH

PAGE 118.

RESEARCH EXCHANGE: MY EXPERIENCE

PAGE 130.

SLOVENIA EXCHANGE IN MEXICO

Asociación Mexicana de Médicos en Formación, A. C. (AMMEF, A. C.) Journal The AMMEF, A. C.;

It is an association that brings together more than 60 medical student groups in Mexico. Founded in 1994, the AMMEF, A. C. -previously IFMSA - Mexico-, is a member of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), which represents more than 1.3 million physicians in training in 127 countries across six continents.

Publication

This is a publication of the AMMEF, A. C. under the coordination of the Standing Committee on Medical Publications (SCOMP).

Disclaimer Statement

The opinions and information contained in this publication are sole responsibility of its authors and may represent the collective opinion of a group of contributors, but not necessarily the position of AMMEF, A. C.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

EDITORIAL TEAM, MANAGEMENT 2021-2022 EDITORIAL TEAM

#SoyAMMEF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Marco Castañón Gómez

Samara Herrera Rivera

SAMHUAZ Editor-in-Chief

HUMECH Asocciate editor

Fátima González Lee Chong

CEMUC “If you don't challenge yourself to improve, you "Let the letters be the ship of "Don't worry about what has not yet arrived, better will never know your enjoy day by day the good and bad that you learn true potential.” the one who is drowned in while you achieve your goals." silence."

Monserrat Cosme Chávez

Edgar Manuel Luna Gómez

Diana Itzel Rivera Dorantes

AEMAP ATLAS "Investigating is seeing what "Not a word wasted. Write, everyone has seen, and thinking finish what you write. Keep what no one else has thought." writing."

STYLE CORRECTION

Ivana Daniela Frías Martínez

STYLE CORRECTION

FACT- CHECKING

Citlali Pale Citlalli Pale Baez

Natalie Hiddekel Torres Meza

Josué Mendoza Viveros

AMEA

CEMECH

AEMAP

AMEXA

AMEXA

"You must be all in everything.

Put how much you are in the least that you do."

"I am AMMEF, and you?"

"How brave you look yourself trembling with fear, but risking living it."

"The only impossible thing is what you don't try."

"If you get tired, learn to rest, not to give up."

PHOTOGRAPHY

TRANSLATION

ART AND DESIGN

Melisa Bautista Aguilar

Alondra Medina Rivera

Lilia Guadalupe Jaimes May

Ana Laura Hinojosa Hinojosa

Manuel Flores Flores

CEMUC

AMEXA

CECSQROO

CAEM UAEH

ACEM UNE

“You are the only one who gets to decide what you will be remembered for.”

“Go hard or go home.”

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step."

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

TRANSLATION

Martha Rebeca Escanamé Díaz de León

Leandro Azuara Gerónimo

Jasive Flores Hernández

CEMUC

SOPOMEF

CAEM UAEH

"I am no bird, and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will”.

"Think of what you can do with what there is to change your reality."

"Love your craft, dedicate yourself to it and grow old in your work."

T

EDITOR'S NOTE

The Standing Committee on Medical Publications (SCOMP) has always sought to involve all doctors in training in the publication process, from the moment the author intends to share something, until the moment his idea is reflected in a text and this is shared with all interested.

The dissemination of ideas, as well as discoveries, is essential in the medical field, where starting to inquire about something can end in a finding that transforms any aspect of our life, from what we believed could not be modified to what we hoped would did it.

Many times, this diffusion is stopped by the language barrier, interrupting what can mean a big change for anyone; That is why we decided to bring the first edition of our magazine completely in English, with the aim of reaching more people inside and outside our country.

The objective of our Association to act locally with a global thought must involve us with processes and guidelines that are carried out elsewhere; Sharing something from the AMMEF, A.C. in this format will allow us to generate a greater impact in our activities, making known what motivates us to do what we do every day.

A ninth edition tells us that we are doing something right, that sharing this type of content leads all members to perpetuate the bond that is born from the beginning of the Association. A bond that unites each Committee and Division, leaving us in the same place and sharing the same objectives.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

I thank again all those who made this work possible, I am pleased to know that little by little the editions are getting bigger and have a greater diffusion; I'm sure this time will be no exception. I invite all readers to always seek to collaborate with something, to inquire not only into the needs of their community, but also in those that their person asks them to share.

The publication generates a change not only for the reader who learns something new, but for the person who, through a writing, expresses the process that caused his way of thinking and feeling to change, so we should all experience it at least once. time.

"Let the letters be the ship of the one who is drowned in

silence."

NOVEMBER 2021

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Castañón Gómez Marco Antonio

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Herrera Rivera Samara

EXTERNAL RELATIONS Cosme Chávez Monserrat González Lee Chong Fátima Mirel del Rosario

STYLE CORRECTION Frías Martínez Ivana Daniela Luna Gómez Edgar Manuel Pale Baez Citlalli Rivera Dorantes Diana Itzel

FACT-CHECKING Mendoza Viveros Josué Torres Meza Natalie Hiddekel

ART AND DESIGN Bautista Aguilar Melisa Jaimes May Lilia Guadalupe Medina Rivera Alondra

PHOTOGRAPHY Hinojosa Hinojosa Ana Laura

TRANSLATION Azuara Gerónimo Leandro Escanamé Díaz de León Martha Rebeca Flores Flores Manuel Flores Hernández Jasive

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

CONTENT Página 10

Página 28

12

30

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

DSP

Gómez Zapata José Francisco

Nuñez Gaitán José Oscar

14

34

VAI'S MESSAGE

DSE

Guerrero Elias Viana

Quiroz Rios Carla María

16

38

VAE'S MESSAGE

DSRE

Flores Félix Cinthya Margarita

Román Castillo Paola

WE'RE AMMEF

SUPPORT DIVISIONS

20 VPX'S MESSAGE Paredes Rentería Vilma Jennifer

Página 22

EXTERNAL COLLABORATIONS 24 AMBOSS IN MEXICO Cisneros Caceres Maria Jose 26

Página 40

WE'RE SCORAngels 42 NORA'S MESSAGE Trujillo Peralta Luis Daniel 44 WHAT DO ORAL SEX AND STDS HAVE TO DO WITH DENTISTRY? Valdes Martínez Elian Mauricio Sandoval Ruíz Karla Adriana

BE THE MATCH Assam Miler Carlos Rubén

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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Página 48

WE'RE SCORPions 50 NORP'S MESSAGE

Página 70

WE'RE SCOMEdians 72 NOME'S MESSAGE

Muñiz Almeyda Alondra

Valadez Padilla Daniel Eduardo

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74

DEW PURPLE: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT YET HEARD Estrada Flores Rubén Arturo

WHERE'S GREGORY HOLMES? THE NEED FOR LOGICAL THINKING IN MEDICAL TEACHING Zetune Rodríguez José Carlos

Página 54

WE'RE SCOPHians 56 NPO'S MESSAGE Serna Fernández Samantha 58

THE PANDEMIC'S IMPACT ON SCIENCE Mendoza Puente Alejandro

Página 80

WE'RE SCOMPanions

COVID-19: THE REAL VICTIMS

82

López Domínguez Josué Ramírez Ramírez Ana Luisa

Mendoza Rojo Marvin

NOMP'S MESSAGE

60

86

I WANT A COFFEE: WITH ROOM FOR A LAW

THE POWER OF PUBLISHING Castañón Gómez Marco Antonio

Ayala Garza Hillary Gisselle

88

64

BEING LOCAL OFFICER DURING PANDEMIC: A LOMP'S PERSPECTIVE

BAD DOCTORS OR BAD PATIENTS? Chan Medina Santiago Emmanuel

08

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

Hernández Chávez Saliha Karina

90 BENEFITS OF USING DATABASES IN RESEARCH

116 PUBLIC

Morales Juárez Alejandra

MALTA FEVER Mendoza Chávez Omar Alejandro 118

94

RESEARCH EXCHANGE: MY EXPERIENCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN GENETICS AND DISEASE PREVENTION

Shafick Asfura Javier

Díaz de León Martí Cristóbal Hernández Rodríguez Lourdes Vanessa

Página 120

Página 96

122

WE'RE SCONExion 98

WE'RE SCOPEans NEO OUT'S MESSAGE Ortíz Garza Daniel Alejandro

NONE'S MESSAGE

124

Chávez Sánchez Ángel Adrián

NEO IN'S MESSAGE

100 MY STUDENT EXCHANGE IN DURANGO

Jimenez Guzmán Julio César 126

Bailin García Vanessa

ROLLER COSTER: BETWEEN PLASTIC SURGERIES AND CHERNOBYL

104

Gómez Olvera Brianda del Pilar

A WINTER ON THE BORDER Muñoz Amanda Berenice 108 FROM TOLUCA TO ZACATECAS, ENRICHING TIMES. A MEMORY. Edge Martínez Amador

Página 112

130 SLOVENIA EXCHANGE IN MEXICO Lukan Anja 126 OUR EXCHANGE IN MEXICO Köenneke Felix Haendly Marissa

WE'RE SCOREans 114 NORE'S MESSAGE Moreno Mares Adrián Alejandro

"WRITING TO ACT

PUBLISHING TO change"

WE'RE

AMMEF

AMMEF,

A.

C.

President's message

JOSÉ FRANCISCO GÓMEZ ZAPATA

D

Dear members of the AMMEF, A.C. It is a pleasure for me to write these lines for you in one of the most important magazines that exist in the student sector in the area of ​human medicine in Mexico. Like everything in life, writing is an art not anyone can develop, but with talent and determination we can discover and express eloquently from the depths of our being.

The AMMEF, A.C. is a very versatile and punctual platform that can enhance the aspirations within the immediate future of whoever wishes to be interested and be able to work within a group of people, such as the gear of a clock makes a difference, because each one of us is a gear in this machinery called AMMEF.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

During my brief passage through the association, which I have the pleasure and honour of presiding, I have met extraordinary people with unparalleled literary talent. Let's remember that throughout history medicine has given us many literary gifts, owing them medical books and love for the art of teaching through words. If you share this concern and this virtue do not waste it, I invite you to write for the magazine "Soy AMMEF", develop your potential and project yourself through art, remember medicine is art itself, at least what the ancient Greeks told us, so for this reason, as the sculptor is linked to his chisel, the painter to his brush, the doctor can have both his pencil and his stethoscope, concluding this paragraph, doctors are artists.

I can compare the president position of the Asociación Mexicana de Médicos (AMMEF) to the director of a symphonic orchestra, due to the similarities, as the one in charge of projecting the talents of the associated members. I realize the enormous potential and characteristics of each person. I am sure that, within the association, we will be able to find future specialists, hospital directors, researchers, global leaders and even candidates for a Nobel Prize in Medicine. If I could name the aspect of being president which I like the most, without a doubt I will let it be learning from anyone every day and being able to see their professional developments.

Without so much preamble or ostentatious words sweetening the auditory palate, I can describe this work as one of the most important in my professional training, we are taking the association to the point where we all want and that I am sure we will achieve the objective in the near future, which is to see the association on the cusp of educational, political, social and economic recognition.

All this effort belongs to everyone; no achievement is possible without all the gears making this machinery work.

Throughout the association’s history, there have emerged projects and ideas truly fruitful both educationally and artistically, and as I said at the beginning of this text, art is part of our life, our training and our being. At this point, I want to congratulate each of the editors, writers and readers. Without doubt we are immersed in a project that not all of us can end understanding given the magnitude it has and the scope it can have, but the few who do realize it will know how to take advantage of it.

To say goodbye to these letters, I emphasize the gratitude and pride that I feel for each one of you, seeing you improve and become the best, make all the efforts worthwhile and make us want to do more things within our beloved association; finally, I would love to share this phrase which I personally promulgate: "the world belongs to the restless, not to those who wait", so go out and eat the world, it is made for you.

AMMEF,

A.

C.

VAI's message

VIANA GUERRERO ELIAS

T

The Vice-Presidency of Internal Affairs is the main guide for the Support Divisions and Standing Committees of the Mexican Association of Doctors in Training (AMMEF, A.C. for its acronym in Spanish), and it is responsible for overseeing each one of them, ensuring that they all fulfil their function and that they are being executed in the most optimal way possible. Its importance lies in the fact that by being sure that the internal part is working in a favourable way, the image transmitted to anyone will be enriching the most for both, our internal association members and for any outsider who has an interest in it.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

The goal is to stay in contact with all Officers and National Directors, to ensure that the communication benefits both parties, creating a trust network which will be felt by any member; meanwhile assuring that, despite working on different axes, they all are working towards a common goal, where the main benefit to be achieved is the growth of any future doctor in our country.

Working hand in hand with all the committee leaders, we can provide each of them the necessary tools in order to achieve all the goals they set out in their work plan. We also want everyone to have the initiative to solve their problems by their own hand, ensuring that the vision and values of our association are always fulfilled, at all levels of the association.

It is not possible to attract people from other places if our own members do not feel involvement with their association, that is the reason we work hoping that each Local Officer, in each of the Local Committees throughout the country, will always carry the name of AMMEF, A.C. high; being sure that they respect and abide by the values set at the national level.

The fundamental work is not only for the Standing Committees, we also work side by side with the Executive Council, ensuring we all work under the same conditions and becoming us all capable of giving the best to each other, having in mind that we all are seen as a single team, where no one is more or less important than anyone else; always worrying about the medical students, looking for better conditions to carry out our degrees, because at the end of the day that is what we are working for.

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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AMMEF,

A.

C.

VAE's message

CINTHYA MARGARITA FLORES FÉLIX

T

The Vice-Presidency of External Affairs, without a doubt, has given me more satisfaction than I had envisioned; the work has been constant, very demanding and quite tiring, but without a doubt every effort and minute spent has been worth it, and once again, a position within the AMMEF has allowed me to reaffirm the professional path I want to take, but above all It has helped me to grow as a person. Working on external issues can be confusing and sometimes overwhelming, as it is a fairly broad field of what can be done. The reality is that, within this uncertainty, the greatest advantage is precisely that the panorama can be as wide as we allow it and within the Vice Presidency of External Affairs, the Local Committee can be helped as much as desired.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

Within the general perspective, this vicepresidency can be perceived as the one in charge of obtaining sponsorships; however, personally, these types of objectives would be considered as part of the “extra” and less significant benefits that can be granted. As VAE during this management, the main work focuses on making alliances that allow the growth of active members and the association in general, but this, focused mainly within the framework and fulfillment of the mission and vision of our association, which it focuses on achieving a more comprehensive training for students, within a scientific and humanistic field; as well as being identified and recognized as representatives of medical students in Mexico.

Considering the aforementioned, the path that can be taken is infinite, because in order to achieve comprehensive training, the theory and practice that can be developed from the different permanent committees of activities must be taken into account, as well as contributing through the development, improvement and building skills, without neglecting the opportunities to professionalize the experiences offered such as exchanges.

For this reason, during this management I allowed myself to organize the planning of the work that was going to be carried out within areas, which would allow us to reinforce the areas that we have as an association based on the links that are made.

Among the main objectives to be achieved during this management is advocacy and political incidence, but to achieve this it is necessary to go a long way, mainly with wellstructured knowledge that allows us to achieve our goals.

For this, it is important to acquire and develop certain skills within external relations through capacity building. In addition to providing soft skills training, the vice presidency has focused on training in topics such as advocacy and lobbying, relationships and stakeholders, public speaking, political documents, accreditation of medical programs, curricular value and academic endorsement, as well as initiation trainings. (External Affairs 101) for those starting to work in the vice presidency of external affairs.

Similarly to the construction and development of skills, it is necessary to have the background of the why of things, and the true fulfillment of contributing to the training and representation of medical students. This has been worked from the coordination of academic quality, which is in charge of organizing and collecting information about schools and medical schools, specifically within the scope of their accreditations, as well as working on topics such as the undergraduate internship, social service and exchanges.

On the other hand, the links that represent the most well-known work, mean a very important corner point, because through these they allow us to generate alliances that benefit academically, with promotions and opportunities directly for all active members or as an association. In this management we have focused on prioritizing the links to be made, as well as in the beginning an analysis of the existing links was carried out and that they were useful to meet our objectives.

Likewise, the entire board of directors was approached to learn about individual needs.

We currently have approximately 25 relationships, of which most have a signed agreement or are in the process of doing so.

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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These same links have allowed us to attend different events where we can represent medical students, making significant participations where in addition to being attendees we can have participations that give recognition to the association, but above all where we can occupy the space as a forum to share the major problems experienced as medical students and the areas of opportunity that can be covered with collaboration between groups.

Among the most significant participations we have had are the assistance within the LXX National Assembly of the National Federation of Medical Colleges of Mexico (FENACOME), and within the XXXX Ordinary Meeting of the Mexican Association of Faculties and Schools of Medicine (AMFEM), in both we had the opportunity to participate showing the results obtained through of the survey carried out in conjunction with the Collective of Physicians in Training, where the results collected mainly showed that students felt little or nothing supported by their universities, especially within the context of the pandemic, as well as highly concerned responses related to Harassment and sexual harassment within classrooms and health institutions. Through these participations, we have had the opportunity to make specific requests that allow generating strategies and results.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

On the other hand, as a major achievement we have had a lot of participation in the field of advocacy and political advocacy, these represent the greatest challenges due to the lack of knowledge and little work that we had developed within them. Unfortunately, this has been directed to issues related to quite unfortunate events as a society and medical union, since there has been an increase in deaths due to insecurity within the social service, lack of protective equipment in hospitals with COVID-19 patients, and cases of harassment and sexual harassment. So far, several positions have been written making calls to action, we have achieved rapprochement with the health commission of the Senate, as well as with local and federal deputies and senators.

Finally, everything we do as an association can be reflected abroad through the corporate image, from which the information shared through social networks, the official website of the association, is coordinated, as well as is present in each call, presentation or mail that is shared. Among the biggest challenges we have faced in this area are the recovery of the domain of our website, as well as updating it.

Similarly, within the most outstanding work to be carried out in this area is the homogenization of the image of our association in social networks, seeking to achieve an image with a greater professional and corporate essence.

Like any key to success, this work has been possible thanks to the planning, organization and execution of my work plan in conjunction with the great effort and commitment of my national team, who have been a key and fundamental piece to fulfill the demanding work and continued that it has been done.

"TRAINING LEADERS IN health"

/AMMEF

@AMMEF_MEXICO

@AMMEF_MEXICO

/AMMEFAC

AMMEF.ORG.MX

EXCHANGE PROGRAMS IN MEXICO DURING COVID 19

VPX review

I

[Paredes Rentería Vilma Jennifer] AMMEF vpx@ammef.mx

In Mexican territory, the COVID-19 pandemic is still quite present all throughout the country and the whole Mexican Health and Educational Systems have been damaged in some way or another. Coming from a country that has such incredible adventures and experiences to offer, either to tourists or students, and not being able to share our potential with the rest of the world, has been tough.

Being Vice President of Exchanges during a pandemic is, for sure, a peculiar experience. Not only do you have to look after your National Officers’ motivation and performance, but have to still advocate and ensure the sustainability of a whole NMO. AMMEF Mexico has been recognized as one of the preferred destinations within SCOPE and SCORE students mainly due to the warmth of its people, the academic quality we offer, and the complete academical-social experience. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has stopped us from that for more than a year now and that issue has affected our members’ motivation and empiric knowledge regarding exchanges No matter the NMO, most of them struggle in setting the Exchanges’ importance in the way it should be recognized. There are around 11 people worldwide representing the VPX initiative in IFMSA each of us has a different approach to the job. In Mexico, the VPX (Vice-presidency for Exchanges) role is directly related to administrative duties such as writing and requesting Invitation Letters for students either foreigners or locals respectively, sending letters to deans, coordinators, or teaching chiefs for our 3 Exchanges Programs to give specific information they may need from our Association and to actively participate with the rest of the National Executive Board Members so the Standing Committees and Support Divisions can all benefit from the results of our mutual collaboration.

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Noviembre 2021

The main reason behind the creation of this position, at least in our NMO, was to bring up the Standing Committees On Exchanges’ interests and needs to the eye of the National Executive Board. At first, the purpose of this position was questioned and is still on trial, but the shared outcomes are showing that the position was needed. Taking that background into consideration, a different motivation and strategy planning have been done in coordination with the National Exchange Officers, nationally and internationally, regarding the international contract signing and collaborating with the overview for the National SCORA X-Changes, Research Exchanges, and Public Health Exchanges in an international way. It has been a great experience so far to promote this type of exchange, mainly because they were left behind many terms ago and, luckily, they have become quite popular among our students.

In my personal opinion, the VPX’s short and medium-term expectations are related to administrative efficiency, innovation within the Standing Committees’ activities, appropriate conflict management, and national and local financial supervision. All those points must be reached to prove the importance of the position and to improve the quality given from our Exchanges Programs. It is well known that if we work together, we improve together and it is something that AMMEF Mexico has always represented internationally.

Taking this space as an opportunity to share with the rest of the world and, as part of the National Executive Board, I would like to invite all of the dearest readers to consider joining us for a once-in-a-lifetime experience in our beloved country. There is so much you can learn from our tutors and so much more that we may be able to learn from you, your country, and the type of medicine that you promote.

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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EXTERNAL

COLLABORATIONS

AMBOSS

IN

MEXICO

optimising digital medical education.

F

[Cisneros Caceres Maria Jose] AMBOSS mac@amboss.com

Founded in 2012 in Germany, AMBOSS is a growing platform that has expanded its work to the international market and is currently available in 114 countries.

AMBOSS is the first digital tool that offers a comprehensive collection of student-centred preclinical and clinical knowledge combined with a reputable question bank and a personal study programme that can be accessed at the click of a button.

In Latin America, it is fast becoming the digital medical education tool of choice, as it provides a complement in education and preparation for our future as doctors, seeking to optimise resources and time management.

Beyond AMBOSS, as the excellent complementary education tool that it is, there is motivation that has become our compass and our essence: from doctors for doctors.

AMBOSS was born out of the need for medical students to take control of how they were learning and optimise the use of their time, studying in a more effective way, and this continues to be our daily motivation.

Empowering ourselves and striving to be a support in the development of future professionals, understanding that the better the quality of education we receive, the more guarantees and scientific validation we get, the better our performance as health professionals will be, and this, through you, is our way of contributing to a better world.

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SOYAMMEF November 2021

In Mexico we have tried to carry out this philosophy, supporting projects and congresses, and every moment in which we have been allowed to be a support.

We have been able to count on great allies, such as AMMEF A.C., a hotbed of health leaders, as well as excellent doctors whose efforts are focused on quality medical education accessible to all, as is the example of Dr. Ivette Calderón (Dr. Pataki) and the Meducation MX group, with whom we hope to continue collaborating in the future.

We have been quick to understand the likely language limitations, so we have worked with our engineers on our platform, in order to guarantee all of AMBOSS' own functions work the same way when translated into Spanish, without losing any quality or functionality.

For us, AMMEF A.C. is a special place, where the chances of a better world, more empathetic physicians and noble health leaders are amplified and we are proud to be partners and friends on this journey.

Personally, as a physician and activist in various aspects of health including medical education, this is the perfect opportunity for passions and passionate people to come together, to be encouraged and make a difference, I hope they can always count on our support.

Let's do more without fear of being more, this is just the beginning and we will continue breaking down barriers, bringing quality education to all places we are allowed to reach.

I assure that together, it all will be possible.

Despite our 10 years of experience, we are always learning something new and that is what we enjoy most about our alliance with AMMEF A.C., being able to share and get to know the Mexican student and physician, empathise with their story and work together to get to be more

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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BE

THE

MATCH

optimising digital medical education.

I

[Assam Miler Carlos Rubén] Be the match cassam@bethematch.org.mx

In the last 30 years, Be the Match ®️, operated by the NMDP (The National Marrow Donor Program, known as Programa Nacional de Donadores de Médula Ósea in Mexico), has taken over the biggest and most diverse bone marrow donors’ record in the world.

We are a non-profit organization whose main purpose is to help patients suffering from blood deseases by linking them with altruist blood cell’s donors so that they can get the transplant they need to survive.

Also, we are leaders in medical research, mainly on the subject of treatment for those with said deseases that have become life-threatening. Our dedication to research has had a great impact in the blood cancer’s survival rate and other deseases, as well as a bettering in quality of life in thousands of patients throughout different stages of their transplants.

A couple years ago, we have become allied with AMMEF so as to be able to add and enhance registry events within numerous campus in the country (Mexico), this in hopes of being able to spread our cause to all their students and educate them about the opportunity that we provide them, the chance to save a life, as well as to contribute to the growth of our roster, which is approximately 39 millions of people in 41 countries all around the world.

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Through social media campaigns, face-to-face events in multiple campus, lectures and conferences, as well as remote events due to the COVID health emergency we have faced world-wide, is how we have been able to reach every college campus that has welcomed us.

Since the beginning there has been every intention from AMMEF to support and contribute our cause, and it is exactly through entities such as AMMEF that we will be able to accomplish our mission in Mexico and in the world, which is to democratize celular therapy.

We have a new goal, which is to reach a million registered people to become donors by the year 2027. Due to the low knowledge surrounding donation culture in Mexico, this goal is even more complicated, but we are certain that not only will there be great impact and contribution to this goal, but there will also be a a mark throughout the years thanks to the alliance and the work that has been accomplished with AMMEF.

November 2021 SOYAMMEF

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WE'RE DSP

B A C K

U P

P L A N S :

A look at the DSP

T

[Nuñez Gaitán José Oscar] dsp@ammef.mx

The main objective of the División de Soporte de Proyectos (DSP, Project Support Division) is to receive, evaluate and validate the reports of the activities that were carried out in the Local Committees (CL) of the Asociación Mexicana de Médicos en Formación (AMMEF), in this way, through From the information received, it is possible to analyze and later publish the data of importance for the association and the Mexican population.

Another fundamental part of the work of this division is the creation of tools so that Local Project Directors (DLP) can perform their work in a more adequate way, solving possible problems from planning to execution of activities. These tools are focused on strategic planning, effective evaluation and the organization of activities, with the aim of verifying a result and above all a benefit in the population that is intervened.

As head of the DSP, my job is to coordinate and join the efforts of the national team and the project team, in order to meet the needs of the local committees and the AMMEF. On the other hand, our functions include establishing the parameters required in obtaining information from the national report of activities, promoting the performance of tasks that benefit specific populations, coordinating the organization and logistics of activities, programs or campaigns with a national focus, create new support tools for our members and train DLPs on essential topics, thus improving their performance in CLs.

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The work plan for the 2021-2022 management is focused on updating the operational processes carried out in the DSP, directing most of the efforts to promote and achieve activities with a greater number of beneficiaries per session. The implementation of programs that generate real utility in the intervened population is also pursued, resorting to validated and effective evaluation methods; in order to integrate the international registry of the most relevant activities of the LC during the year and show real, measurable results that can be compared and published.

Currently, close monitoring of the performance of LCs even in a pandemic situation has been guaranteed, generating modifications in operational processes and new work strategies. This has given us another perspective of application which has worked in updating the operating manuals of each activity organized in the Permanent Committees of Projects, adding in their sections, hybrid and virtual activities additional to the assistance ones; having a broader panorama of how to meet the needs of the population despite the fact that the world is under the ravages of a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it new challenges both for our association and for the DSP, since from the first day the state of emergency was declared, the daily activities carried out in the LCs changed radically.

Undoubtedly, we were not prepared in such circumstances, where all our assistance activities would have to be canceled.

The protocols are the main working tool of the LC, without them, it would not be possible to correctly implement the activities; hese describe in depth the objectives to be met, how to act and work, how to evaluate and special considerations. In these months, we are reviewing and updating all the protocols registered in our database, in this way, it will be possible to be in tune with the needs that arose from the pandemic; it is the sum of the efforts of various national teams in search of creating a completely updated work scheme adjusted to the new reality.

Due to this recent global reality, it was necessary to carry out an urgent analysis with the intention of identifying and implementing new work schemes, trying to refocus human resources for the execution of activities and that the line of work was not interrupted, in this way it would manage to generate a benefit in the population even in the distance.

The Project Support Director must have the power to see beyond what is obvious to the eye, be competent in the anticipation of any type of circumstances, act immediately and with leadership in the establishment of new lines of work that are efficient and allow the continuous development of the association; but he must also be able to join forces with his other colleagues, the National Officials, so that together, present and future problems are addressed through the best possible strategies.

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WE'RE DSE

A

L O O K

T

A T

T H E

D S E

[Quiroz Rios Carla María] dse@ammef.mx

The División de Soporte de Entrenamientos (DSE, Training Support Division) is a working field in charge of providing soft and specialized skills to members of the AMMEF-México. We are the backbone of our Association, since we facilitate topics based on non-formal education.

Capacity Building is the work pillar of the TSD, each training aims to solve the needs identified from each activity and every member of the Local Committee. We are reigned by three values: peer education, knowledge and growth; and I believe there’s no better way to describe what Capacity Building is, since we educate, share our knowledge and grow at the same time.

In 2014 TSD arrived at our Association. We have over 7 years of experience, giving the skills to every member of the AMMEF-México, and above all, we are a big family. The wonderful thing about the TSD is that you support and learn from every Permanent Committee, and use that aid to increase the academic quality of our National Member Organization (NMO).

Trainings are workshops based on non-formal education, since its teaching is very dynamique.

There are two types of trainings, the ones based on soft skills, which are abilities that every person should have, such as problem solving, motivation, presentation skills, leadership, teamwork, etcetera; and those specialized in specific skills for each Permanent Committee, for instance, SCOMP has one called “The Winning Poster” and so does SCORP with “Interaction Techniques with Children''. It should be noted that the trainings are focused on being facilitated according to the needs of the target population that is intervened, hence the idea that each training facilitated has its uniqueness despite the topic.

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Across Mexico, we have representatives of the TSD in the Local Committees, which are called Local Training Directors (LTDs) or Vicepresidentes of Capacity Building (VpCB); they are in charge of facilitating in their hometowns along with their active members, they also form the “Trainer Family”, that also welcomes everyone who loves the art of facilitating.

Within the TSD exist different opportunities to grow, who of the most important is the National Training Fair, an event that is held twice a year at the National Assembly, where all the members of the Association meet and present their protocols of trainings that did not exist in the training database, looking to expand the database with new trainings that enrich the activities and the members of AMMEF-México.

Internationally—IFMSA, you have access to certifications as a trainer according to the area of interest you want, from being a trainer with soft skills or even a trainer with a specialty in a certain topic—according to your Permanent Committee.

These type of certifications are known as “Workshop” and once you achieve it, you are “graduated”, because it is endorsed by IFMSA. Another opportunity of growth that you have as a trainer is the “Trainers Pool”, a platform where anyone certificated by the IFMSA and people with facilitating skills, can be part of and have the benefits of the Association and be acknowledged by the IFMSA. The Training Support Division goes beyond training someone or giving skills to the others, it makes you grow, be aware of what you are capable of and where you want to get, and it also gives you a family. It allows you to have a broader sight of life, realizing that life is about sharing while having. Being part of the “Trainer Family” is being capable of evolving everyday to become a better doctor, but above all, a better person; being a trainer means wanting to make the difference the world needs.

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WE'RE DSRE

D S R E

I

I N

M E X I C O

[Román Castillo Paola] dsre@ammef.mx

It is well known that the local comitees work due to the leader ship of their executive board, the experience of the regulator y bodies and the innovation and proactivity of their local directors and local officers, however, all succesfull local comitee needs a stronger link to highlight: their members.

Nowdays in these times of uncertainty and disinterest where the relationships between people seems broken because of the distance created by COVID-19, La división de soporte de relaciones estudiantiles (DSRE) needs leadership, experience, and passion in addition to innovation. We need to create a sense of belonging, and build new connections between local committees and the team of officials.

It has been witnessed that over the years the DSRE has become the cornerstone of our association thanks to the fact that our strength comes from working for and with the members, being our central idea and goal the students relationships, which focus on promoting the interactions that the medical student has as a member of the association with external organizations that promote good collaborative work and high-impact activities.

Nationally, the DSRE is the body in charge of providing information and guidance to medical students in the different states around the country from various universities that are not yet affiliated to the Asociación Mexicana de Médicos en Formación (AMMEF, A.C) by spreading our mission and vision. In this way we support the promotion of continuous education on healthfocused topics on our generation creating a high impact on the medical community of México.

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We recruit and guide medicine's students around many universities through relevant and timely information into the different comittees and divisions that AMMEF, A.C. and International Federation of Medical Students (IFMSA) provides to their members as a platform to amplify their knowledge on the cardinal public health problems worldwide aiming to create an interest to involve themselves into public action and political decision making in our own country.

In the same way, it is responsible for carrying out the administration of the association's workforce in order to keep a record of our four thousand two hundred and twenty-two active members distributed throughout sixtythree schools or medical colleges to provide them with opportunities for academic, personal and job growth through the multiple benefits provided by the AMMEF, AC through its allies.

Through the constant training with the local directors (DLREs) we are able to solve the problems and needs that are found internally in a local committee, this is the reason why in the division we strengthened numerous skills like teamwork, communication skills, empathy, time management and organisation, which are necessary to perform their own functions within the local committee to recruit members, build trust between members, create internal statistical control and be a support for the rest of team of officials when carrying out activities with other permanent comittees and local comittees.

The union makes the strength, but that force must be properly oriented. I trust that communication along with the effort that has been made by the DSRE and the DLREs will be a solid foundation to make our shared vision of making heatlh leaders true.

During this management we want to strengthen our association by maintaining active communication with local committees in order to contribute to approach the needs and problems that frequently occur in time between the team work, this is why this year we created El programa impulsor de comités locales (PICo), borned because we want to fortify all sixty three local comittees in our association and offer a solid foundation, specifically to the new ones that have just joined our family throught mutual companionship in order to accelerate their local and national growth within our association.

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WE'RE

SCORAngels

W H A T

I S

SCORA

S

[Trujillo Peralta Luis Daniel] scora@ammef.mx

SCORA is the Standing Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV and AIDS. SCORA Mexico is part of one of 5 standing committees related with projects that are working on AMMEF A.C. Our commitment is to promote the comprehensive sexual education around all the significant populations (kids, teenagers, young adults, adults, and elder people), and make efforts to guarantee the promotion of the sexual health.

Our focus areas are 4 in specific: • Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right including sexual orientation and gender identity (RSRHR).

• Gender Based Violence (GBV).

• Maternal Health and Access to Safe Abortion (MHASA).

• HIV/AIDS and other STIś (HAS).

We focus all the work done here in Mexico in those 4 areas. We expect to make specific actions to promote the development of each focus area.

RSRHR pretends to generate comprehensive sexual health education, mainly on children that are transitioning from childhood to adolescence, young people, adults, and elder people touching topics like the beginning of a healthy active sexual life, adolescence changes, how to protect themselves from STI’s, myths of sexuality, prevention of breast, cervical, testicular, and prostate cancer, correct transition to menopause, etc.

GBV promotes gender parity and equity between men and women, but also includes the eradication non-conforming gender violence (violence centred in people who belongs to nonconforming, queer, and non-binary genders).

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MHASA is related with the general prevention of maternal death and illness, this by the correct prenatal control, with the informing of warming symptoms in the pregnancy, the correct attention of the birth, humanized obstetric attention, promotion of the correct breastfeeding, and the information and advocacy in the legal interruption of the pregnancy.

HAS is focus on the prevention and the early diagnosis of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The promotion of the prevention of those kinds of diseases could be the key to reach the international goals called “90-90-90” that propose that the 90% of people living with HIV have a diagnosis, and this percent, the 90% have antiretroviral treatment, and from this the 90% could get the indetectable status. Otherwise, the promotion of the early diagnosis could represent the correct attention of those and stop the transmission.

Some of the specific strategies that we have in SCORA is to base the work on standardized AMMEF protocols. Some of them are: Amamanta (Feed with love) [Breastfeeding].

- Antro Sexual (Sexual nightclub) [Sexual peer-to-peer education in non academical environments].

- Candle light memorial [Commemoration of victims of AIDS].

- Crecer (Growing up) [Sexual Health for preteenagers].

- Dalo con amor (Give it with love) [Correct condom colocation process].

Empoderamiento femenino (female empowerment).

- Hoy por ti, una vida con ellos (today for you, a life with them) [correct prenatal attention].

- Mamá canguro (Kangaroo mom) [maternal milk donation].

- Mi cuerpo es mi tesoro (My body is mine) [Prevention of child sexual assault].

- Mi primera consulta ginecológica (My first gynaecological consult).

- Prevención es tu decisión (Prevention is your choice) [Prevention of breast and cervical cancer].

- Primero aprende y luego decide (First learn and then make a choice) [Comprehensive sexual education in children and teenagers].

- Pruebaton [HIV STI’s test campaigns].

- Renacer [Reborn] [Menopause].

- Sin pelos en las manos (no hair in the hands) [sexual myths].

- Super-men (prevention of testicle and prostate cancer).

- The rainbow Project (LGBT+ inclusion).

In Mexico, the main goal that we are working on, is the continuous capacitation and education of the medical students, because the generational change is happened and now, we are the protagonists of our own future.

In this term, we expect to work on the Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women, Sexual and Reproductive Health for Men, the Intersectionality of all this populations and the HIV and other STI’s approach.

As you can see, the SCORA have a wide action field in where all the SCORAngels could work together to achieve a Comprehensive Sexual Education and start changing the way we see the sexuality.

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W H A T

D O

O R A L

S E X

A N D

S T D S

have to do with dentistry?

I

[Valdes Martínez Elian Mauricio]

[Sandoval Ruíz Karla Adriana]

OEPSA| Toluca, Edo. de México valdesmauricio1210@gmail.com

OEPSA| Toluca, Edo. de México karla_s99@outlook.com

In reality, there is no such thing as completely safe sex.

Oral sex is not without risks; it is possible to contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD); high percentage of sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through the oral cavity.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are contracted through various forms of sexual activity.

According to studies, oral sex is common among sexually active adults of all ages and sexual orientations. This can cause the disease affects the tissues around the contact area, and some infections are more likely to harm the oral cavity more than others.

The most common STDs in the oral cavity are herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Remember that it is also possible to acquire diseases such as hepatitis A, B and C, and other viral infections.

The main route of transmission of STDs in the oral cavity is its contact with body fluids. In most cases, the presence of oral ulcers will cause fluid from the diseased partner's genitals to enter the body and subsequently turn into a local infection. The disease can also spread from the patient's mouth to the partner's genitalia. As various authors point out, oral gonorrhea is also known as pharyngeal gonorrhea because it generally affects this organ.

Symptoms that may indicate a sexually transmitted disease include:

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Mouth ulcers, which may not be painful.

Cold sore-like lesions and fever blisters around the mouth.

Throat redness, difficulty swallowing.

Tonsillitis.

Redness with white spots similar to an infection in the throat.

White or yellow discharge.

Oral venereal diseases generally do not produce any obvious symptoms, according to the Brown University Student Health Service. Therefore, it is important to check your oral health and that of your partner occasionally, as closely as possible.

Depending on the type of STD and its severity, the treatment will be different. For example, a local anesthetic may be prescribed to treat moderate oral herpes to relieve pain caused by oral injuries and wounds, while the immune system can restore oral health. In more severe cases, antiviral medications can help speed up this process. Use a 0.12% oral chlorhexidinebased solution to clean and soothe mouth ulcers and speed up the healing process.

Oral gonorrhea is usually treated with a variety of antibiotics called cephalosporins.

The discovery of new resistant strains has attracted the attention of physicians due to their high incidence. Therefore, it is important that patients carefully follow the treatment instructions. Healthline notes that syphilis is commonly treated with penicillin or synthetic alternatives like tetracycline, while according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), oral chlamydia is treated with antibiotics like azithromycin or doxycycline.

Remember that prevention is the cornerstone of health, so it is essential that we get tested for infections and receive treatment before engaging in any sexual activity, including oral sex. If any abnormal lesions are observed on the partner's genitalia, oral sex should be avoided and discontinued. The presence of a disease or sores on the genitals and even in the mouth of either limb increases the risk of transmission. It is recommended to visit the doctor, complete the treatment and listen to the advice before returning to sexual practice.

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To reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting an STD, condoms and dental dams (thin layers of latex) can be used during oral sex. The aforementioned oral barriers are placed in the area to perform sexual activity, a condom can even be converted into a mouth barrier, and to improve the experience it is recommended to use a waterbased lubricant.

There are safe or low-risk ways to physically connect with your partner through kissing, caressing, or even masturbation. The only way to prevent STDs is to have safe sex, including oral sex.

You should also maintain a high level of oral hygiene to reduce the risk of any type of mouth ulcers or infections. « Realistically, there is no completely safe sex, but there is safer practice through regular testing and prevention measures. The more informed a person is, the better », in that we could sum it all.

In conclusion, do not take any risks with your health or with your sex life. Learn, take the relevant medical exams and until then get down to business.

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"KEEP THE PROMISE AND

GET TO THE zero"

WE'RE

SCORPions

H O W

A N D

W H E R E

T O

T R A I N

A

S C O R P I O N :

Pandemic Challenges and Accomplishments

T

[Muñiz Almeyda Alondra] scorp@ammef.mx

The Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace (SCORP) is that area in need for every physician in training to be aware of during his or her journey in our organization. This committee maintains a focus on the teaching and promotion not only of human rights, but also the acquisition of skills which allow to obtain a broad knowledge about the care of the environment, the eradication of violence, and the inclusion of all vulnerable groups in Mexico and the world.

SCORP is made up of members from all over the Mexican Republic, who day by day maintain their commitment to achieve a real change for our inhabitants by planning and carrying out activities that promote values, education and mainly the people's rights.

With the sudden change in the face-to-face activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we found out that the basis of work and the optimal development in the areas worked by this committee were achieved thanks to the motivation and performance of the SCORPions, who adapted to the newest needs of the country. Due to this, we realized that SCORP is much more than a single activity, it is the union, strength and love for sharing and watching over the integrity of our citizens.

The growth of the committee over the years has allowed SCORP to position itself as a leading committee in teaching and promotion of human rights and health at national and international level, achieving wide participation of members in events such as meetings organized by the SCORP IT, Regional and General Assemblies, specialized trainings, among others.

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On the other hand, local officers in Mexico continue to work on activities such as major campaigns on violence prevention, mental health, food drives for vulnerable populations, advocacy for the rights of medical students, and other major issues to SCORP's own work lines.

This year we have focused on the training of our committee members, through academic quality training on topics such as disability, autism, environment and its relationship with health, violence prevention and human rights, without leaving behind the need to continue forging a sense of belonging to SCORP. We have also promoted multi committee work with the various areas making up AMMEF, A.C., achieving national campaigns such as: "Girls Run The World" for International Women's Day, "Through My World" on World Autism Awareness Day, "Earth Day" for World Mother Earth Day, and the most recent one "A Helping Hand" for World Refugee Day. For this reason, we consider the members to be the gear of this team, that is, the most important and strongest engine within SCORP. They are the fundamental piece of growth and joy; they are the ones who move, direct and inspire the population through their activities, publications and campaigns (each one so creative and innovative); for this reason their union, will form a network of advocates in Mexico and the world, which will allow that wherever you are, you will always have a friend fighting alongside you.

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D E W

P U R P L E

International day of those who are not yet heard

T

[Estrada Flores Rubén Arturo] SEMUACH| Chihuahua, Chihuahua rubenarturoestrada@outlook.com

To the women who have raised their voices and those who keep doing it. To the women who have redeemed battles and won them.

An anniversary is a date that solemnly commemorates an event, a series of them, or evoke the work carried out by some social group. Whatever the reason for this, they are remembered because historically they have marked a turning point, thus contributing to a significant change in society. Personally, I believe that each date has an implicit message in it; I share the words, the claims, the expressions, the manifestos, the protests, I share more explicitly the meaning of World Women's Day. March 8, International Women's Day, is born from a set of movements that seek gender equality by and for women. It is a day that reflects the struggle, shows strength, shows social inequality, and expresses the total rejection of sexism, violence, disappearance, and femicide.

I am not writing to simply remember a date, I am doing it because it’s time for us to shut up and listen to what the women want to say. I write to them to reflect, I write to them because it is an opportunity to learn from them, I write to them in order to re-educate the concept of masculinity, I write to them because we must bury the culture of sexism and transcend towards a society of men, not of males.

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It is not enough to accompany them, it is necessary to follow them along the path of change that they themselves are tracing. A change in a society broken by injustices, aggrieved by inequalities, and hurt by the loss of many.

For one day, millions of women energetically raised their voices in the streets, took them and made them totally their own. For that day, the streets were painted purple, all as a reflection of the struggle and the cry of many to achieve sisterhood.

With posters in hand, the voices of each one of them. "The fault was not mine, or where I was, or how I dressed." "We would be more if they hadn’t killed them." "Today all our voices are not together, because you cannot shout from the grave." "Not one more." "Not one less". "We want each other alive." "They will never have the comfort of our silence again."

"If we don't fight together they will kill us separately." "For those who are no longer here and so that we do not lack any". "On the way home I want to be free, not brave."

"Quiet, you don't look prettier." "For me, for you, for everyone." "It took me a long time to find my voice, but now that I have it, they wont’t silence me." "Silence one, we all shout." "If they continue to rape us, we will continue to fight." "I want my daughter to grow up without fear." "Enough of man justice". "Not a doctor more, not a doctor less." "We are the cry of those who are gone."

"Feminism has not killed anyone, sexism kills every day." "Demanding justice is not provocation." "All women against all violence." "Sir, lady, do not be indifferent, women are killed in people's faces."

"Femicide is genocide." "We don't die, they kill us." "It will fall, the patriarchy will fall."

"Against sexist violence, non-sexist education." "Women in resistance, not to violence." "No more violence.

Women have been violated as a product of the indolence of today's society. May female empowerment be a breeze of fresh air for a totally aggrieved society. May your leadership be an example to follow for other generations. They are a clear example of an inspiring struggle.

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WE'RE

SCOPHians

Q U A R A N T I N E

T H E

O R A N G E

S

W A R S

T H I N K

A N D

T A N K

[Serna Fernández Samantha] scoph@ammef.mx

SCOPH is the acronym for the Standing Committee on Public Health, one of 5 standing committees that are part of the Asociación Mexicana de Médicos en Formación (AMMEF, A.C.) The committee is distinguished by its members also called SCOPHeroes who are constantly looking for ways to advocate and improve the health of communities in Mexico.

The Standing Committee of Public Health's main objective is to promote the development of students regarding Public Health, through high impact activities, advocacy of public health policies and a national and international network of medical students that are passionate about this topic. The main health issues we tackle are communicable diseases, non communicable diseases and healthy lifestyles, health systems, mental health, and climate change and health.

During this term the main goal is to be a leading, strong standing committee, recognized for its excellent work and impact, a trainer of young public health leaders who have the abilities and capabilities to make a positive impact on the health and public policy of Mexico's communities.

To make all of these possible, we have been working with the Local Officers of Public Health all around the country in several projects such as Quarantine Wars, and the Orange Think Tank.

Quarantine Wars is a project that is being worked on by the LPOś and members of the Orange Team in teams of 7 to 8 local committees. Each team must create a high-impact campaign to raise awareness about climate change and health issues. The campaign will last 3 weeks and a total of 9 campaigns will be conducted, all with different themes but related to the impact of climate change on the health of populations and what we can do as medical students to reduce the impact of these changes on public health.

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After the campaigns are completed, they will be presented to a jury to name the campaign with the greatest impact. The whole project aims to encourage Local Public Health Officers to work as a team to generate new knowledge about climate change and health.

Another of the main projects that we will be working on is the Orange Think Thank, which main target is to promote the development of new protocols and trainings, to be a tool for the committee members to create activities aimed at attacking new health problems.

During this project we will follow up with the Local Public Health Officers who are interested and have new project ideas. The objective is to create 3 new protocols and 2 specialized trainings that will serve as a guide for the members of the association.

In addition to all these projects that are being worked on with the Local Public Health Officers, we are also currently working with the national team on a podcast that is being published monthly on Spotify where different topics relevant to the health of our country are discussed. So far we have published 5 chapters in which we have discussed the topics of blood donation, myths and realities of smoking and vaping, nutrition in patients with hypertension and immunization.

During these chapters we have had national and international experts invited to talk to us about their experience in these topics.

Furthermore, we have an introductory chapter in which we explain a little about what SCOPH is and who AMMEF is. So we deeply invite all readers to take a chance to listen to these chapters that are already published and continue to expect many more chapters tackling national and global public health issues that are relevant. You can follow our podcast on SPOTIFY as "SCOPH-AMMEF: Voces de salud pública".

This is just a small part of the large orange family that makes up this permanent committee. Which has enormous potential to change public health in our country. That is why we will keep working hard together with the national team, local public health officials, members and the rest of the standing committees to continue to make a difference in our country's public health.

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C O V I D - 1 9 :

The real victims

T

[López Domínguez Josué]

[Ramírez Ramírez Ana Luisa]

SAEM | Aguascalientes

SAEM | Aguascalientes

josue.lopez.dmgz@outlook.com

analuisaramirez_@hotmail.com

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health problem that affects everyone, but not everyone equally. The population group most vulnerable to the disease are the elderly, who have a worse prognosis when there are associated comorbidities (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, among others). For this reason, the pandemic has been defined as a geriatric emergency. (1) Age is considered one of the most significant risk factors that intervenes in the probability of contagion of COVID-19, since aging involves a decrease in the function of the immune system and changes in the cardiovascular system. (2) To understand the magnitude of the problem in Mexico, it is enough to consult the second epidemiological report of 2021 of the current situation of COVID-19, issued by the Secretaría de Salud: until now, the number of total accumulated cases is 1,541,633, and they have registered 134,368 deaths, of which the highest proportion occur in people between 55 and 79 years of age. (3) This confirms the vulnerability of the elderly to the disease.

It is evident that as the pandemic progresses we can observe the effects it has had on all sectors of the population; however, it is important to point out how the population made up of the elderly has been more vulnerable to the ravages of this global situation. We must stop to reflect on the reason why this part of the population represents such an important figure in deaths from COVID-19 in the country, when it has not been exposed to the same extent as adults of productive age.

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Likewise, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that the news referring to groups of the young population are treated in great detail, while it seems that older people constitute one more number within the statistics.

The culture that surrounds Mexican society plays an important role in this problem, since «seeing is believing» becomes a representative norm on a daily basis, just as many mexicans are governed under the premise «it is not true until it happened to me». In this way, the preventive measures necessary to prevent the spread of the virus are ignored, which ends up mainly affecting the most vulnerable population sector. It was very sad for us to observe how acquaintances belonging to this sector followed the sanitary measures to the letter, but their younger and stronger relatives left without any measure, condemning them in some way to the end that we fear the most: a funeral.

It is understandable that despite the circumstances you need to perform activities that have the objective of survival, such as working, shopping and going to medical appointments. However, it is inconsistent to comply with health measures most of the time, if at any time a meeting is held or a sick family member is visited, to name a few examples.

When contagion occurs in an older adult, taking action and seeking medical guidance is key, since, as mentioned above, they have a greater risk due to comorbidities that occur with age. However, many times due to the lack of information from the relatives or those responsible for the person, these patients are not treated in the most appropriate way and they end up with more complications than expected.

Older adults are a fundamental pillar within society, on which growth and the preservation of social identity are based. This pandemic has only exposed some of the points in which this sector is vulnerable, and it is necessary that as active members of it we take responsibility and ensure that this population segment receives care with extremely precautionary measures and with effective medical management in as much as possible.

Sara Frasher in her article "Ageism and COVID-19: what does our society's response say about us?" she states in a very assertive way: “The highest mortality rates for any group, including the elderly, have devastating consequences. Older adults (…) are a source of generational knowledge and wisdom, they contribute to the workforce in increasing numbers, they are volunteers and they are key to the strength of our economies and our families ”. (4)

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I

W A N T

A

C O F F E E

with room for a law

T

[Ayala Garza Hillary Gisselle] CEEMIS MTY | Monterrey hillaryayala57@gmail.com

There are things you do every day that you take for granted as time goes by, a few simple things like taking a bath or some complicated things like going to school. However, there are special days, where you become aware of what you are doing; an example is when you go out to bathe and ask yourself: did I wash my hair with shampoo?, that was the day I realized a daily strategy which made me spend and eat more than necessary.

I don't remember clearly the day, Monday or Thursday?, although I do have my order: a chicken sandwich with potatoes, as it was customary to order at least once a week. After this, the cashier asked me something, but I didn't listen, I was in my routine thinking about homework and exams, I really reacted until he repeated the question: “-Do you want to enlarge your drink? -No, it's fine with what I ordered”, I thanked him and received my food.

Days passed but now I had this new awareness of the question and I realized that I was listening to it wherever I went: "Jumbo popcorn?", "Shall I add a big drink?", "Big fries?" present in my favorite restaurants, cinemas and even in the university cafeteria. Little by little it irritated me more and more, believe me I was going somewhere and thinking "Please don't offer me something similar." I understand that whoever told me was not the villain, I have worked in fast food chains and I know that it is usually part of the protocol when receiving an order. But it was hard not to get irritated by hearing the question. So, I did what anyone in my place would have done, I complained.

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My recollection of this was limited to: "Eating a lot of hamburgers = bad." However, in the readings of the following days he would come to much more worrying conclusions.

The approach of the articles was diverse; according to Benton (2015) it was discussed how the purchase of larger portions favored the consumer to buy lower quality food or, through the approach of Ferrar et al (2019) if the purchase of the food portion was small they compensated it with larger and therefore higher calorie drinks. Enlarge the drink? This act makes me consume a hypercaloric liquid that I did not consider when making my initial order and also compensates for the small size of my food.

So, by the combination of food and drink, I will feel satisfied, causing me to buy there again.

Among my complaints and questions I found that there was not much legislation in this regard, that is, they could suggest me to buy more food infinitely. How many times had he not said yes without thinking twice? Due to my participation in student groups at the university, I knew student leaders, lawyers, and more doctors than recommended. My meetings with person after person led to nothing in particular other than to begin to take seriously the problem at hand. I kept reading a bit more, to be honest I did not expect to find much research on it, even so to my surprise there were psychological studies and laws in other countries.

The strategy "For a few more cents" had inspired the famous documentary Super Size Me in 2004, which consisted of exploring the impact on health and highlighting the lack of regulation in fast food chains.

It sounds like a vicious circle, right? But the terror does not end there, according to Lee et al (2014) disproportionately, these strategies are directed towards populations of a low socioeconomic level, so that they are more exposed to unhealthy options and as there is an increase in size and hypercaloric consumption in dishes, these practices are transferred to daily consumption at home (Benton, 2015).

It is necessary to clarify that, although I was surprised by the amount of research, access to this information was very privileged given that it required more than the internet and computer; In Mexico there is a significant difference in access by economic income and even sex, where women access less than men by 3 percentage points (IFT, 2019).

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Most of the information was in English, in addition to requesting the use of expensive databases, which in my case I was able to obtain thanks to the university. So, when I think about the people in my community, it is difficult that at some point they will be able to access this pressing situation.

Reading these articles not only aggravated my discomfort, but as a young health professional it prompted me to act. I have heard of global health as a theory, however, it was time to improve health through a local solution.

For those who were waiting for it, this is where the idea of ​doing a legal activation comes in. During my complaint process, I found that 2013 was considered an epidemiological emergency, caused by the magnitude of obesity and overweight cases.

Therefore, in 2014 the "Law to Prevent Obesity and Overweight in the State and Municipalities of Nuevo León" was approved.

It is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done given that in 2018 (5 years after declaring the epidemic), in the population 20 years and older, 76.8% of women and 73.0% of men are overweight and obese at the national level.

My vision was to generate a change that regulates the supply of increased portions.

My knowledge on how to generate a legal change, as a medical student is practically nil.

Here is the importance of generating alliances and finding mentors in your learning process or in my case, in the process of complaining. During the days where I began to complain, I coincided with my mentor throughout this adventure. I was just telling him about the question when he interrupted me by telling me how a bill works and the impact they can have when they are well done. Apparently I complained to the right person, because she had formulated initiatives before and was willing to guide me along the way.

Thank you Dra. Xahaira, your guidance was indispensable since it allowed me to evaluate how a functional public policy can be built.

As I built my initiative, I realized how different laws were theoretically good, in contrast to the null regulation in practice. This was very useful to determine which agents would evaluate the compliance of my reform and not to destine my idea to theoretical success despite functional failure. A surprise to me was seeing other bills highly grounded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) when they were proposed at the state level. These motivated me to align myself with fulfilling them for my own ideas and projects.

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I have always been clear about how youth is called to change and create projects. I imagined myself on the streets collecting garbage or creating fairer and more equitable cities. But it was through reacting to a question and breaking the routine that I realized the change that we can achieve from other benches. The issues of public health and global health are within our grasp. This is the vision held by me for this year as the LPO of the SCOPH team in my local committee.

The tools shared by my mentors can now be taught to start more stories in action.

In the end, this acquired knowledge is not only a good story or a law initiative, it was materialized in a research project like one of those that I read on the internet during my unbridled search. Thanks to my generous network of colleagues (especially my friend Nerea) I had the opportunity to participate in an international call for posters on global health projects. My measure in conjunction with all my observations on the importance of making institutional changes to improve health, ranked. And as a bonus, I was able to publish my first global health project, on how to build better public policies in addition to sharing the story of a coffee.

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B A D

D O C T O R S

T

OR

B A D

P A T I E N T S ?

[Chan Medina Santiago Emmanuel] CEMUADY| Mérida, Yucatán santiagoe.chan@gmail.com

The high prevalence and incidence of drug-resistant microorganisms, the lack of commitment to therapeutic schemes, the typical emergence of complications at an early age and the high mobility and mortality indexes due to chronic and acute illnesses lead to a massive amount of uncertainty in the origin of said consequences.

Mexico, the home to a wide range of characteristic pathologies, comes across more changes in the therapeutic schemes, which, despite their standardizing in guides that specify the treatment to follow, have generated a disgruntlement in the results, however, are doctors the only ones at fault?

Mexican society’s culture often comes across objections toward the resolution of an illness from the allopath medicine community. The use of medicine based on evidence has accomplished an indescribable change in the conception of therapeutic methods; however, its use often generates distrust in the population due to the culture shock that pharmaceuticals can entice in those who disregard their use, the lack of information for the understanding of their mechanism of action in these treatment results in doubt and aversion towards modern pharmaceuticals, and this is where a doctor’s job becomes more relevant, as a mentor for patients to comprehend these topics even though, more than once, this information isn’t received or is outright not explained, so…Who is responsible?

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Taking an objective look at a physician’s actions, are they adequately providing an intrinsic treatment? In theory, for classroom and hospital purposes, the biological correction of the disease is the doctor’s main goal, but, what happens when said doctor comes across an illness with psychological or social origins? what happens then in the search of the etiology of the entity? In chronic treatments, how many times does the patient wonder what the goal to accomplish is? Many of these questions don’t have an answer that a doctor may want to hear about their therapeutic methods.

In the same manner, (despite the existence of classes such as “doctor-patient relationship”) phrases such as “power through”, “don’t be sad”, “cheer up”, among others, can be uttered by a primary care doctor, which lack effectiveness to a person that looks for help with an ailment with many etiologies, such as depression. Another failure in attention quality exists in the local stigma that visiting a doctor entails, knowing that you have a specific ailment, will result in scolding the patient, what has come to develop this stigma that a lack of timely medical attention will result in scolding? Previous experience.

There is a very different circumstance than the ones previously mentioned, which is a lack of foundation for the doctor-patient relationship. Five minute doctor visits in low cost doctor’s offices, excessive demand in the public sector for the attention of low-income public, lack of availability of clinics, among others, contribute to a lack of strengthening in the doctor-patient bond, which can lead to a gap between the eradication of a sickness (as well as its prevention) and the creation of treating the symptoms and not the disease.

Treatment with antibiotics to viral infections, symptomatic treatment with easily complicated diseases, the emergence of nondiagnosed comorbidities, doing unnecessary batteries of tests, or an unnecessary prophilactic treatment, are examples of mal praxis given by a doctor in the face of lack of knowledge or lack of doctor-patient bonding, this because the shortening in the patient’s stay because of the current need to merely “treat what is bothering them” and the absence of frequent tests for early diagnostic purposes, are other factors to consider in the insufficiency of medical staff credibility.

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With the previously mentioned in mind, it seems like doctors are the only ones at fault in the surfacing of problems in the search for a patient’s cure, however, they are not the sole responsible party for this.

Mexican culture has been based in the trust of paired empirical knowledge, which is to say, several individuals reliably believe in the treatment mention by an acquaintance when they suffered from a specific set of symptoms similar to the ones described by the current patient, before medical guidance, which lead to therapeutic mistakes, antimicrobial resistance, pharmaceutical intoxication, pathology exacerbation hidden in community members.

Local society maintains a development based in the population’s comfort area in relation to their lifestyle and every contradiction towards it is perceived as an attack towards the same, which is why, in the guidance of a patience’s habits to prevent the appearance of chronic diseases due to risk factors developed through the preservation of some actions, is one of the biggest challenges in the development of a therapeutic plan.

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A person’s vision towards their own health can often be obscured by their own environment.

An alcohol-consuming adult that has drunk every week for years doesn’t perceive the damage that the repetitive act can have; and a person whose diet is hyper caloric and doesn’t exercise regularly, feels at ease with what they do and what they have; a person who frequently consumes psychoactive substances doesn't believe that there can be any damage in the prompting of their own pleasure.

Often enough, despite the availability of medical attention to acute illnesses, if a person refuses to change their habits they will relapse into the illness, since the confort brought to the person is heartier than ceasing said habit will bring, and this leads to a constant grasp to the subsequent damage that they may cause onto themselves, to the point that the organic or psycological damage is irreversible.

If the previously mentioned situation could be associated merely to life’s extremes, we frequently encounter the obstinate nature of many individuals in their opposition to receiving treatment, to the point that, to quote the same population, “they must be at the brink of death to seek medical attention”, which can many times lead to a critical state, and many cases is irreversible, this leading to a stereotype developed by the general public that “the doctors killed them” since “it’s their duty to save them”; in the pretense of these stigmas in the public due to their opposition to seek timely medical attention, we end up with a snowball effect towards a physician’s credibility in their effective treatment towards deseases.

Another thing to remember about local conduct, is the fact that a patient upon a bettering of their wellbeing wishes to terminate their treatment, which can aid the reappearance of the illness or future resistance to said treatment.

All these previously mentioned factors lead to the question “are we bad doctors or are we bad patients? To comprehend the answer goes beyond a simple choice since both parties need to understand why the other acts the way they do. Doctors and patients alike have their own responsibilities to meet to be able to reach an intrinsic wellbeing.

Understanding these factors is necessary in both perspectives as a whole so as to be able to reach a wider worldview in the processes hat surround a therapeutic method, this to be able to accomplish a better establishing in treatment commitment, true empathy for the adequate making of a doctor-patient relationship and the formation of an integral treatment that fits the patient’s needs.

There is a very different circumstance than the ones previously mentioned, which is a lack of foundation for the doctor-patient relationship. Five minute doctor visits in low cost doctor’s offices, excessive demand in the public sector for the attention of low-income public, lack of availability of clinics, among others, contribute to a lack of strengthening in the doctor-patient bond, which can lead to a gap between the eradication of a sickness (as well as its prevention) and the creation of treating the symptoms and not the disease.

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Treatment with antibiotics to viral infections, symptomatic treatment with easily complicated diseases, the emergence of nondiagnosed comorbidities, doing unnecessary batteries of tests, or an unnecessary prophilactic treatment, are examples of mal praxis given by a doctor in the face of lack of knowledge or lack of doctor-patient bonding, this because the shortening in the patient’s stay because of the current need to merely “treat what is bothering them” and the absence of frequent tests for early diagnostic purposes, are other factors to consider in the insufficiency of medical staff credibility.

The reason behind each procedure, the etiology of each sickness and the production of it can lean to a change in the person if accomplished in the right manner for every one, all of this is part of the information that can’t be reserved solely for the doctor’s understanding and the abstraction of this knowledge in the patient can lead to a better reaction from them to the true comprehension of the medical act and a better commitment.

To change towards this solution of these factors is not an easy task and it may require a true act of perseverance from doctors so as to recover a patient’s trust lost to allopathic medicine. A doctor’s wish to solve problems is not enough, one cannot approach a person with the mere ideology that the doctor posses the answer’s to all the world’s questions, this will only lead to rejection from patients due to invasion; we need a slow and collaborative integration with patients where there is no one person in charge and a subordinate, but a team that fights against entities that attack our health and wellbeing, the patient’s empowerment is essential to accomplish this goal.

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"In the darkness...

there will be a guiding light"

WE'RE

SCOMEdians

S C O M E :

"Plan of action"

S

[Valadez Padilla Daniel Eduardo] scome@ammef.mx

SCOME functions as a space for reflection and learning for Mexican medical students, in order to ensure that they are critical regarding the way they learn medicine and provide them with tools to practice advocacy in their faculties, improving the quality of medical education. In pursuance of students to advocate for a better education, there’s certain skills that need to be taught, for which I’ve implemented a set of workshops regarding advocacy and external affairs.

Along with external affairs, my plan of action also includes focus areas such as capacity building, research and academic quality.

Regarding academic quality, during this tenure we plan to improve the overall quality of exchanges and the evaluation methods for activities, allowing the impact we have to increase significantly.

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FROM PUBLICATION to PUBLIC

ACTION

W H E R E ' S

G R E G O R Y

H O L M E S ?

The need for logical thinking in medical teaching

T

[Zetune Rodríguez José Carlos] AEMULSA | Ciudad de México josezetune@lasallistas.org.mx

The pragmatist philosopher, Richard Rorty, concluded in his book “The Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature” that the whole scientific understanding meant nothing but an epistemological bump of at least 500 years. Rorty drew a line from this bump straight to Cartesian thinking, leading to a scientific point of view in which the court of reason was in charge of determining and discerning knowledge from non-knowledge based on certainty. More than 50 years after Rorty's publication, it seems that the prophecy has been fulfilled, where technological advances have led to an excessive development of technical and scientific knowledge from the 20th century to nowadays; however, it seems we take for granted the fact that we are proficient in the form and exercise of our reasoning, proof of it is the Tel-Aviv university, the only institution worldwide which adds logic and epistemology to its schedule.

The study by Dr. Peña includes the results of an inquiry applied in Peru where 67% of the physicians admitted not to know what “epistemology” means. The thing about philosophy’s involvement in science is that it’s massive. However, the eradication of philosophy from the teaching programs is presented as a huge error, and because of it, I will present my experience studying the first semester of my medical career after training in philosophy and sociology.

The undoubted magnetism of the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, has proclaimed him as one of the most representative literary characters in history worldwide; in the field of medicine we have his legendary counterpart Dr. Gregory House who, due to his diagnostic ability and unique personality, has kept millions of viewers hooked, and it is when it's worth asking, what makes them so fascinating?

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Dr. Bell has just diagnosed cirrhosis in a man who is approximately 40 years old who came to the university clinic due to a difficulty to walk secondary to a fall; with no more information available than what was presented before his eyes, the Edinburgh physician delivered one of the diagnoses with the greatest impact on the mind of a young Arthur Conan Doyle. [2]

At first, the answer seems pretty obvious, the cold and frank personality of both is attractive for its cathartic effect on the viewer, who wouldn't want to be more honest and get away with such a great sense of humor, but this answer seems incomplete.

Reading one of Sherlock Holmes´adventures or attending a House diagnosis is still really close to a magic show. The protagonists live within the ever-present risk of failure and in an unexpected plot twist they ended up solving the issue. The sense of wonder we get from these adventurers is very close to the captivating superpower of any character in the pantheon of fictional heroes, with the small difference that something in both seems quite real…

Picture then that we find ourselves at the University of Edinburgh at some later point in the 19th century at the theater for pathology class; in front of us a tall, slender figure with a sharp, prominent forehead and nostrils, an undeniable cunning air and a cloak of authority; the class is about to conclude and Dr. Joseph Bell reminds us how to make a good clinical diagnosis: the first step is to observe carefully, then sharply deduce and finally confirm based on evidence.

Now let’s travel to the other side of the Atlantic, at Johns Hopkins University, a man with equally sharp features, a tired figure and a countenance of reflection invites us to reduce the totality of our conceptions to their practical consequences [3], his name is Charles Sanders Peirce and he has just announced his famous pragmatist statement; without advising it, both men are talking about a type of reasoning that up to that point in history had not been described, but which today is just fundamental. The scientific method has been taught to us ever since basic education as a sort of recipe, a companion of all school work in science classes. In our academic transit we put it into practice over and over again; on the other hand, the frequency of our reflections on the logical mechanisms that are proper to it is at least rare, according to Dr. Peña's study.

Deductive reasoning is a formulation of hypotheses that requires careful observation, sharp inference and confirmation with evidence; yet it is not part of deduction or induction, so it is an inference in itself. The father of pragmatism introduced its study at the same time as his pragmatist statement and today it is more relevant than ever.

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Technology and scientific advances in medicine are undoubtedly extraordinary paths to achieve the goal: a good diagnosis; nonetheless, technology without the agent asking the right questions, i.e. investigating, is an empty and useless tool. An old adage in medicine says that "the clinic is the mother of medicine", therefore, the physician who does not do the clinic is an orphan Clinical reasoning is the intersection between the scientific aspects of medicine and the artistic ones; although, how can we understand the dimension of the challenge we face if we do not reflect on it? How can we be in the presence of Holmes or Dr. House if we are less and less concerned about the basis of reasoning? How can we call ourselves scientists if we take for granted science as valid knowledge and the epistemological agency of excellence by anastomosis? All these questions cannot be resolved without a course in philosophy of science, theory of knowledge and logic. While the agenda and obligations of medical students are demanding, it seems absurd to propose as an extra duty reflection on life without purpose (being this one of the great prejudices about philosophy).

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For its part, as technological advancement allows us to see hidden details more clearly or to know physiological function better and better, we seem to constantly forget the fundamental tool in a physician's briefcase: clinical reasoning.

The art of reasoning and expressing our ideas correctly and clearly should not be ignored, knowing that it requires all the dedication and effort possible, since it is easy to adopt thinking vices that will end up making medical work more complicated; in addition, a mind that does not pose problems and does not exercise in their resolution tends to stagnate. Thus, the modern physician now more than ever has an arsenal for developing his or her potential to the maximum and yet they abandon the most useful element: reasoning.

Philosophical questions may seem vague, strange, inoperative or impractical; on the other hand, the rate of errors associated with poor interpretations of results due to an under-exercise of clinical reasoning is on the rise, while universities committed to training true researchers are increasingly scarce.

"Education is a chemical reaction between knowledge and the mind; the byproducts are new thoughts, new ideas, new perceptions, and new feelings."

T H E

P A N D E M I C ' S

I M P A C T

T

O N

S C I E N C E

[Mendoza Puente Alejandro] ALEM UDEM| San Pedro Garza García ale.mendoza.puente@gmail.com

To talk about the progress of an article in a study room, define the idea of ​the next project in a cafeteria and discuss about the methodology of the research protocol in the office: these are some of the ways in which the scientific community collaborated before the pandemic. Social interaction is essential in human relationships and in the fulfillment of objectives that could not be achieved by one person. Confinement has affected many areas of productivity, including the way of doing science.

Fortunately, technology has made possible the continuity of scientific work, including the realization of scientific events from a distance. This has a huge advantage, since certain barriers are eliminated, such as the cost of traveling, allowing scientists from developing or low-income countries to attend these events without the need to travel. In addition, face-to-face events that previously had limited capacity, have found a way to expand, consequently the attendance of much more audience has increased virtually.

He recording of the sessions is another positive aspect, because specific moments or those not observed can be repeated. However, there are also limitations that affect attendees, such as unstable connections or external noise. Additionally, the remote experience can be perceived as less interactive or, to some extent, boring, thus limiting the potential for participation of the attendees.

The scientific community has given continuity to its projects in a virtual way, through platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, among others. However, it is worth mentioning that there is a different way to interact, beyond video calls.

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These are virtual communities, widely used in the form of social networks. Some examples of platforms on which scientific virtual communities can be established are Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Chanty, and Discord.

Although each platform is different, their idea is similar: share information either organized in "channels" or "folders" in the form of chat.

Thus, all members of the community can comment, start a discussion, debate or even generate ideas for new projects.

One aspect to highlight of these platforms is the greater visibility of the information, contrary to email, in which the flow of information only includes a few users. A possible disadvantage of this is that, in case of sharing a lot of information, it can become overwhelming for the user, discouraging reading and discussion.

Another advantage of these platforms is their exclusive use for scientific purposes, avoiding the combination of information of other platforms such as Facebook or WhatsApp, in which social content can distract the users.

As the flow of information occurs through channels similar to chats, discussion doesn’t require all members to be connected, unlike video calls, where the availability of all members can be a problem. But, all members are required to commit to dedicate a certain time to discussion and actively participate, otherwise, scientific interaction may be diminished and not very enriching.

The advantages offered by technology to the scientific community during confinement have been huge. It would even be prudent to analyze which virtual interactions could continue after the end of the health contingency; for example, hybrid congresses of medical specialties or discussions in scientific communities. In this way, the learning obtained in confinement about alternatives for doing science can be integrated into the new post-pandemic reality; to create and bring science to many corners of the Earth, which, quite possibly before it, had not yet been reached, rescuing the best of both worlds, the one before and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

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WE'RE

SCOMPanions

HOW

TO

BE

A

RESEARCHER

And not die trying

[Mendoza Rojo Marvin]

T

AMMEF scomp@ammef.mx

The main objective of the Standing Committee on Medical Publications (SCOMP) is to focus the members of the Mexican association AMMEF, A.C. on the use of evidence-based medicine; this through a research culture which leads them to achieve a quality medical publication.

Because of this, our Committee seeks that the members participate in activities able to teach them how to make a correct search for information in databases, to ensure that they have basic principles of a critical and scientific reading and writing, as well as giving them the opportunity to generate one on their own.

The Committee's work plan includes developing contests and courses that promote research in local committees. One of the latest contests that has been implemented is “Innovation, research and advocacy”, which aims to empower SCOMP officers to have basic tools to conduct research on their own, as well as to give them the opportunity to teach their local committee members.

The National Scientific Poster Contest, another of the Committee's most innovative initiatives, also seeks to get anyone involved in a research process, either in a project of their own or in conjunction with a tutor from their school, in addition to giving them the necessary tools to search for information in databases which provides recent information on topics of interest.

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The objective of leading the members to carry out a critical and scientific reading and writing is fulfilled through the two SCOMP journals; "CIMMEF", the Mexican scientific journal for physicians in training, achieves to be the first research or bibliographic searches for the members, so they can have a publication where anyone can access it. And "Soy AMMEF", our medical-cultural journal, also provides tools for a publication that motivates members to continue researching and writing.

Our Committee also fulfills the function of bringing updated information on the most current issues that are happening in the country or in the world, that is why it works directly with any other Standing Committee or Support Division, as each of its activities can be coupled without problem to the search for recent and reliable information.

One of the Committees with which we have more common work is SCORE, who takes the members of AMMEF, A.C. on a research exchange. It is here where SCOMP's main activities lay the bases for members to carry out an exchange and have as final work a research project developed during that period.

Courses such as CARPIS or epidemiology and methodology courses, complement what is seen in the classes of physicians in training, a subject which is often not given the necessary importance and does not end up being to the liking of the students. For this reason, topics and speakers are sought to make these topics more attractive, removing the idea that research is tedious or boring.

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CARPIS (Trainings for the doing and publication of health research) is another one of the most recent activities carried out in the Committee, it involves a series of training that offers the basic concepts of research methodology, making it available to any member of the association who seeks to implement their knowledge in this area.

Through videos and easy to understand texts, any member can reinforce their knowledge about evidence-based medicine or take what they need to start a project that will lead them to submit a scientific article to the Committee's own journals or even outside the Committee.

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Basically, SCOMP is the ideal place when a person seeks to start getting involved in research, as well as the space that provides the opportunity to publish their results in a national journal that reaches every corner of the country.

The phrase that characterizes us is: "From publication to public action", because we have the ideal that any interest in evidence-based medicine can conclude with a publication with the power to make a real change in our environment.

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."

THE

POWER

OF

PUBLISHING:

A

[Castañón Gómez Marco Antonio] SAMHUAZ | Zacatecas castmarc99@gmail.com

At no more than six months of having begun as the Local Official of SCOMP, I have learned the great impact that words and publishings can have on the people that read our material. I have always believed that publishing is the seed that will blossom in someone else’s mind; from the moment that we take the initiative to share something from our own minds, it ceases to be ours, it becomes a part of whoever gets to read our words, having the power to change said person for better or for worse.

SCOMP is a committee that focuses their efforts for medical students to have the necessary tools to be able to carry out research and, at the same time, have the opportunity to publish what may be found in said research. Having in mind that our words will transcend beyond our close social circle, it is vital for us to be conscious of what we write, read or say, as these concepts will result in an introduction of sorts into who we are.

The Committee offers what is necessary for every student, just by being interested in doing so, can go beyond what they have imagined. We have the great opportunity to share our interests with thousands of people that, even if some don’t share our beliefs and thoughts, we are given the space to bring forward the possibility of dialogue where both parties can learn from each other. Let us not waste this advantage to be immortalized in a forum of our choice, such as a magazine or in a mind in which our ideas have taken root.

We may not know each other in person, know our whole name or know what other people do with their time, but if we begin writing, if we start to publish, a small part of us can become known, we will plant a seed that someone else will collect and may be able to plant, for themselves and for others; suddenly, in a place where we didn’t exist, we will begin to bear fruit.

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I can personally say that words help me connect to others, where I would normally not have had the chance to meet others, explain my ideal and my goals, by writing i can go beyond what I had planned, and that while they may not know my face, my body or my voice, they will know what i think, they will know the dreams that shaped me and my view of the world, which in the end has more weight and importance in the personality of every individual.

We are in a college career in which whatever we say will have a direct impact on those who surround you, what we express to others will weigh heavily not only on our family, but on their acquaintances, so we must be very careful with what we say and how we say it.

Writing is a great way to have the initiative necessary to begin sharing what is within us, to not hoard the knowledge that our studies give us every day, to know how to reach others is a vital part of our training.

Publishing begins the moment you write a message directed to someone else, from the moment you share in social media your opinion on a topic of your choice; to publish has multiple paths which can reach not only the scientific minds of the world, has so many opportunities that it prevents you from clinging in a single field. The goal is not to publish articles and research reports done solely by you from the get-go, the goal is to know the power that every single word can have on the people that will read them, to know that your thoughts on life can move someone who need it, that everyone has this power and it’s important for us to take as much advantage of this as possible.

Let’s begin publishing efforts, both those who know how to and those who don’t, let’s allow our imagination to run wild and land where we have always wanted to be. Words have the power to take you where you will be most delighted, know as many people as you so desire and be the person you’ve always wanted to be. I am inviting you to give publishing a chance, so that we all can know what grows inside of you, so that little by little you can transcend beyond what you are planning at this moment.

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BEING

LOCAL

DURING

OFFICER

PANDEMIC:

A LOMP's perspective

T

[Hernández Chávez Saliha Karina] CEMUADY| Mérida, Yucatán salihahernandez@gmail.com

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has forced us to stay home and move to the virtual classrooms to take care of our health and that of our loved ones. This implied a new challenge for all the Local Committees that were already managing in a face-to-face manner due to the cancellation of the face-to-face activities.

This challenge meant adapting to a change, but for people like me, who started the management in virtual mode and this was not necessary, it has been a window of opportunity rather than a limitation. Without this previous reference, I found a blank canvas to draw the new story of the Standing Committee of Medical Publications (SCOMP) in the Committee of Medical Students of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (CEMUADY for its initials in Spanish).

During this tenure we have learned to take greater advantage of technology, as it eliminates the barriers of place and time. By having virtual rooms instead of attending meetings, it gives us the opportunity to tend to people from anywhere in the country or even the world; I have reported, in collaboration with other Local Medical Publications Officers (LOMPs), activities with attendees from all Latin America. The increased use of social networks to promote the activities has also generated that these activities have a greater reach, making the committee known to more students, not only from the faculty, since some have been of interest to students from other carreers.

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This has been an opportunity for us as Local Officers to learn from each other, since I have had the honor to virtually attend activities such as "Tardes de MediCine" (MedCinema Afternoon) and "Sinapsis, punto y coma" (synapsis, semicolon) carried out by other Local Committees to learn about their activities, how they carry them out and to analyze how I could implement them in my own committee. And not only as a Local Officer, but also as a student, due to the dissemination of the activities of each officer, I have been able to attend and share with the members activities, workshops, courses and presentations of great quality and even with curricular value that I would not have been able to replicate at the time.

Space is not an impediment, it has helped in the realization of multi committee collaborations; generating greater impact, better ideas, richer activities with teachers from different states of the country, greater learning, new points of view and it has also given me friendships outside of work commitments and that could last beyond our time in the association. Because no matter where we are, a screen will allow us to see each other. And no matter what time it is, we can always watch the transmissions that remain recorded on various platforms, so that the knowledge is not exclusive to the people who attend the day of the intervention.

Finally, it is necessary to mention the great disadvantage to be faced, depersonalization, since it seems that we do not get to know each other; it is very easy to enter to see a presentation, perhaps participate, leave and not generate affective links with others, we only enter to listen and not recognize the presence of those who accompanied us. In spite of having constant attendees and members interested in the committee, it has been complicated to notice more than the names of the members with whom the greatest contact could be a question or registration.

For many it has been difficult to adapt the activities virtually, since some require more interaction than others, and although it is not fundamental for the development of certain activities, the lack of coexistence is resented.

Nonetheless, the virtual modality opened many doors for my committee and I am immensely grateful for the learning opportunity that other LOMPs have given me by sharing their activities with us, the invitations to work together, as well as the advice and experiences provided for the development of the committee and myself.

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Benefits of using PUBLIC

DATABASES

in research

[Morales Juárez Alejandra] FIAEMP| Puebla, Puebla. alemojua@gmail.com

D

(Advice provided by the first Mexican scientist to win the Von Behring-Rontgen Young Talent Award 2019)

During the event "Talking with a researcher" Dr. Karla Rubio Nava, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (MPI-HLR), and the GlyCREET Research Unit of the Université-Paris Créteil (UPEC), in France, Lung Cancer Epigenetics Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Germany. Winner of the Von Behring Rontgen Young Talent Award 2019, created in honor of the Nobel laureates in Physics, Wilhen Rontgen when developing the topic “Pulmonary Fibrosis from an epigenetic perspective: The case of the MiCEE complex”.

The doctor took the public by the hand from the simplest concepts, to those that represent a real difficulty to the studied, broke down the case of the MiCEE complex and how by blocking EP 300 in fibrotic fibroblasts the phenotype can be reversed towards a fibroblast healthy; speaking of the entire arsenal involved in the search for reversal. In addition, he shared his enthusiasm for the first results obtained in control patients: the inhibition of certain factors causes the way the chromosome of a fibrotic patient looks to be imitated, and what it would look like if other factors were added: that chromosome it would look like a control patient's chromosome again.

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The researcher explains that epigenetics is an area of ​research with great importance and a lot of potential to exploit at present, it is also in a new generation phase, which is not only based on experimental models or on factors already described, but which invites us to incorporate an integral vision of the experimental part with the “In silico” part.

Public databases, which are nourished by new information technologies and data science (OMICs), are very useful for the research work of those who are in the area of ​epigenetics and also of those interested in venturing into it, especially in this current pandemic time, where more research is needed.

Similarly, she mentioned that today we have many "omic" technologies that we must integrate into our projects, because the combination of them with experimental models helps to generate new robust biomarkers, becoming better therapeutic targets. Also, this type of integrative models will allow predicting the low or high risk towards a disease, being able to develop panels with certain signatures that any researcher in the environment could use, or in the case of pharmaceutical companies, to be able to generate new drugs (Epidrugs).

The benefits of accessing these databases range from the preparation of a research thesis through the analysis of data that are relevant to many human diseases, as well as the generation of preliminary results, or in the words of the scientist: “It is in other words, if a group has an idea about some mechanism that is being altered in a disease, it is much better to go to public databases, generate an “in silico” model and then validate experimentally, and it will be a hypothesis that can be it will be able to validate much faster than an idea that does not have a support in public databases ”.

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Likewise, she highlighted as another of the benefits of these tools, being able to access different stages of a disease, obtain different ethnic backgrounds; data that many times cannot be had in the laboratory or in the hospital and represent a limitation, which creates a situation that changes when using these databases, avoiding leaning towards some unsupported hypothesis, the information that is is analyzing and that way better conclusions would be generated.

Finally, the doctor commented that bioinformatics is a powerful tool for researchers and people who disseminate scientific information, for which she shared some public databases that can be accessed and generated scientific questions or hypotheses such as GEO "Gene Expression Omnibus". The ENCODE project and the Uniprot database provide protein data, as well as all the databases provided by NCBI and UCSC. In conclusion, we know that any research work requires problematization and / or research questions, objectives and a solid theoretical framework, so the added benefit of using and interpreting the information provided by public access databases can put us in the State of the Question or the development of the latest technology of many new scientific investigations.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION

in genetics and disease prevention

P

[Díaz de León Martí Cristóbal] SAEM| Aguascalientes

[Hernández Rodríguez Lourdes Vanessa] SAEM| Aguascalientes

al198559@edu.uaa.mx

vanessa.hr.uaa@gmail.com

Parting from the human genome’s sequencing, nutrition has undergone a wide range of revolutionary changes that has awakened a greater interest in the discipline’s research area, resulting in the discovery of new molecular mechanisms with great influence in homeostasis, and in the pathophysiology of various medical conditions that happen on a daily basis in our organism.

Thanks to the implementation of nutrition and to the interaction of various macro and micronutrients, the update and innovation in the use of this knowledge to diseases whose control, improvement or cure was inconceivable; diseases such as diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and even psychological diseases, and cancer.

The most relevant branches considered in the subject today are nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics, since most chronic diseases, such as the previously mentioned, are influence by the genetic factors, biochemical and nutritional's interaction, as well as other aspects in lifestyle.

The importance in the nutritional attention process is more relevant as time progresses; as we can realize, we currently face a situation that was triggered without any apparent warning, and in the uncertainty of what to do in the face of what is happening, we can salvage certain information that has become relevant and is related to nutrition.

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Speaking specifically about virology, we know that viruses are the smallest known infectious agents to this date, and that many of these can result not only human illness, but in other animals’ sickness as well.

Because of their lacking in metabolic processes, and their lack of growth and movement due to the first mentioned, they require assistance from a host cell for their reproduction. This is where nutrition comes into play, since, in the same way that genotherapy and other solutions involved in the apparent positive genome alteration, we can speak in the same manner about the changes that occur in a molecular level in the host cell, and how the molecular vehicles can influence in the good or faulty infection response’s function and establishment, which in turn results in an effective immunologic response and the resolution of a possible illness, or in a way in for the consequent domino effect of biochemical events that can lead to an unfavorable scenario.

Without a doubt, more research and development of knowledge is needed to be able to make a bigger impact on our society, in a way where we can affiliate with each other and to take action more and more to be able to carry out a healthier lifestyle, to it’s utmost extent

A healthy alimentary regimen’s impact related with other factors can prevent and even treat many diseases associated with age, heritage and even sociodemographic situations that some people can have, and this relies in nothing more than the uptake and investment in a lifestyle that allows a brighter future and that is alienated from any pill or treatment that we can find in any pharmacy.

As of today, we live longer lives than our ancestors did, which is why the prevention of diseases related to the extension of life through nutrition is more affordable in every sense of the word, and is accomplished in a way that it doesn't cost more than making the right choice in what we choose to do with our nutritional status.

In conclusion, we call for the general population to be conscientious in the bettering of our nutritional habits, as much for our health benefits as for the common benefit, this to allow a better general wellbeing in our patients, in the physical, emotional and/or nutritional sense of it. This task is relevant to us as doctors so as to prevent the diseases that the general population now deals with, and this prevention can be accomplished through the small changes in our lifestyle, such as healthy food habits, which can lead to a peaceful longevity.

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WE'RE

SCONExion

M E E T

H

SCONE!

[Chávez Sánchez Ángel Adrián] scone@ammef.mx

Hello! My name is Adrián Chávez, I am the National Officer of National Exchanges for the 20212022 management. Here, in our association, the Mexican Association of Medics in Training, A.C. (AMMEF, A.C.), we have a Standing Committee for National Exchanges (SCONE).

Throughout 15 years, we have worked and improved national exchanges, always seeking an improvement in the academic quality that we offer to all our members. The most beautiful thing about this committee is that it is a proudly Mexican idea!

At SCONE we take care of the mobility of medical students and also careers related to the health sciences from all over the country; Our objective is to be able to provide new experiences about learning medicine and the careers that derive from it.

Each year we have three exchange periods. These are during the Easter, summer and winter holidays, which allows them to participate in this exchange program without interfering with their main studies. Thus, during the year, they have three opportunities to apply and be accepted in a national exchange, which I assure you, is one of the best experiences you can have as a student.

At SCONE we have various forms of exchange, and we continually seek new ways to meet the academic needs of our medical students.

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Among the modalities with which we currently work, there are preclinical exchanges for those students who are still in the first years of their career, and who have not yet had direct contact with clinical medicine. It is here where students can have their first approach within hospitals, in services such as epidemiology, emergencies, pathology, among others.

Likewise, we work with clinical exchanges, in which students have the possibility of participating within hospitals, in specialty services such as general surgery, traumatology, pediatrics, and others.

As I mentioned before, we are always looking for ways to improve and renew the modalities of our exchanges. Within the constant search, we began to promote a modality of exchanges, which we like to call "SCORA X-Changes", in which we collaborate with SCORA to offer students the opportunity to attend specialized services and hospitals for the care for LGBT + patients, patients with HIV, and services in which the main objective is the promotion of breastfeeding, access to safe abortion, family planning and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.

When a medical student performs a national exchange, he is able to notice the differences that exist in our Mexican health system, since, despite being the same country, the way medicine is practiced in the south of the country it is not the same way it is practiced in the north.

Mexico is an extremely large country, with a lot of culture, and above all, very diverse.

Therefore, participating in a national exchange allows students to learn about the customs and traditions of the rest of the country, whether you do an exchange in the north, south, west or east of the republic.

Within the AMMEF, A.C., we love to ensure that the members of our association have a broader vision of medicine! We faithfully believe that a knowledgeable medical student will make an excellent doctor in the future. We believe that all those who participate in our exchanges, share ideals and goals, we are doctors in training who want to change the world and we are sure that we will.

Purple hugs, from the purple family.

What excites us most at AMMEF, A.C. and SCONE is that we began to work on a new modality of exchanges, in conjunction with SCORE. This year we will start promoting national research exchanges! Isn't that an incredible opportunity? We are sure that the medical students of our country want to be able to participate in research projects, and this is the way in which we can offer them the possibility; there is nothing better than doing it within Mexico.

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MY

STUDENT

EXCHANGE

in Durango

I

[Bailin García Vanessa] SAEM| Aguascalientes vannessaballingarcia@gmail.com

I can refer to my national exchange in Durango as one of the best experiences of my life, and then I will tell you why, and how I lived it.

Educational aspect Staying in the hospital for a month is something that makes you change the way you see medicine. Living with real patients, beyond the pages of a book, has always been and will always be, for me, the best thing of the medical career. I arrived at the emergency department not knowing what to expect, my teachers and internal friends taught me when they had time; but it was through the simplest things that I learned to handle myself in the hospital. From doing small favors, running errands, talking to orderlies and cleaning staff, among other things, it was what opened the doors for me to be allowed more freedom as a medical student, as the staff felt more confident with me, they gave me the freedom to interact more with patients and do interventions such as suturing, healing, channeling, and other practical situations that catch our attention when we are third semester students.

I am not going to say that I came to the hospital knowing how to do everything a medical intern should know, but I can say that I ended up knowing how to do everything one does, and a little more; since we did not have the same burden and responsibility to "take work out of the shift," we were allowed to do the tasks that we liked and to follow up on patients with pathologies that interested us. Although not everything was so wonderful, every day I presented myself to the service with a new and fresh attitude, ready for what might happen during the day; the shift would end, and I would return with my exchange friends, talking about how lucky we were not to be medical interns, and to be able to get home to rest.

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I realized that the hours we dedicate to hospital practice during the semester are not enough to develop that clinical reasoning that we are expected to have when we arrive at the internship; if I recommended a national exchange to a fellow medical student, this would be the main reason. I wish we could all have the opportunity to exchange, at least once during the career.

Social aspect This is probably the one that most catches our attention when we think of doing an exchange, and I must tell you that what I had in mind in this regard falls very short of what it really was to meet this wonderful group of people; I couldn't have asked for better exchange partners. I admit that I was very nervous about living for a month in a house with complete strangers, however, they received me in such a warm and confident way that they put all my fears aside.

We went out whenever we could, the Local National Exchanges Officer (LONE) and the team members who welcomed us were always very attentive to what we needed, and they never let us get bored. They took us to Magical Towns, restaurants, clubs, bars, cafes ... Anyway, an incredible thing. The coexistence in the house was very good, because we all took care of our housework, we cooked for everyone and we were never alone, we tried to get together as much as we could. I made great friends that I keep to this day.

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When I applied for this national exchange, my objectives were to improve my clinical practice, meet people from other states, know what it was like to live outside of Aguascalientes; however, the best thing that this trip left me, was something that I was not looking for: perspective. This short experience of a month allowed me to open myself to all the possibilities that I have as a medical student, not only in my state, not only in my country, but I can take my knowledge as far as I want.

Broadening my perspective allowed me to change my goals and make them more ambitious, it gave me the opportunity to envision myself in the future as something bigger than I had imagined, and not only academically, but also as a person; so this learning, which for me was something unexpected, changed the course of my plans in the short, medium and long term, and that is the best thing that I take from this experience.

Finally, I can say that this is the way I experienced my first exchange, and thanks to the good taste in my mouth, I urge my fellow medical students to lose their fear of leaving their comfort zone, to that they experiment, and that if they are hesitating to apply or not to a call for exchanges, the answer is: do it. Do it now that you can, do it now that you feel like it, and give yourself the opportunity to live this incredible experience.

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Meet México

A

WINTER on the border

[Muñoz Amanda Berenice ] SAEM| Aguascalientes

D

amandamunoz1805@gmail.com

Dedicated with love and thanks to Dr. Manuel Morales, head of teaching at the General Hospital of Ciudad Juárez, who passed away in November last year, joining the many health professionals who have lost their lives victims of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

I would never forget that December 14, 2019, in which my best friend and I left for Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; I had no idea of ​everything that was going to change that two-week experience in which I was on a national exchange. Actually, that adventure had started months before, when my classmate and also, Local Officer of National Exchanges (LONE), shared with us the places available for the winter exchange of that year. After reviewing the many options that existed, it was only clear to me that I wanted to go far away, to something different from my daily life. I wanted to hear another accent, feel another climate, see other features, and of course, meet other hospitals and patients with ailments and conditions somewhat different from those that I could appreciate day after day in my clinical rotations.

At first, my options were two: Tijuana or Yucatán. Both corresponded to opposite ends of the Republic and I was very excited. I decided to apply to Tijuana, due to its proximity to American California, where I could travel at the end of my exchange and take the opportunity to receive 2020 with my family that resides in Los Angeles.

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I remember that the process was something similar to an odyssey, because I had never made a curriculum vitae, letter of reasons, much less had letters of recommendation, but getting them put me in perspective regarding the path that I have followed in terms of academics and personal to get to this day and the things that I would like to do, learn and achieve in the near future. Sooner rather than later, my documents were ready, and I sent them in the hope of being accepted. But like many of the best things in life, what was planned was not what ended up happening.

A short time later, I got the acceptance letter.

Nervous, but excited, I started to pack my bags, and when I least remembered, I was flying towards the border belonging to the largest state of Mexico, Chihuahua.

Upon arrival, I could perceive the intense cold that contrasted with the warmth of the Juarense people. The next day, in the morning, our LONE picked us up and we headed to the hospital that would be the headquarters of my days for the next two weeks. She introduced us to the head of teaching, dr. Morales, who was extremely kind and directed us to our service, internal medicine.

During that week I was able to meet excellent doctors, whose teachings will remain in my heart forever, since in addition to being immensely wise, they also demonstrated a great sense of humor and a passion for their educational work; perfect example of this is dr. Casanova, who for me became the best infectious disease specialist that I could have crossed my path.

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One Thursday, almost at the end of our day, I met a medical intern who would change all my experience, as he invited us to spend the following week in the surgery service.

Although we had great fear, attributable to our lack of clinical practice in the surgical areas, we decided to accept his invitation after obtaining the approval of our LONE and the head of teaching. It was the best decision we could make; I will never forget all the learning that the medical interns of that service provided us, as well as the residents and the attending physicians. It was in the operating rooms of that hospital that we learned to perform surgical hand scrub, to dress for surgery, to make cures, notes, but above all, I learned to enjoy the unexpected and to take the teaching that each unpredictable situation could bring me.

In a short time, we were living more with our other colleagues who were in an exchange; Puebla, Chiapas, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes turned out to be a sublime combination, they were three others who decided to leave their family and spend Christmas in one of the coldest cities in our country. So the days went by, with the joy of seeing each other having breakfast in the dining room and talking about what each of us did in his service: emergencies, traumatology and orthopedics; us in surgery, being able to witness hernioplasties, thoracic drains and other procedures. At the end of the day, we saw each other with immense happiness to go together to our temporary home and eat boneless, hamburgers or burritos.

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On Christmas day we were eating what we prepared between us; while, sheltered, we watched movies like "The Grinch", "Selena", or any other chick-flick. One Thursday we enjoyed "Pockets" eating some wings that I miss today. On Friday, we went to see the Christmas lights, while we had hot chocolate.

One of the best days was when we went in to see a laparotomy, and I was able to make the first scalpel cut of my life as a student.

Between sutures and surgeries, I had one of the best days of my life. From there a feeling arose that motivated me to get more involved in la Asociación Mexicana de Médicos en Formación (AMMEF) and in its permanent committees. Everything in that experience was magical, and to this day I deeply appreciate it. For those wonderful weeks that taught me that "... I like to be on the border, because people are simpler and more sincere ...".

If I close my eyes, I can still perceive the intense cold on my cheeks that I experienced every time we left a part of the hospital heading to the dining room, listen to the most beautiful northern accent in the country, and see my friends Ximena, Brenda and Dayanna laugh with me. I returned and was able to immerse myself in the opportunities that my SAEM Local Committee and the AMMEF offer us, not only in medical knowledge, but in building selfknowledge and refining our social and personal skills.

Today I am an Officer of the Standing Committee on Medical Publications (SCOMP) in my Local Committee, and I know that without this exchange, I could not be taking advantage of these opportunities to learn and teach other students like me. Life has completely changed after my exchange, and what a joy it was. At the end of the day, I believe that the trip was not only vast in distance, but it was immense in experiences and memories that I will always carry with me. I am a person before and after Juaréz, and I couldn't be happier about it.

After an exchange, you will never be completely at home again. Because a part of your heart will forever remain somewhere else. It is the price you have to pay for the wealth of being able to meet and love people in more than one place. In my case, it stayed with the patients I knew, the nurses who always helped me, the doctors who taught me so much. And I carry them, their teachings, in my mind, every day present.

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F R O M

T O L U C A

T O

Z A C A T E C A S ,

enriching times. A memory.

I

[Martínez Amador Edge] OEPSA| Toluca, México e.martinez_06@hotmail.com

If you were to ask me what would be one of the experiences that every medical student must live, without a doubt I would answer: going on exchange. Whether it is for two weeks or six months, it is an experience you will never forget.

I have been an active member of the Student Organization for Health (OEPSA) for 2 years, and in November 2019 this great adventure began. Stuck between nervousness and excitement, I received the news that my application had been accepted and I could go to Zacatecas along with two other classmates, with whom I would later form a great friendship. To be honest, I consider that going far away presents itself as a challenge, since sometimes the uncertainty of how your stay will be comes to mind.

I arrived in Zacatecas at around 8:00 p.m.; my classmates and I were welcomed by our contact person and later by the Local Officer of National Exchanges (LONE) and part of the local committee of the Society of Human Medicine Students of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (SAMHUAZ). I must admit that the welcome was very warm, for which I am very grateful, since they were in charge of making our stay as pleasant as possible due to the dynamics of integration, the tours of the city and some other places, the exhibition of clinical cases, among other things. Many of them became very good friends of mine, for whom I will always remember great moments and experiences.

I also met the rest of the incomings, all from different states: Veracruz, Puebla, Mexico City, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Guadalajara, Chiapas; and I even met a girl from Peru who was doing her exchange on behalf of the Standing Committee for International Exchanges (SCOPE).

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Meeting people from different places is very enriching because you learn the culture of other regions (there is even a discussion about the names of certain foods, such as "elote en vaso", "esquite" or "trolelote", when speaking of corns) and you have the opportunity to make great friends who leave a little grain of sand in your life. There was an activity that I will never forget: it consisted of a cultural festival where each person had to bring a typical dish from their state and exhibit it to the rest of all. This was where you would realize the cultural richness of our country, what it has to offer and what stories it has to tell you and the world.

I did medical rotations at the general hospital from zone 1, "Dr. Emilio Varela Lujan" of the medical institution Instituto Médico del Servicio Social (IMSS) at Internal Medicine service. The first day I was full of doubts and nerves, "What will the hospital be like?", "Will I do well or badly?", "What do I have to do when I arrive?". Those were some of the questions that were on my mind, and that increased the closer I got to the service. A reality is that usually we think for the worst, and 85% of the time this never happens. It all dissipated when I showed up and was greeted with joy, thus beginning my two-week rotation.

There I realized many things that I must tell you about; the first one is focused on you, because you decide how much you want to learn. I can say that this medical rotation was one of the best; I rotated through Cardiology, Neurology, Oncology, Hematology, Pneumology and Rheumatology (one of my favorite subspecialties). The residents, fellows and interns were very friendly and approachable; I even formed a great friendship with most of them and we still keep in touch. With the right disposition, you can learn a lot and you can even perform procedures.

The second escenario is that an exchange helps you grow not only professionally, but also as a person. Whether it is the clinical or preclinical rotation, you are dealing with patients, you are training yourself so that in the future you will be the one helping people with their disease or ailments. It's such a nice feeling to be thanked, even if it's just for listening to them. You begin to function in the hospital environment, and you gain skills and knowledge. You are not the same person who arrives for an exchange as the one who returns when it is over.

Third and finally, enjoy the moment. Enjoy both the challenges and the pleasurable experiences that come your way. Sometimes the greatest times in our lives are behind fear. If you have doubts, ask as many questions as necessary. If you can help, even a little bit, do so. Dare to get to know other places, other people, other environments. Take the opportunity if it comes your way, you won't regret it. A little more than 700 words will not be enough to express everything I experienced during my exchange in Zacatecas.

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MHASA is related with the general prevention of maternal death and illness, this by the correct prenatal control, with the informing of warming symptoms in the pregnancy, the correct attention of the birth, humanized obstetric attention, promotion of the correct breastfeeding, and the information and advocacy in the legal interruption of the pregnancy.

HAS is focus on the prevention and the early diagnosis of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The promotion of the prevention of those kinds of diseases could be the key to reach the international goals called “90-90-90” that propose that the 90% of people living with HIV have a diagnosis, and this percent, the 90% have antiretroviral treatment, and from this the 90% could get the indetectable status. Otherwise, the promotion of the early diagnosis could represent the correct attention of those and stop the transmission.

Some of the specific strategies that we have in SCORA is to base the work on standardized AMMEF protocols. Some of them are: - Amamanta (Feed with love) [Breastfeeding].

- Antro Sexual (Sexual nightclub) [Sexual peer-to-peer education in non academical environments].

- Candle light memorial [Commemoration of victims of AIDS].

- Crecer (Growing up) [Sexual Health for pre-teenagers].

- Dalo con amor (Give it with love) [Correct condom colocation process].

- Empoderamiento femenino (female empowerment).

- Hoy por ti, una vida con ellos (today for you, a life with them) [correct prenatal attention].

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- Mamá canguro (Kangaroo mom) [maternal milk donation].

- Mi cuerpo es mi tesoro (My body is mine) [Prevention of child sexual assault].

- Mi primera consulta ginecológica (My first gynaecological consult).

- Prevención es tu decisión (Prevention is your choice) [Prevention of breast and cervical cancer].

- Primero aprende y luego decide (First learn and then make a choice) [Comprehensive sexual education in children and teenagers].

- Pruebaton [HIV STI’s test campaigns].

- Renacer [Reborn] [Menopause].

- Sin pelos en las manos (no hair in the hands) [sexual myths].

- Super-men (prevention of testicle and prostate cancer).

- The rainbow Project (LGBT+ inclusion).

In Mexico, the main goal that we are working on, is the continuous capacitation and education of the medical students, because the generational change is happened and now, we are the protagonists of our own future.

In this term, we expect to work on the Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women, Sexual and Reproductive Health for Men, the Intersectionality of all this populations and the HIV and other STI’s approach.

As you can see, the SCORA have a wide action field in where all the SCORAngels could work together to achieve a Comprehensive Sexual Education and start changing the way we see the sexuality.

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WE'RE

SCOREans

HOW DOES SCORE

T

work?

[Moreno Mares Adrián Alejandro] score@ammef.mx

The Standing Committee on Research Exchanges (SCORE) is the Research Exchange Program managed by the IFMSA and it was designed to enable healthcare students worldwide to take part in research projects abroad under the guidance of supervising tutors, allowing a purely educational program for students. It was founded back in 1991 under the name of Standing Committee on Elective Exchanges but, as this name was a bit confusing, it was changed in 1998 to its actual name (SCORE).

Presently, SCORE involves more than 80 active NMOs in all five of the regions of the IFMSA, offering over 1500 research projects to provide over 3000 students worldwide the opportunity to participate in the IFMSA Research Exchanges Program. SCORE aims to develop both culturally sensitive students and skilled researchers’ intent on shaping the world of science.

As an Exchanges Program, the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) has recognized SCORE as a high-quality exchange program and agreed it is worthy of endorsement and of being recommended to schools/faculties worldwide.

SCORE is professionally organized at the International, National, and Local Level. The SCORE Director is the head of the committee at the International level and is in charge of supervising the work of the SCORE International Team and leading the National Officers on Research Exchanges (NOREs). The NOREs are the highest authority coordinating and maintaining SCORE in their NMOs by coordinating Local Officers on Research Exchanges (LOREs) and distributing all the information regarding SCORE to their NMO. The LOREs are in charge of setting up SCORE at the local level, recruiting tutors and their research projects, obtaining lodging for the incoming students, and selecting and guiding the outgoing students during the exchange.

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There are 4 types of Research Project that can be involved in SCORE: 1. Basic Science research project: Lab work, literary study.

2. Clinical Research with lab work: Studying a highly specific clinical topic combined with basic research in a lab.

3. Clinical Research without lab work: Investigating a highly specific clinical topic in data collecting, clinical setting.

4. Global Action Project: Encourages future health professionals to learn the necessary skills for the prevention, detection, and treatment of endemic diseases.

The research exchange lasts either 4 or 8 weeks, depending on what it’s accorded in the research project and by the tutor. The working hours might vary between tutors, but it’s recommended that the students work at least 6 hours per day and 5 days a week. Students who attended at least 80% of their working hours will receive a certificate that indicates a completed exchange (other criteria can be applied to handle the certificate to the students, decided by the tutor and the LC).

Although born as an Exchanges Committee, SCORE also takes the responsibility of advocating for Open Research Education to all medical students. This is made by making educational activities and campaigns to teach medical students how to begin their path as researchers.

SCORE Mexico SCORE in AMMEF Mexico is today present in 38 Local Committees, with 32 Research Projects active and allowing around 150 outgoing students and 150 incoming students every year to experience the Research Exchange experience in our beautiful country.

The National Blue Team and all the LOREs are always working hard to advocate for Open Research Education to all medical students in Mexico, to offer the most Academic Quality during the exchange, to obtain the external recognition SCORE Mexico deserves, and to become the best Exchanges Committee in AMMEF Mexico.

Blue hugs for everyone.

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M A L T A

A

F E V E R

[Mendoza Chávez Omar Alejandro] SAEM|Aguascalientes jandromend@gmail.com

"An opportunity fallen from the sky” is the best way that I can think of to describe my time in that great country, with a small land. Never in my life had I been outside of Mexico, which made every part of this experience an adventure, from the preparation, to returning home. I had only heard of Malta as a manifestation of Brucellosis, as an important port in the crusades, and a strategic point in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea beneath Italy.

The Score members mentioned to me their experiences, as some were travelers to this land themselves, they mentioned some of their traditions and even some advice as to clothing and overall survival. I think the only concept that really stuck in my mind was the brutal heat that I had to prepare for. It was the best I could do. When I left the airport to the transportation that would take me to my new and temporary apartment, the heat wave almost knocked me over. At night we had a 40° Celsius weather (104° Fahrenheit), and all throughout that month that I stayed oversees the temperature in any and all thermometers I came across never wavered below 30° C (about 86°F).

I lived my academic exchange in a city called Msda, in the University of Malta, and my apartment was located a mere 10 minute walk away from the Biology laboratory, where I did most of my work. It was exactly at this location where, much to my surprise, the project to which I had applied no longer existed, but I was now incorporated in the planning of a research protocol for a University project, financed by the Malt government, its main goal being the reduction of air contamination levels in the cities, with the highest amounts being of particles smaller than 2.5 nanometers, such as fossil sourced combustible waste. I remember that while leading this project, Dr. Lanfranco just looked at me and said “I don’t think you were informed about the change; well, come on in, let me introduce you to your co-workers and then we’ll go

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get some coffee”. Malt is a place where they really love their coffee, their fondness for the taste of it really stuck with me in the numerous ways to prepare their beverages and dishes to consume it.

My work team was made up of biologists, chemists, healthcare workers, urban planer and only one doctor, who at the time was enjoying his vacation time. Thanks to the biology staff I was able to learn about the plants to use, about the health issues in the European community, the contamination in Malta, and I was in charge of acquiring the cardiovascular disease reports and the correlation between pollution and death caused by acute myocardial infarction. In the end I was able to complete my work in a timely manner and in thorough fashion.

However, my time spent in the laboratory, in meetings, in the cafeteria and in the library was not all that occupied my during this month. I was lucky enough to meet other medical students from Spain, France, England, Germany, Belgium, Rusia, Turkey, Colombia, etc. and my fellow countryman from Chihuahua.

Being given the opportunity to learn about others from diverse areas, as well as to keep learning with my colleagues with different areas of expertise, different ideas and data is a truly valuable treasure that aids in the upkeep and development of abilities, knowledge and practice to apply in my academic and personal life.

The warmth from Malta can definitely only be matched by the warmth from its people; always willing to help, to offer advice, in the recommendation of food, dishes, and drinks. Its beaches are full of rocks, water always within sight no matter where you were and the few trees made it look like a desert caught in the middle of the sea, but the appearance does not match its reality.

Strolling through its streets, peaches, plazas, the capital Valletta, the museums, using public transportation, tasting their representative foods and drinks such as Pastizzi, one can realize that this is a country riddled with culture. They have developed a language of their own, being the only arabic that uses the alphabet, they have incorporated themselves into the western economy due to their uptake in British political style. Their day to day flair and almost all of their nourishment manner is reminiscent of the Italians, but they are also fluent in Spanish due to tourism. The diversity found at complete harmony in the unity of the residents is truly a fantastic sight. To be able to have taken a small part of my culture and gastronomy was also very heartwarming, to witness how any of my familiar spicy candy made others sweat and pant was humorous in a way, so much so that Dr. Lanfranco, my mentor, told me that the candy “Pulparindos” were the true “Malta Fever”.

I could not be more thankful of my time and my involvement spent there, thankful with IFMSA, AMMEF, SAEM, MMSA and SCORE for granting me this opportunity to expand on my growth, and to really develop a fervent connection with research, to carry my flag overseas, to allow me to nourish my culture and knowledge of others and to share my own with the rest…And to Malta, thank you for everything, Insellimlek!

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R E S E A R C H

E X C H A N G E :

my experience

T

[Shafick Asfura Javier] jshafick97@gmail.com

There aren’t enough words to describe what I consider to have been one of the best experiences in my life. Through IFMSA, IFMSA-Honduras and AMMEF-Mexico, I had the opportunity to be a part of a research exchange in Monterrey, Mexico for a whole month. From the application process to the result of it was highly exciting, and to learn that I had been selected to go to both my first choice city and and my first choice department was almost unbelievable. Thinking back, I have to say that the only moment in which I felt nervous was during the Mexican visa application process, due to the long list of requirements; nevertheless, my university was very supportive and helpful during this procedure, providing their aid with the completion of paperwork; AMMEF-Mexico, too, was extremely cooperative, through their letters of invitation and acceptance to the hospital.

During my exchange, I was able to form bonds with the incredible researchers, specialists and residents in genetics, where I studied chromosomal polymorphisms and congenital malformations in incoming patients. To me, this was a very unique experience because in my country, Honduras, we do not count with genetic research or with said medical specialty, so this meant that everything was novel to me (as much as their equipment as their practices). I was faced with a substantial academic and cultural shock when I came across all the development found in the hospital and every one of their departments, which admittedly saddened me due to the realization of how behind my country was in their medical research but also lightened my mood in the simultaneous understanding that I was being granted this opportunity to learn what I could.

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Throughout my time abroad, I was also able to lead a conference titled “The complete exome sequencing reveals the main genetic contributors in the non-syndromic Fallot’s tetralogy” for the entire department, which lead me to fall further in love with cardiology, having experienced it from its molecular perspective. Personally, this is the specialty that I want to study and devote to, but I had never before considered its molecular and genetic aspects, so this new standpoint opens new ideas in my mind and doors in my future.

Adding to the previously mentioned gains I experienced, I had the wonderful chance to live in the same residency as another 30 med students from all around the world and learn about their various cultures, their national health systems and their aspirations, and to create lifelong bonds and friendships. They became my family and earned themselves a spot in my heart. I will truly miss them, but I know that, somehow, we’ll see each other again throughout our lives.I am 99.99% sure that, thanks to them, this experience was unforgettable. A special thank you to Verónica Moreno and Abril Gutiérrez for their support during my exchage, in every activity and program

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WE'RE

SCOPEans

W E L C O M E to SCOPE

T

[Ortíz Garza Daniel Alejandro] scopeout@ammef.mx

The Standing Committee in Professional Exchanges is the one in charge of managing clinical exchanges in the IFMSA. The SCOPE program in Mexico is one of the biggest ones in Latin America.

My position as the National Exchange Officer on Outgoings in our NMO gives me the responsibility to take care and oversee that our Mexican students also known as outgoings get to go in their exchanges to other NMOs around the world; conflict management before, during, and after the exchange, and to promote our NMO with the other ones in the Contract Fair during the General Assemblies.

My working plan is all about sustainability in exchanges and making good relationships with others. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult for exchanges to take place around the world, therefore our local committees have struggled even more than before to keep their exchange programs going on, by teaching and giving the adequate tools to the Local Exchange Officers they can continue working on the standing committee with all the limitations that now we have. The National SCOPE Team is one of the most important parts of the committee, they support the National Exchange Officers and the Local Exchange Officers as well, having a good and capable team is a must have if we want to have a great team of Local Exchange Officers, because at the end they are the ones that make the exchange program possible!

Communication is also an essential part of the work for a National Exchange Officer, since many of the times there are messages to deliver, the information tends to get lost most of the time.

Talking a little bit more about the communication matter, everyone in the SCOPE team needs to be able to address their problems with the NEO so he/she can solve it as fast as they can. This is why communication is one of the strongest points in my working plan with the monthly virtual meetings between the Local Exchange Officers and me.

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Showing our beautiful NMO with the rest of the world is an important part as well, marketing is essential for us to being seen by others and get them interested about what the Mexican culture is all about, from its high mountains and to the lower valleys, Mexico is a vast and exquisite country to get new experiences in cultural and artistic ways.

But we have to remember that an SCOPE exchange is not just about travelling but also de academic quality of our exchanges is one that we must be proud off, things are never going to be completely perfect but there’s always a chance for improvement, findings ways of upgrading the academic quality in exchanges is also a big part of my working plan, continuing with the work my predecessors have, and adding new and innovative ideas to theirs is what makes everything more dynamic and the results that we expect are to be greater than before.

Having a national position is something wonderful, you get to contribute with your ideas for the NMO you love, it is also demanding, but in the end everything is worth it. Little by little we get to make the SCOPE exchange program better, and the ideas and contributions of every single individual who is part of this team is what makes SCOPE one of the greatest exchange programs around the globe.

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JOIN

S

US

in SCORE

[Jimenez Guzmán Julio César] scopein@ammef.mx

SCOPE (Standing Committee on Professional Exchange) is a student exchange program for medical students on an international basis, with an average of 13,000 exchange students practicing medicine in different health systems, global health being the main and most specific goal. A fundamental heading, or established area of attention, is the students’ reception also called “incomings”, it’s main purpose being the singing between local health systems with the network of students that wish to be a part of our country’s (Mexico) health practicing rotatory program. SCOPE MX is an extension of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) in exchange programs; there is a clinical stay, pre-clinical or in public health, in whichever of the participant venues, for about 4 weeks, fulfilling the international goal of intercultural, social, academic and global learning.

Every participant in the operative/administrative area is in charge of being able to provide the necessary tools to develop the professional exchange by providing lodging, nourishment, clinical area, recreational activities, a variety of workshops, integrating projects and, most importantly, give them the tools to be able to really expand on their academic quality within their exchange, and to be able to create new and healthy lifestyle habits as well as attention to the most vulnerable of communities in every region.

Since the beginning of COVID-19, our international program has had to come to a notorious pause due to the partial or total closing of many of the different participating countries, creating new learning alternatives, new areas of opportunities. Throughout our time in management, we have established short and long term goals, as well as sanitary and protective measures, to be able to reopen clinical rotatory programs within Mexico. Counting the opportunity to welcome foreigners into our country as a satisfactory success, with a high

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number of sanitary measures, relocating to areas of low infection rate, safe for the student and local authorities.

As of today, our work linkings have been getting stronger with each one of our academic lodging; hospitals, clinical units, medical centers, etc., all this with the common goal of being able to house over 500 foreign exchange students in our country and to then be able to come to grasp the medical knowledge that can be found in our country. There have been many national and/or general measures that have taken place: successful vaccination, PCR or antigen tests for COVID no older than 48 hours since their arrival and personal protection equipment (PPE), and it’s important to note that every one of the local authorities has their own acceptance conditions for a student. Despite the troubling times, we have looked for the best settings and opportunities so that every SCOPE MX participant (LEOs, incomings, outgoings, contact personal host, tutors, etc.) are able to enroll in the best way possible, mutually learning and creating links between practical knowledge for a positive change within our Global Health System.

this transition period for exchange programs, we are making history thanks to every one of you, let’s continue this motivation path. And to every person outside of Mexico reading this, don’t hesitate in coming and getting to know our wonderful exchange program, we are completely prepared and sure for you so that your exchange experience is unique and unmatched

I am positive that with the hard work of every local authority, local community, and academic lodging, we can bring SCOPE MX to one of the most important academic point within our federation, as well as a mutual learning outline for different members of the IFMSA. To every one of my Exchange Local Officers (LEO, LEO-in, LEO-out), members and nonmembers of SCOPE MX, as well as every Mexican family: I thank you for being a crucial part in this new normality and during

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R O L L E R

C O S T E R :

between plastic surgeries and Chernobyl

I

[Gómez Olvera Brianda del Pilar] OEPSA| Toluca gom-olv@live.com.mx

I performed this stay in December 2019, in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, within the department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; simultaneously I was allowed to perform another stay in the Александровская Hospital, in the department of Cardiology.

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe, which belonged to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) until its disintegration. Kiev is its capital and the seat of the Bogomolets National Medical University, which is the best university and highest home of advanced education in the country. Its official language is Ukrainian, but all the people mix it with Russian; its official religion is Orthodox Christian and its national currency is the Grivna.

My experience was amazing because I was assigned to the Valikhnovski Surgery Institute, the most important plastic surgery clinic in the country, where the president and all the celebrities were treated. In addition, the committee also gave me the opportunity to intern at the Александровская Hospital, which is part of the country's public health system and is a third level hospital; there I rotated at Clinical and Interventional Cardiology. I spent a month in both, in the mornings at the Александровская Hospital and in the afternoons at the Valikhnovski Surgery Institute, from Monday to Friday, so as to be able to make a good use of my time. .At the Valikhnovski Surgery Institute I had the opportunity to participate in very interesting surgeries, of which many had the greatest impact on me were the reconstructive surgeries on oncological patients; let's remember that it was in this country where the Chernobyl disaster occurred in the eighties, so it was really common to see patients with neoplasms. I also learned a lot about aesthetic plastic surgery, from rhinoplasty in its different variants to mammoplasty or augmentation gluteoplasty.

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The facilities were incredible, they looked like something out of a science fiction movie, since they have the newest technology in all aspects; I really liked the fact that before starting any surgery, on a screen in the operating room, we all observed photos of the patient and approach plans, as well as a prospective result elaborated by special software in which they designed the perfect image of the patient. At the end of the surgery, we would compare what we were seeing in the operation table with what we saw on the screen, and it was amazing.

Dr. Valikhnovski has a television program, so I had the opportunity to appear on one segment of it as a foreign student and on several live broadcasts; to feel that thousands of people were watching me was a totally new sensation. In my Cardiology internship I learned so many things, from how to interpret an electrocardiogram and the sequence of action to bringing a patient out of cardiorespiratory arrest to cardiac catheterization. I really enjoyed it a lot and everyone was very good to me. I did not receive a certificate for this internship, because my certificate only covered Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; nonetheless, the hospital gave me an official document to integrate to my resumé, and they also published an article on the official website of the National Medical University Bogomolets, which is still valid. Both experiences far

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exceeded my expectations, I learned a lot and grew academically.

As for my cultural experience, the people in Ukraine are very friendly, everyone is very attentive and helpful. Their culture is very rich in traditions and history and there is a lot to learn just by walking the streets and seeing the Soviet and post-Soviet buildings.

Ukraine is a country that has not been capitalist for that long, so it is growing and that can be seen in all the services and their lifestyle. Although the language represented an insurmountable obstacle at first , they speak a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, but as the days go by, if you learn to read it, you can understand many things because it is very similar to Spanish or English. Besides, lots of people speak English, so it was not so difficult to get by.

Talking about gastronomy, in the city there are many restaurants where you can taste national food, which is very tasty but there are certain dishes that can be a little aggressive for a foreign palate, as an example the "salo" which is raw pork fat with bitter mustard and bread. There are also restaurants where it is possible to find international food, even tacos.

There is a great variety of very interesting history museums, because they tell important events of the country from the Second World War or during the Cold War; even about the current war with Russia, from the beginning and how it has been advancing; all these data help to understand why the Ukrainian culture is how it is.

While touring the city, I made great friends with whom I still have contact and they helped me to get to know the sites and the fundamental parts of Kiev's history. By the end of the exchange, I felt at home and did not want to go back. Finally, I had the opportunity to visit Chernobyl on a guided tour and I can say that it was an experience loaded with a very peculiar feeling of suspense, emotion and history, totally distinguishing itself from others.

Undoubtedly, Ukraine is a country that I highly recommend as an option for exchange, it stayed in my heart for many reasons and of course I plan to return.

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“Failing doesn’t give you a reason to give up, as long as you believe.”

S L O V E N I A exchange in Mexico

M

[Lukan Anja] lukan.anja11@gmail.com

My name is Anja Lukan, I am 23 years old and I come from a small town in Slovenia. Currently I am in my 5th year of medical school at the University of Ljubljana. Soon after starting my studies, it came to my attention that our university offers many possibilities of studying abroad and I instantly knew that I wanted to be a part of it. While deciding on which country to choose I heard only the best about Mexico from my older colleagues. I read in the reports that everyone who has done the exchange in Mexico had a great experience there. At the same time, I also wanted to improve my Spanish so Mexico was my first choice and luckily I got it.

I was a bit nervous before the exchange, as it was finally confirmed quite late and it was my first solo adventure and at the same time the situation was a bit uncertain due to Covid. But luckily the nervousness passed the minute I boarded the plane with destination - Ciudad de México.

After almost 24 hours of travel I arrived in the city of Querétaro where my contact person and LEO were waiting for me. The reception by the local students was very warm and I immediately felt safe and accepted. After the arrival of two more incommings from Germany they took us around the city, showed us the hospital and introduced us to our tutors in the hospital.

During the week we did clinical clerkship at ISSSTE General Hospital of Querétaro from 7am to 3pm, in different departments. I was in the department of general surgery. We were received very nicely at the hospital. In the first week I was still a little insecure because of the language barrier, but I soon got used to it and it was easier every day. I learned quite a few practical skills, I was able to assist in operations, insert urinary catheters, suture wounds, take arterial blood, bandage postoperative wounds and so on.

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As for free time and social program, we had quite a varied program, so we were really not bored. For the weekends we went on trips and explored the very beautiful towns nearby. We visited the center of Querétaro, we went to San Miguel de Allende, to San Joaquin and to Bernal. We also attended the 4 day AMMEF National Congress in Zacatecas. There we attended SCOPE assemblies, but also used the time to socialize with other students and to see the city sights. It was a very special experience and we really had a good time.

In addition to weekend trips, they also organized other activities for us. We had a rally in the city center, visited an orphanage, had an intubation course, a bar tour as well as some amazing parties. In addition, we filled the rest of the afternoons with visits to the gym, we went for drinks with the staff from the hospital or to the city center.

I must also say that I was really lucky to be on this exchange with two such wonderful people from Germany. Although we didn’t know each other from before, we caught up right away. We got along really well and were really similar in a lot of things. I think we will remain good friends despite the distance between us.

It’s impossible to pick just one thing I liked most about this exchange, so I will rather list more. It’s the people who are so warm, hospitable and are always there for you and all your doubts or problems. They made this exchange so much more special and even though I have only been back home in Slovenia for 4 days, I already miss them greatly. It is also the food. Mexico is a real gourmet treat. I really enjoyed the food, from chilaquiles, gorditas, quesadillas, sopes, panbazos, esquites, sweet breads and more. I think this was evident in my weight after the exchange as well haha :D. It is also the tequila, which is so much better than in Slovenia. As well as their music and dance. When I came I didn't know a single reggaeton song, now I even know the whole playlist by heart.

The exchange definitely met all my expectations, both in terms of working in the hospital as well as in terms of the social program. It was really one of the best experiences of my life. Mexico is a country you can easily fall in love with and want to get back to as soon as possible.

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O U R

E X C H A N G E in Mexico

W

[Köenneke Felix]

[Haendly Marissa]

felix.koenneke@uni-ulm

marisa.haendly@uni-ulm

We were actually really late with our application and just were able to choose from the places that were left over by the regular applicants. It's"we" because Felix, my girlfriend and I decided to apply for the internship together, which was easily possible in the online application form just to surely have a second person there to relate to. However, I’m certain that with the good care and programs organized by the IFMSA committee there would be no problems going alone.

Since we wanted to experience the hospital and healthcare system in a non-European country and also increase our Spanish skills, the choice was made to apply to an internship in Mexico.

Since I already mentioned language, it’s important to say that actually for the exchange we had no language requirements, but I would say going there the more you are able to speak Spanish the better. I just prepared myself with the some language learning apps which was alright but in the beginning it’s a little bit hard because as it should be expected everybody mainly speaks in Spanish especially at the hospital and of course you can’t just always have someone around to ask for a translation so I would highly recommend at least a level of A2 to have a comfortable time.

Before we went we did a useful pre-departure Training where we already got some information about the healthcare system there and we had an interesting video call with some of the IFMSA committee in Queretaro beforehand to get an idea of the city, what to expect and ask questions.

So after all that information we were ready to leave well prepared for Queretaro. When we arrived at the airport in Queretaro after some relaxing days in the warm Cancun sun, we got picked up at the airport by our hosting committee and contact persons.

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After a great welcome they showed us the house we would live in for the next month and we cooked some Mexican food together. We had a perfectly clean double room in a house shared with two doctors and the other exchange student from Slovenia in a gated community. In the evening we also had our on arrival training with some more insights in the city and some interesting projects from the IFMSA UAQ. The next day we all went together to the hospital to present ourselves to the chief doctors of each department and to get to know the hospital and the day after that it was time for the first day in the new hospital.

We had to work from 7am to 2pm but rarely got out in time because mostly we had still some work to do. I went to the Internal Medicine department and really all the doctors and interns were exceptionally nice and eager to teach me and always happy to answer questions. Since other than in the German University Hospital the nurses did take blood and put on I.v.s there were some new tasks for me. In the regular internal medicine ward in Mexico there are also a lot of ventilated patients and I had to do a lot of arterial BGAs in the morning, ECGs and Urinary catheters.

Since the computer system isn’t like in Germany a lot of time was also spent walking to the Radiology department or other consulting doctors and presenting patients or filling out recipes for Medication or lab tests. It’s also possible but not mandatory, nevertheless well appreciated if you do a "Guardia" which I did once. It's 36hrs. shift. I won't go in detail about the health care systems and the differences to Germany but the experience was quite new and rewarding. But I would lie if I would say the Exchange was only for getting to know at the hospital.

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The other really amazing side of the exchange was the social program and experiencing Mexico.

Luckily we had a great program to see different aspects of Mexico every weekend. We did visit beautiful cities like San Miguel and saw stunning mountains like the Pena de Bernal and went on camping trips. One thing I could have never imagined was the great hospitality of the local committee. Pretty quickly after the welcoming party they all were friends to us and we always had an amazing time with them going out eating, doing sports or having a "peda".

They introduced us to the vibrant colorful Mexican culture from Reggaeton to Mariachi, from Quesadilla to Chillaquilles and from Horchata to Tequila. We also were able to join the committee from Queretaro on the IFMSA General Assembly, where delegates from all around Mexico met in Zacatecas. There we had interesting talks with Mexicans from all over the country, met amazing new people and had great Parties in the evening. One cultural highlight was also the invitation to the marvelous independence day celebration with the family of one of the LEOs. To sum it all up, I can’t thank the IFMSA UAQ committee enough for the great hospitality and amazing experiences we had. After all, I couldn't imagine a better time there and I’m looking forward to meeting some of our Mexican friends again when they visit Europe.

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"WRITING TO ACT

PUBLISHING TO change"

NINTH EDITION

NOVEMBER 2021

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REFERENCES WHAT

DO

ORAL

SEX

AND

STDS

HAVE TO DO WITH DENTISTRY? Álvarez Mesa Mónica, de la Torre Navarro Lilia, Domínguez Gómez José. Las Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual: una revisión dirigida a la atención primaria de salud. Rev. Cubana Med Gen Integr [Internet]. 2014 Sep [citado 2021 Ene 12]; 30(3): 343-353. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0864-21252014000300008&lng=es.

BENEFITS

OF

USING

PUBLIC

DATABASES IN RESEARCH 1.SCOMP FIAEMP. Platicando con un Investigador. 2021 [citado el 16 de Enero de 2021].

Disponible en: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwKPhjJ2m8vaFQDT5pxyxnA 2 Hernández Sampieri R. Fernández C. C., Baptista Lucio P. “Metodología de la Investigación” 6ª edición. México. (2013)

COVID-19: THE REAL VICTIMS 1.Bonanad C, García-Blas S, Tarazona-Santabalbina FJ, Díez-Villanueva P, Ayesta A, Sanchis Forés J, et al. Coronavirus: la emergencia geriátrica de 2020. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2020 Jul 1;73(7):569–76.

2.Hernández J, Tamayo F. COVID-19 en adultos mayores: Contexto clínico y social de la enfermedad en Colombia. Salut Sci. 2020;67–75.

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