Edition 20 April 2022
SWISS MEDICAL STUDENTS’ NATIONAL JOURNAL
Consciousness LE JOURNAL DE LA SWIMSA
Focus | Consciousness
International | all around the world
swimsa family | Updates from our members
Read about the first SMSC ever held in Lugano and why they chose this topic. Moreover, find out how the swimsa Journal has evolved since its beginning.
Plunge into the world of international meetings and organisations: Learn more about the March Meeting and swimsa’s actions against the climate crisis!
Marvel at the diverse projects run by motivated students and find out which members are new to the swimsa family!
IMPRESSUM
CONTENU/ INHALT
Head of Journal
Benedikt Reuthebuch | Vice-President for Communication 2021 - 2022
Publisher Swiss Medical Students’ Association swimsa 3011 Bern www.swimsa.ch
Print & Production Onlineprinters | www.onlineprinters.ch
Circulation 1750
Contacts General | contact@swimsa.ch Publications | vpc@swimsa.ch
Front side pictures DV/AD Fribourg 2021, EB Winter Retreat 2022
© Portions of the NJSMS may be reproduced for non-political and non-profit purposes mentioning the source provided. Notice | swimsa cannot accept any liability. The opinions expressed in this journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of swimsa. Some of the photos and graphics used in articles are property of the authors. We have taken every consideration not to violate their rights.
AGENDA April 16, 2022 April 18-22, 2022 May 14-15, 2022
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What is swimsa ? 3 Letter from the VPC 4 The swimsa Executive Board 5 The swimsa Internals 6
Focus: Consciousness The Journey to SMSC Lugano 2022 A brief history of anesthesia How the swimsa Journal has evolved Get to know the swimsa Translation Pool
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Education 26 What university has the most satisfied students? 27 How does swimsa advocate for you? 30 swimsa advocating for human and animal trials 34 Exchanges 36 SCOPE Exchange in Peru 37 The importance of exchanges 40 SCOPE Exchange in Switzerland 42 International 46 71st Session of WHO Europe regional commitee 47 Planetary Health 48 News from the swimsa family 50 MEDIC Lausanne 51 CoPHR - the March Meeting 52 Marrow - be a match, save a live! 53 FluMed Lucerne - suturing course 54 NC-Wiki 55 Where to turn to? 56 swimsa’s projects 58 swimsa in pictures 62 swimsa Quiz 64
AK/CoFo Meeting EuRegMe 22 DV/AD in Basel
WHAT IS SWIMSA? The Swiss Medical Students’ Association (swimsa) commits itself to creating a sustainable, healthy society and motivates medical students through innovative engagement to become better doctors. swimsa is the voice of over 9’000 medical students by the membership of ten medical students’ associations, represented on a national level via seats in health organizations such as the FMH and the BAG/ OFSP, as well as on an international level as part of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). With currently 20 associated projects, swimsa helps to shape public health – by teaching sex education in highschools, destigmatizing mental health or working in developing countries. Additionally, swimsa enables students to complete international exchanges in clinical as well as in research fields. With the Commission on Medical Education, swimsa plays an active role in shaping medical education in Switzerland and is aspiring to be the link between education and work, students and professionals, across all fields of health care. Twice a year, swimsa organizes the Swiss Medical Students’ Convention (SMSC), which brings together over 400 Swiss medical students from all universities and allows them to network and bond over interesting subjects.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
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LETTER FROM THE VICEPRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATION Salut à tout le monde, liebe Leser:innen, cari/e studenti/esse You hold the latest issue of the Swiss Medical Students’ National Journal, as the swimsa Journal is officially named, in your hands. Can you believe that it is already the Journal’s 20th edition? One can only imagine how many stories have already been told on these pages, how many memories have been shared, and how many events and activities have been inviting the readers to participate. We are again facing difficult times. With most of the Covid regulations being abolished during Spring 2022, the universities finally came back to normal, almost pre-pandemic life. But this new normality only lasted for a few weeks when the Ukraine conflict escalated and turned our world upside down. On the occasion of the March Meeting - the Delegates’ Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations - this topic was also very much discussed and swimsa together with various students’ associations took a clear stance against all wars and violence throughout our planet. Probably just a small step, but one in the right direction. But what has this to do with the swimsa Journal? Everyday swimsa and the people being involved in swimsa are constantly working in order to improve our medical studies, to organise meetings or events and to get involved in Public Health. They are all taking steps, sometimes little steps, sometimes giant leaps, and all into the direction of the studies and the world we aspire to have. This journal is the place where all efforts and all successes, all ideas and all realisations get the opportunity to be appreciated. Be it committees striving for better education, projects aiming at more equal opportunities for medical students or the world of exchanges - here you can marvel at all of them and understand the energy that stands behind swimsa. I now wish you an exciting read and am already looking forward to reading the next journal full of swimsa stories! Benedikt Reuthebuch in the name of the EB 21/22
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OUR EXECUTIVE BOARD The President is the heart of the executive board, coordinates swimsa internally and represents swimsa to the external partners.
Communication Benedikt Reuthebuch| Basel
vpc@swimsa.ch
Adnan Kareem | Zurich
gs@swimsa.ch
The VPA is the head of the Commission on Medical Education [AK/CoFo], which discusses topics related to medical education, decides on measures and writes swimsa’s official statements.
Internal Affairs Pascale Meyer | Bern
vpi@swimsa.ch
Kate Gurevich | Bern
president@swimsa.ch
The VPC is in charge of swimsa’s representation on social media, the website, the newsletter (swimsagram) and the swimsa journal.
The VPX is the head of the Exchanges Team within swimsa and represents swimsa Exchanges on an international level within the IFMSA.
General Secretary
President
Exchanges Nadja Morello | Zurich
vpx@swimsa.ch
The General Secretary is the backbone of swimsa, the first contact person on any swimsa question and in charge of administrative tasks.
Education Matias Jacomet | Zurich
vpa@swimsa.ch
The VPI has an open ear for the members of swimsa, be it local committee or project, and supports them in their needs.
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The VPE represents swimsa towards our external partners and sponsors, and is in charge of networking.
Treasurer Rémy Frieden | Basel
treasurer@swimsa.ch
External Affairs Amedeo Giussani | Lausanne
vpe@swimsa.ch
The Treasurer manages swimsa’s finances, and is in charge of the swimsa Fonds, from which members can receive money in order to accomplish their vision!
The VPG connects swimsa to the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations) and is responsible for Capacity Building.
Global Affairs Rahel Laager | Basel
vpg@swimsa.ch
THE SWIMSA INTERNALS Thank you all for your amazing work!
Yannick Turdo and Stephanie Hauser SVC svc@swimsa.ch
Larissa Graf and Sven Blankschön Auditors
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Supervising Council The SVC oversees the work of the executive board and makes sure the bylaws are being adhered to.
Auditors Our auditors check bookkeeping of swimsa.
the
National Officers Aline Pinto Monteiro NEO-In neo.in@swimsa.ch
National Exchange Officer for Outgoings The NEO-Out coordinates all international clinical exchanges for Swiss medical students.
Emilie Luinda Kabasa NORA nora@swimsa.ch
National Officer on Research Exchange The NORE is responsible for the research exchange in Switzerland and coordinates the exchanges of Incomings and Outgoings.
Gaia Grigorov NPO npo@swimsa.ch
National Officer on Human Rights and Peace The NORP represents swimsa, its projects and commitments in the area of Human Rights and Peace on a national and international level.
Valeria Scheiwiller NOCB nocb@swimsa.ch
National Exchange Officer for Incomings The NEO-In checks the applications of international students who want to do a professional exchange in Switzerland and distributes them to the local committees.
Alexandra Migga NEO-Out neo.out@swimsa.ch
National Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV & AIDS The NORA connects projects and members within swimsa working on Sexual Health with each other and with empowering international opportunities in this field. Zuen Phai Nghiem NORE nore@swimsa.ch
National Public Health Officer The NPO represents swimsa, its projects and commitments in the area of Public Health on a national and international level.
Nico Friedrich NORP norp@swimsa.ch
National Officer on Capacity Building The Capacity Building Coordinator is responsible for the training activities swimsa provides to its internals and members and represents the link in this area to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA).
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Liaison Officers Morgan Hetemi LO-FMH fmh@swimsa.ch
Sixtine Bonart LO-BAG bag@swimsa.ch
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Liasion Officer FMH The FMH is the association of swiss doctors, which gathers representatives of cantons and all medical specialties. The LO-FMH attends the “Ärztekammer”/”Chambre médicale” twice a year and represents swimsa’s views.
Liasion Officer BAG/OFSP The LO-BAG/OFSP represents swimsa’s views and can vote on behalf of swimsa in the plattform “Zukunft ärztliche Bildung/Avenir de la formation médicale”, which collects all stakeholders in medical education four times a year.
Clara Ehrenzeller LO-vsao vsao@swimsa.ch
Liasion Officer vsao/asmac The LO-vsao/asmac represents swimsa’s views and can vote on behalf of swimsa in the monthly “Geschäftsausschluss/Comité directeur” and the bi-annual “Zentralvorstand/Comité central” in the vsao, which is the organisation representing the “Assistenzärzt:-innen and Oberärzt:innen/ médecins assistant(e)s et chef(fe)s de clinique”.
Rhea Scherer LO-MeBeKo mebeko@swimsa.ch
Liasion Officer MeBeKo The LO-MeBeKo represents swimsa’s views and can vote on behalf of swimsa in the extraparliamentary Commission of the BAG/OFSP, which mainly discusses the recognition of foreign diplomas as well as the federal licensing exam four times a year.
Marc Reynaud LO-VSS/UNES vss@swimsa.ch
Liasion Officer VSS/UNES The VSS is the umbrella association of all Swiss students’ associations. The LO-VSS/UNES represents swimsa’s views and participates in the monthly “Sektionsrat” and the bi-annual delegates assemblies.
Coordinators
Benedict von Allmen Legal Counsel legal@swimsa.ch
Legal Counsel Our Legal Counsel is here to support the EB with legal advice where needed.
Malika Sachdeva COVID-19-Coordinator covid19@swimsa.ch
COVID-19 Coordinator Our COVID-19 Coordinator oversees the work of swimsa’s COVID-19 taskforce and maintains swimsa’s dedicated COVID-19 instagram.
Elena Trütsch Third State Coordinator drittstaaten.students @swimsa.ch
Third State Coordinator The “Third-State-Coordinator” is responsible for providing invitation letters to non-EU medical students who want to work in Swiss hospitals.
Julia Greuter Mental Health Coordinator mentalhealth@swimsa.ch
Melanie Dussy Planetary Health Coordinator planetaryhealth@swimsa.ch
Mental Health Coordinator The Mental Health Coordinator leads the efforts of swimsa in the area of mental health and works in close collaboration with the NPO.
Planetary Health Coordinator The Planetary Health Coordinator oversees the activities of swimsa in this public health focus area and work in close collaboration with the NPO.
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Exchanges Coordinators
Ana Zimmermann NEO-In Assistant
NEO-Out Assistant (neo.out@swimsa.ch) - The NEO-Out Assistant supports the NEO-Out in coordinating international clinical exchanges for Swiss medical students.
Jan Theiler NORE Assistant
Public Health Exchanges Coordinator (phexchange@swimsa.ch) - The PHexC works together with the VPX to organize Public Health Exchanges in Switzerland.
Céline Ueltschi National Exchanges Treasurer
National Social Program Coordinator (social-program@swimsa.ch) - The NSPC works together with the local Exchanges Teams to plan social events for the incoming students and organizes the national social program in the months of July and August.
Devi Boddu Public Relation Exchanges Coordinator
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NEO-In Assistant (neo.in@swimsa.ch) - The NEO-In Assistant supports the NEO-In in coordinating the international students coming to Switzerland for an exchange.
Tinbite Argaw NEO-Out Assistant
NORE Assistant (nore@swimsa.ch) - The NORE Assistant supports the NORE in coordinating international research exchanges for Swiss medical students.
Ornella Wolff Public Health Exchanges Coordinator
National Exchanges Treasurer (treasurer.exchanges@swimsa.ch) - The National Exchanges Treasurer manages the finances of Exchanges in collaboration with the VPX.
Tamina Popp National Social Program Coordinator
Public Relation Exchanges Coordinator (prexchange@swimsa.ch) - PRexC is responsible for the social media content for Exchanges and creates promotional content locally and nationally.
Jetzt mit Medicus durchstarten! Hast Du dich auch schon gefragt, wie Du nach abgeschlossenem Medizinstudium den passenden Job beim richtigen Arbeitgeber finden sollst? Medicus unterstützt dich beim Einstieg in die medizinische Arbeitswelt! Die Jobangebote auf Medicus richten sich sowohl an Unterassistent*innen wie auch an Assistenz- und Fachärzt*innen. Die offenen Stellen werden täglich aktualisiert und können einfach nach Fachgebiet, Region und Karrierestufe gefiltert werden. Mithilfe von Arbeitgeberbewertungen (Reviews) kannst Du dir frühzeitig ein Bild von Deiner potentiellen zukünftigen Arbeitgeberin machen oder Deine eigenen Erfahrungen mit anderen Unterassistent*innen und Ärzt*innen teilen. Dank Medicus findest Du die Stelle, die am Besten zu Dir passt und die nötige Unterstützung für einen reibungslosen Einstieg in Deine medizinische Karriere.
Lance ta carrière sur Medicus ! Tu t'es déjà demandé·e comment trouver le bon emploi avec le bon employeur après avoir terminé tes études de médecine ? Medicus t'accompagne dans ton entrée dans le monde du travail médical ! Les offres d'emploi s'adressent aux médecins stagiaires ainsi qu'aux médecins assistant·es et spécialistes. De nouvelles annonces sont régulièrement placées sur le site et peuvent également être filtrées par domaine et par région souhaités. Grâce aux évaluations partagées, vous pouvez vous faire une idée de votre futur employeur potentiel ou partager vos propres expérience avec d'autres (futur·e·s) médecins. Avec Medicus, tu trouveras le poste qui te convient le mieux et le soutien dont tu as besoin pour un démarrage en douceur de ta carrière médicale.
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FOCUS: CONSCIOUSNESS
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Fast jedes medizinische Gebiet befasst sich auf seine Art mit dem Bewusstsein, und doch ist es etwas Rätselhaftes, etwas Ungreifbares.
Presque chaque domaine médical s'occupe à sa manière de la conscience, et pourtant c'est quelque chose de mystérieux, d'impalpable.
Bewusstsein, das heisst GCS und Allgemeinanästhesie, EEG und Frontallappen, aber auch ethische Entscheidungen oder gerade in unseren Zeiten Klima- und Umweltbewusstsein.
La conscience, c'est le GCS et l'anesthésie générale, l'EEG et le lobe frontal, mais aussi les décisions éthiques ou, justement à notre époque, la conscience du climat et de l'environnement.
Auf den nächsten Seiten findest du weitere Informationen zu diesem Thema und zur SMSC sowie einen Artikel zur Geschichte dieses Journals.
Dans les pages suivantes, tu trouveras de plus amples informations sur ce thème et sur la SMSC, ainsi qu'un article sur l'histoire de ce journal.
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THE JOURNEY TO SMSC LUGANO 2022 Text: Translation:
Yael van der Geest | University of Lugano, SMSC OC President Andi Gashi | University of Lugano, SMSC OC Member Fabio Moretti | University of Lugano
Some of you might have not known that you can study Medicine in Ticino when you first heard of the SMSC Lugano. Well, we don’t blame you. It is only since September 2020 that there are medical students in Ticino, at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences of the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). Currently, there are 105 students doing their Master’s here. However, the idea for an SMSC next to the beautiful Lake Lugano came to life way earlier than that. While organizing a SMSC comes with a lot of responsibility and work, we’re proud of what we managed to set up with our OC counting 17 members. Obviously, none of this would have been possible without the support of the deanery, the sponsors and our friends at swimsa!
Alcuni di voi forse non sapevano che si può studiare Medicina in Ticino quando hanno sentito parlare per la prima volta della SMSC Lugano. Beh, non vi biasimiamo. È solo da settembre 2020 che ci sono studenti di medicina in Ticino, presso la Facoltà di Scienze Biomediche dell'Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). Attualmente ci sono 105 studenti che svolgono qui il loro Master. Tuttavia, l'idea di un SMSC vicino al bellissimo lago di Lugano è nata molto prima. Anche se l'organizzazione di un SMSC comporta un sacco di responsabilità e di lavoro, siamo orgogliosi di quello che siamo riusciti a mettere in piedi con il nostro OC che conta 17 membri. Ovviamente, niente di tutto questo sarebbe stato possibile senza il sostegno del decanato, degli sponsor e dei nostri amici di swimsa!
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focus: Consciousness
It was our goal from the beginning that we wanted to host as many students from the other parts of Switzerland as possible and that we wanted to do it sooner rather than later. Since we had some really motivated people who wanted to see what could be done “down here”, we kindly asked swimsa and the students of Fribourg, whether it would be possible that we squeeze ourselves into the usual SMSC rotation. Surely, we knew that this would become a lot of work but we were motivated and committed, and as you can see it was (hopefully) worth it. We are very grateful for the chance to prove ourselves and show you the beauty of studying and practicing Medicine over the alps.
Fin dall'inizio il nostro obiettivo era quello di ospitare il maggior numero possibile di studenti provenienti da altre parti della Svizzera e di farlo al più presto. Dato che avevamo delle persone molto motivate che volevano vedere cosa si poteva fare "quaggiù", abbiamo chiesto gentilmente a swimsa e agli studenti di Friburgo se fosse possibile che ci inserissimo nella solita rotazione SMSC. Certo, sapevamo che questo sarebbe diventato un sacco di lavoro, ma eravamo motivati e impegnati, e come potete vedere ne è valsa (speriamo) la pena. Siamo molto grati per la possibilità di metterci alla prova e mostrarvi la bellezza di studiare e praticare Medicina oltre le Alpi.
Naturally, every now and then we still had our doubts. We realized quickly that a city like Lugano, with its really young university, is not used to students being so proactive and wanting to organize anything as big as an SMSC. USI is a very young and small university, founded only in 1995. Currently, it hosts almost 3000 students, which means that with you as the 300 SMSC participants, we effectively increased the current number of students in Ticino by 10%!
Naturalmente, ogni tanto abbiamo ancora avuto dei dubbi. Ci siamo subito resi conto che una città come Lugano, con la sua università molto giovane, non è abituata a studenti così proattivi e desiderosi di organizzare qualcosa di così grande come una SMSC. L'USI è un'università molto giovane e piccola, fondata solo nel 1995. Attualmente ospita quasi 3000 studenti, il che significa che con voi 300 partecipanti alla SMSC abbiamo effettivamente aumentato del 10% il numero attuale di studenti universitari in Ticino!
The Organisation Committee of the SMSC Lugano 2022 14
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All of this took some explaining to the city, sponsors and the other parties involved - more than in some other cities that are more used to “student life”. We are certain that this SMSC provides a stepping stone for more exciting and even bigger events in Ticino in the future! Hopefully, some of you will participate in those as well. And hey, maybe some of you doing your Bachelor’s see the beauty of Lake Lugano, the Campus Est and the Swiss-Italian culture and want to transfer to USI for your Master’s! That would obviously be amazing!
Tutto questo ha richiesto qualche spiegazione alla città, agli sponsor e alle altre parti coinvolte - più che in altre città più abituate alla "vita studentesca". Siamo certi che questa SMSC sia un trampolino di lancio per eventi più emozionanti e ancora più grandi in Ticino in futuro! Speriamo che qualcuno di voi partecipi anche a quelli. E hey, forse qualcuno di voi che sta facendo il suo Bachelor vede la bellezza del Lago di Lugano, il Campus Est e la cultura svizzero-italiana e vuole trasferirsi all'USI per il suo Master! Sarebbe ovviamente fantastico!
How did we come up with our topic? Well, we had many ideas. Ticino is especially known for its cardiologic, neurologic and oncologic specialists. However, we wanted to provide something broader, something that isn’t touched on that often within the standard curricula. After many ideas, we finally came up with the topic of “Consciousness” during a kitchen talk. It was a topic that allowed us to combine many different facets of our lives as future doctors, members of society and humans in general.
Come siamo arrivati al nostro tema? Beh, avevamo molte idee. Il Ticino è conosciuto soprattutto per i suoi specialisti in cardiologia, neurologia e oncologia. Tuttavia, volevamo fornire qualcosa di più ampio, qualcosa che non viene toccato così spesso all'interno dei curriculum standard. Dopo molte idee siamo finalmente arrivati al tema della "Coscienza" durante una chiacchierata in cucina. Era un argomento che ci ha permesso di combinare molti aspetti diversi delle nostre vite come futuri medici, membri della società e umani in generale.
The location where all of this should take place, however, was clear to us from the beginning: For us USI students, the Campus Est has not only served as a studying place, but has also evolved into a social place. We were the first students to study here ever, and it was shaped by us and it shaped us, too. It means a lot to us that due to the incredible support of our faculty and the university as a whole, we can host the majority of the weekend on our Campus. We hope you’ll keep good memories from it! Infine, siamo davvero fieri che la prima SMSC, dopo la decisione di includere l'italiano come lingua ufficiale all'interno di swimsa, possa avere luogo nella Svizzera italiana! Thank you for coming! your SMSC Lugano 2022 organizing committee
Il luogo in cui tutto questo avrebbe dovuto aver luogo, però, ci è stato chiaro fin dall'inizio: per noi studenti dell'USI, il Campus Est non è servito solo come luogo di studio, ma si è evoluto anche in un luogo sociale. Siamo stati i primi studenti a studiare qui in assoluto, ed è stato plasmato da noi e ha plasmato anche noi. Significa molto per noi che, grazie all'incredibile supporto della nostra facoltà e dell'università nel suo complesso, possiamo ospitare la maggior parte del fine settimana nel nostro Campus. Speriamo che ne conserviate dei bei ricordi! Infine, siamo davvero fieri che la prima SMSC, dopo la decisione di includere l'italiano come lingua ufficiale all'interno di swimsa, possa avere luogo nella Svizzera italiana! Grazie per essere venuti! il vostro comitato organizzatore SMSC Lugano 2022 swimsa
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GENTLEMEN, THIS IS NO HUMBUG! A brief history of anaesthesia Text:
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Benedikt Reuthebuch | Vice-President for Communication 21/22
Mehr als 175 Jahre ist es her, dass die Stadt Boston am 16. Oktober 1846 Schauplatz eines historischen Ereignisses wird. Der damals 27-jährige William Thomas Green Morton, ein US-amerikanischer Zahnarzt, hat nicht weniger als das Undenkbare versprochen. In den Räumen des Massachusetts General Hospital drängen sich die Schaulustigen, als der junge Zahnarzt gemeinsam mit dem Chirurgen John Collins Warren einem Patienten einen Tumor im Unterkiefer entfernt. Das Besondere: Der Patient empfindet dabei keinerlei Schmerzen. Er schläft und nimmt nur leichte Berührungen wahr - und Morton hat soeben die weltweit erste erfolgreiche Äthernarkose durchgeführt.
Il y a plus de 175 ans, le 16 octobre 1846, la ville de Boston fut la scène d’un évènement historique : le dentiste William Thomas Green Morton, âgé de 27 ans, fit une promesse impensable. Les curieux se pressèrent dans les salles du Massachusetts General Hospital lorsque le jeune dentiste, en compagnie du chirurgien John Collins Warren, enleva une tumeur de la mâchoire inférieure à un patient. Ce que cette intervention avait de particulier : Le patient n’éprouva aucune douleur, il dormit à poings fermés et ne pris conscience que des légers effleurements. Morton venait de faire la première anesthésie à l’éther au monde et prouva à son public, ébahi : « Gentlemen, this is no humbug ! »
Das Konzept der Äthernarkose verbreitete sich innert kürzester Zeit bis nach Europa. Im deutschsprachigen Raum wurde die erste Äthernarkose im Januar 1847 in Bern durchgeführt. Davor hatte Morton längere Zeit mit Lachgas als Narkotikum experimentiert, sich auf Rat eines Kollegen dann aber dem Äther zugewandt. Andere Ärzte hatten bereits um 1842 mit Äther erste Narkosen durchgeführt, dies aber erst Jahre später nach Mortons erfolgreicher Erstanwendung publiziert. Die Vorteile der Allgemeinanästhesie mit Äther lagen auf der Hand: Sie nahm den Patient:innen die Schmerzen und ermöglichte so dem Chirurgen, seine Arbeit langsam und sorgfältig auszuführen. Zuvor waren Operationen aufgrund der
Le concept de l’anesthésie à l’éther se propagea rapidement jusqu’en Europe. Dans les régions germanophones, la première anesthésie à l’éther fut exécutée en janvier 1847, à Berne. Avant d’utiliser de l’éther, Morton expérimenta longtemps avec le gaz hilarant, se consacrant ensuite à l’éther suite au conseil d’un collègue. D’autres médecins faisaient déjà des premières anesthésies avec l’éther, vers 1842, mais ils le publièrent bien des années après l’utilisation couronnée de succès de Morton. Les avantages de l’anesthésie générale à l’éther étaient clairs comme de l’eau de roche : elle évitait les douleurs au patient et permettait ainsi au chirurgien d’effectuer son travail de manière réfléchie et soignée. Auparavant,
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leidenden Patient:innen ein Rennen gegen die Zeit - manche Amputationen wurden aufgrund des Zeitdrucks in gerade einmal 28 Sekunden durchgeführt! Von den damaligen Chirurgen wurde deswegen verlangt, gerade so viel Mitgefühl aufzubringen, um die Patient:innen heilen zu wollen - mehr Empathie war während des Eingriffs nur hinderlich.
The first ether anesthesia in 1846 (Source: BR.de)
Die Geschichte der Narkose beginnt allerdings schon deutlich früher als an diesem 16. Oktober, der übrigens noch heute als “Ether Day” oder “Welt-Anästhesie-Tag” gefeiert wird. Die ersten angewandten Methoden waren zwar oft nur wenig erfolgreich und Schmerz während der Operation wurde als etwas Unvermeidliches betrachtet. Die Spuren der Narkose lassen sich bis in die Antike zurückverfolgen. Die damaligen Wundärzte und Chirurgen verwendeten dabei meist Extrakte aus verschiedensten Heilpflanzen und anderen pflanzlichen Zutaten. Besonders bekannt waren zum Beispiel Opium aus dem Schlafmohn, Mandragora-Blätter und Bilsenkraut. Auch der Saft der Alraune, einer sagenumwobenen Heilpflanze, wurde verwendet. Aus den Zutaten wurde ein Trank gebraut und dieser mit einem Schwamm aufgesogen. Um die Patient:innen zu beruhigen, wurde ihnen dieser Schwamm unter die Nase gehalten und eine Inhalationsnarkose durchgeführt. Viele der Inhaltsstoffe liessen sich aber nur schwer dosieren und so war die Wirkung oft schlecht vorherzusagen. Eine Alternative zur Inhalation war die Einnahme des Narkosetranks in flüssiger oder fester Form, die sogenannte Ingestionsnarkose. Hier fand vor allem der Saft der Alraune Verwendung. Diese Form der Narkose wurde während Jahrhunderten und bis in die
en raison du patient souffrant, les opérations étaient une véritable course contre la montre : certaines amputations étaient effectuées en 28 secondes ! On exigeait ainsi des chirurgiens de l’époque d’éprouver tout juste assez de compassion pour faire l’intervention avec succès - davantage d’empathie aurait été un obstacle durant l’opération. L’histoire de l’anesthésie débuta cependant bien avant ce 16 octobre, fêtée aujourd’hui comme le « Ether Day » ou la « Journée Mondiale de l’Anesthésie ». Les traces de l’anesthésie remontent jusqu’à l’Antiquité. Les premières méthodes utilisées étaient cependant peu efficaces et la douleur durant l’intervention était considérée comme inévitable. Les médecins et chirurgiens de l’époque utilisèrent la plupart du temps des extraits de diverses plantes médicinales et d’autres ingrédients végétaux. Les opiacés et la jusquiame, par exemple, étaient particulièrement connus. Le jus de mandragore, une plante médicinale légendaire, fur également utilisé. Les ingrédients furent brassés en un jus, qui fut absorbé par une éponge. Afin de calmer le patient, cette éponge fut tenue sous son nez, et une anesthésie d’inhalation était ainsi induite. Beaucoup des composants étaient cependant difficiles à doser, et l’effet difficile à prévoir. Une alternative à l’inhalation fut la prise d’une boisson anesthésiante sous forme liquide ou solide, les anesthésies d’ingestion. Ici aussi, le jus de mandragore rendit de bons services. Cette forme d’anesthésie fut utilisée durant des centenaires et jusqu’aux temps modernes. Diverses recettes d’anesthésie furent publiées par de nombreux érudits, et elles sont donc aujourd’hui bien documentées. Dès le 16e siècle, l’anesthésie est de manière inattendue tombée dans l’oubli. Ce n’est qu’au milieu du 18e siècle que l’on vécut un retour de l’anesthésie. Jusqu’à l’établissement de l’anesthésie à l’éther, ce sont pourtant surtout les méthodes physiques qui ont été utilisées : On utilisa par exemple le froid pour l’anesthésie locale. De plus, dès 1784, on utilisa le Tourniquet, une ceinture très serrée, déjà inventé en 1718. La pression swimsa
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Neuzeit angewendet. Die unterschiedlichsten Rezepte und Ansätze der Narkose wurden von zahlreichen Gelehrten veröffentlicht und sind darum bis heute gut dokumentiert. Im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert geriet die Narkose überraschenderweise wieder in Vergessenheit. Erst Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts setzte erneut eine gewisse Entwicklung ein. Bis zur Einführung der Äthernarkose wurde aber vermehrt auf andere Mittel gesetzt: Beispielsweise machte man sich den lokalanästhetischen Nutzen von Kälte zunutze. Ausserdem setzte man ab 1784 auf das Tourniquet, einen straff angezogenen Gurt, das in seiner frühen Form übrigens bereits im Jahr 1718 erfunden wurde. Der starke lokale Druck führte zu einer Kompression der Nerven, was wiederum zu einer gewissen Schmerzreduktion führte. Diese Technik war aber längst nicht für alle Arten von Eingriffen geeignet, und so dauerte es mehr als ein weiteres halbes Jahrhundert bis zur ersten schmerzlosen Operation.
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locale induit une compression des nerfs, réduisant ainsi quelque peu la douleur. Cette technique n’était cependant pas adaptée à toutes les interventions, et cela dura plus d’un demi-siècle jusqu’à la première opération sans douleur.
Tourniquets in 19th century (medicalantiques.com)
Mit der Äthernarkose war der Grundstein für die moderne Anästhesie gelegt. In den folgenden Jahren kamen immer unterschiedliche Narkosemittel zum Einsatz und verschwanden wieder. Dem reinen Äther wurde bald daraufhin auch Sauerstoff zugesetzt, ausserdem wurden Kokain, Chloroform oder ab den 1940er-Jahren auch das indianische Pfeilgift Curare für die Anästhesie verwendet. Daneben wurden immer neue Instrumente, Apparate und Anästhesietechniken entwickelt. Seit den 1950er-Jahren grenzte sich die Anästhesiologie immer mehr als eigenes Fach von der ursprünglichen Chirurgie ab und gilt in der Schweiz seit 1954 als eigene Fachdisziplin. Davor waren es meist Chirurgen oder wenig ausgebildetes Personal, welche sich während der Operation mit der Narkose beschäftigten.
Avec l’anesthésie à l’éther, la première pierre de l’anesthésie moderne fut posée. Dans les années qui suivirent, différents moyens anesthésiants apparurent et, pour la majorité d’entre eux, disparurent à nouveau. On ajouta bientôt de l’oxygène à l’éther, et on utilisa également du chloroforme et de la cocaïne. Dès les années 1940, on introduisit le poison indien Curare pour l’anesthésie : la musculature des patients fut ainsi paralysée, et les patients purent être ventilés plus facilement. De plus, de nouveaux instruments, appareils et techniques d’anesthésie furent développés. Depuis les années 1950, l’anesthésiologie se sépara de plus en plus en une spécialité à part entière, devenant une discipline à part entière en Suisse dès 1954. Auparavant, des chirurgiens ou du personnel insuffisamment formé s’occupaient de l’anesthésie durant les opérations.
Heutzutage befassen sich die Anästhesist:innen längst nicht nur mit der eigentlichen Narkose. Auch die Intensivbehandlung, die Notfallversorgung und die Schmerzmedizin gehören zum breiten Spektrum dieser Disziplin. Somit ist es wenig verwunderlich, dass die Anästhesie
De nos jours, les anesthésistes s’occupent de bien plus que de l’anesthésie générale. La prise en charge en médecine intensive, les urgences et la médecine de la douleur appartiennent au large spectre de cette discipline. Ainsi, il est peu surprenant que l’anesthésie soit devenue une
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mittlerweile zu einer grossen Fachgesellschaft herangewachsen ist: In der Schweiz sind 2021 rund 2660 Personen als Anästhesist:innen tätig, der Frauenanteil beträgt dabei 45%. Und der Bedarf ist weiterhin vorhanden: Einer Studie des Universitätsspitals Genf (HUG) zufolge könnte in den kommenden Jahren in der Schweiz ein Mangel an Anästhesist:innen entstehen, denn durch die stetig wachsende, aber auch alternde Gesellschaft ergibt sich auch eine höhere Nachfrage nach chirurgischen Leistungen. Daneben entwickeln sich aber auch die Anästhesiemethoden stetig weiter. Das HUG setzt nun sogar Hypnose im klinischen Alltag ein - und das mit Erfolg. Die Idee stammt aus dem belgischen Lüttich, wo die Hypnose seit über dreissig Jahren erforscht wird. Angewendet wird die Hypnose beispielsweise bei schmerzhaften Untersuchungen oder dem Nähen von Wunden - aber nicht nur dort: Sogar chirurgische Eingriffe wie die Entfernung von Osteosynthesematerial sind dank der Hypnose ohne Narkosemittel möglich. Unter Hypnose werden die Schmerzen vom Gehirn nämlich ganz anders verarbeitet als im Wachzustand - sie werden aus dem Bewusstsein verdrängt. Und auch die Narkosegase entwickeln sich immer weiter. Manche davon, wie zum Beispiel Desfluran, gelten als 2’550 Mal so klimaschädlich wie CO2. Weil es in Bezug auf Sicherheit und Qualität der Narkose gleichwertige Mittel gibt, haben Spitäler wie das Universitätsspital Basel (USB) begonnen, Desfluran durch klimafreundliche Alternativen zu ersetzen. 2000 Jahre nach den ersten Schlaftrunken geht die stetige Entwicklung der Narkose in die nächste Runde. Sources
SGAR/SSAR: https://sgar-ssar.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/sgarssar/public/SGAR/Geschichte/Ausstellungskatalog_1996.pdf (18.03.2022) Deutschlandfunk: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ vor-175-jahren-die-erste-vollnarkose-100.html (18.03.2022) SRF: https://www.srf.ch/wissen/gesundheit/welt-des-unterbewusstseins-hypnose-statt-narkose (18.03.2022) Anästhesie-Info: https://anaesthesie-info.ch/fileadmin/user_ upload/sgar-ssar/public/SGAR/Geschichte/50_Jahre_SGAR_ AINS.pdf (18.03.2022)
grande société professionnelle. En 2021, 2660 personnes étaient actives en tant qu’anesthésistes en Suisse, dont 45% de femmes. Et la demande est encore existante : d’après une étude des hôpitaux universitaires de Genève (HUG) datant de 2021, une pénurie d’anesthésistes pourrait s’établir les prochaines années en Suisse. Pour cause, la société croissante mais aussi vieillissante, induisant une demande d’interventions chirurgicales et donc de prestations d’anesthésiologie. Les méthodes d’anesthésie se développent constamment. Les HUG utilisent désormais même l’hypnose dans le quotidien clinique – et cela avec succès. L’idée vient de Belgique, où l’hypnose est au centre de la recherche depuis 30 ans. L’hypnose est par exemple utilisée lors d’examens douloureux, ou lors de la suture de plaies. Mais cela ne s’arrête pas là : des interventions chirurgicales comme l’extraction de matériel d’ostéosynthèse sont possibles sans anesthésiques grâce à l’hypnose. Les douleurs sont interprétées d’une toute autre manière par le cerveau lors de l’hypnose – elles sont refoulées hors de la conscience. Les gaz anesthésiants sont également en constante amélioration. Certains d’entre eux, comme par exemple le Desflurane, sont considérés comme étant 2'550 fois plus néfastes pour le climat que le CO2. Comme il existe des moyens tout aussi sécures et de qualité, certains hôpitaux comme l’hôpital universitaire de Bâle (USB) ont débuté par remplacer le Desflurane par des alternatives favorables au climat. 2000 and après les premières boissons anesthésiantes, le développement de l’anesthésie entame une nouvelle étape. Medinside: https://www.medinside.ch/de/post/der-schweiz-gehen-wohl-bald-die-anaesthesisten-aus (18.03.2022) Anästhesie und Intensivmedizin: https://www.ai-online.info/ images/ai-ausgabe/2016/10-2016/2016_10_607-620_170%20 Jahre%20Aethernarkose%20%20ein%20epochales%20Ereignis%20mit%20langer%20Vorgeschichte.pdf (18.03.2022) USB: https://www.unispital-basel.ch/medien/medienmitteilungen/details/article/narkosen-am-universitaetsspital-basel-werden-klimaschonender/?cHash=77abe61cb62174e5292193a02cdaa0ef (18.03.2022)
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2012 TO 2022 - 20 EDITIONS OF STORIES FROM OUR STUDIES How the swimsa Journal has evolved Text:
Benedikt Reuthebuch | Vice-President for Communication 21/22
This year's spring issue marks the 20th edition of the swimsa Journal. Many things have changed in the past years, countless articles have incited reading, laughing and reflection. But the basic idea has remained the same: to create a platform where the diverse activities of swimsa and its members can be presented and inspire readers. Before the Journal became what we know nowadays, there was the "MedCampus", a magazine for medical students, which unfortunately had to be discontinued again. The desire to make the activities of swimsa accessible to students from all over Switzerland and to bring swimsa members closer together, then led to the relaunch of a journal for Swiss medical students in 2012. The impetus for this was given by Anna Wang, the then Vice-President for External Affairs, who took on the task.
The first edition in 2012
The journal was intended to complement the world of medicine outside of medical school. The amount of work was considerable since the entire design of the journal had to be developed and the content had to be laboriously layouted - at that time the journal was still composed of Word documents. It quickly became very popular amongst students.
The fourth edition in 2013 with the layout being slightly modified 20
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From the first issue onwards, journals were published both online and in print - just like the journal today. In recent years, the role of the online edition has increased. All past issues of the journal can still be read in the online archive - a journey through ten years of swimsa.
The ninth edition with a completely new layout
The layout has changed several times since then and so have the people responsible for the journal. Anna Wang laid the foundation for the Journal and many have followed her on this path. When asked what her favourite articles were, she points to the stories about the international congresses. Thinking about how to put down on paper the many impressions and what had been learned at the international level, so that everyone could benefit from it, was the most beautiful thing for her. And so we continue to hope that the journal can inspire you, dear students!
The pandemic edition of 2020
Discover all swimsa Journals from 2012 until today!
The journal how it looks today swimsa
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focus: Consciousness
GET TO KNOW THE SWIMSA TRANSLATION POOL! Text:
Adnan Kareem | General Secretary 21/22
The swimsa Translation Pool was first created in 2017. It has since grown to 4 languages (German, French, Italian & English) and 35 active translators. It enables to convey the message of swimsa across Switzerland and beyond. The Translation Pool brings ideas and people together by breaking language barriers !
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For me, the Translation Pool is a great way to contribute to swimsa, while also keeping your vocabulary current. Thomas Bezençon, Uni Basel, 2nd year In TP since Summer 2021
Thanks to the TP I am always of the newest of the swimsa activities and it‘s a good way to contribute to this association which is in my eyes a great support for the Swiss medical students. Simone Troxler, Uni Lausanne, 6th year In TP since the beginning in 2017
What I like about the Translation Pool, is that it's an opportunity not only to use and improve your languages but also to better understand swimsa's language! Clara Noble, Université de Genève In TP since Spring 2021
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The Translation Pool is a great opportunity for students to participate in swimsa activities, and to promote plurilingualism. Sabine Stadler, Uni Lausanne In TP since it started! (2017)
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You can improve your medical vocabulary in another language, and you can work from everywhere! Jennifer Beney, Uni Lausanne, 4th year In TP since Fall 2018
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Translation Pool
I think the Translation Pool is a great opportunity to contribute to the work of swimsa while also using and deepening your language skills :)
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Geena Spielmann, Uni Basel, 2nd year In TP since 2021
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languages translators applicants translated documents
Want to join the swimsa family? Contact the Secretary General at gs@swimsa.ch
What I like about the Translation Pool, is that it makes ideas from different cultures & languages accessible to all Swiss medical students. The TP brings people closer! <3 Adnan Kareem, Secretary General, swimsa Uni Zürich
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Being in the Translation Pool allows to deepen interesting medical and political topics and also to promote plurilingualism. Nicole Turuani, Universität Bern In TP since Spring 2021
I like being in the Translation Pool because it keeps me updated with swimsa news whilst also improving my translation skills. Devi Boddu, Uni Bern, 2nd year In TP since Summer 2021
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Being in the Translation Pool can help to deepen ones knowledge about current political and medical topics. Furthermore, it is a chance to become more fluent in other languages.
I’m in the Translation Pool to deepen my language skills whilst being involved in swimsa. Stephanie Vogel, Uni Fribourg, 3rd year In TP since Summer 2021
Giulia Floridia, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) In TP since Spring 2021
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TOLLE ANGEBOTE – DOCH NUR AUF DEM PAPIER? Weiterbildungsordnung, -konzepte, und -verträge: An Vorgaben für die ärztliche Weiterbildung mangelt es nicht. Aber wie sieht die Praxis aus? Was wird angeboten – und hat man genug Möglichkeiten, davon zu profitieren? Nur bedingt, wie eine Befragung zeigt. Text:
Marcel Marti, Leiter Politik und Kommunikation / stv. Geschäftsführer vsao
Der Verband Schweizerischer Assistenz- und Oberärztinnen und -ärzte (vsao) will die Arbeitssituation der jungen Ärztinnen und Ärzte verbessern und kürzere Arbeitszeiten. Zentral ist unter anderem, den Anspruch auf die ärztliche Weiterbildung durchzusetzen und diese zu fördern. Grundlage dafür sind Informationen zu den Weiterbildungsangeboten und deren Nutzung. Eine kürzlich durchgeführte Umfrage dient dem vsao als erste Standortbestimmung. Wie die Auswertung zeigt, befindet sich mehr als die Hälfte der Umfrageteilnehmenden aktuell in der Weiterbildung oder war dies in den letzten beiden Jahren, und zwar mehrheitlich in grösseren Spitälern. Bei jeder zweiten dieser Personen wird die Weiterbildung nicht nach dem Weiterbildungskonzept umgesetzt. Zum Teil ist das Konzept gar nicht bekannt. Die interne Weiterbildung erfolgt auf vielfältige Weise, wobei Vorträge, Journal-Clubs und Bedside-Teaching im Vordergrund stehen.
Priorität hat das Tagesgeschäft Die für die strukturierten Weiterbildungsveranstaltungen vorgesehenen Stunden werden mehrheitlich nicht eingehalten. Denn die Arbeitszeit dient in erster Linie dem Erledigen der anstehenden Aufgaben; auf Weiterbildungsaspekte wird insgesamt zu wenig Rücksicht genommen. Erfreulicher präsentiert sich das Bild bei den versprochenen externen Weiterbildungsveranstaltungen. Zumindest die Hälfte der Umfrageteilnehmenden in Weiterbildung beurteilt diese insgesamt als gut bis sehr gut. Von den übrigen, welche eine andere berufliche Funktion haben, erhält sie noch bessere Noten. Wichtig zu beachten ist aber, dass die aktuelle Corona-Situation noch einen sehr grossen Einfluss auf das Angebot und die Nutzung der Weiterbildung hat. Mehr unter vsao.ch/medien-und-publikationen/studien-und-umfragen (Rubrik Feedback-Pool)
@vsaoasmac Bei jeder zweiten Person entspricht die Weiterbildung aktuell nicht den Vorgaben. (Bild: georgerudy/Adobe Stock) 24
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DES OFFRES ALLÉCHANTES – MAIS N’EXISTENT-ELLES QUE SUR LE PAPIER? Réglementation pour la formation postgraduée, concepts et contrats de formation postgraduée: les prescriptions concernant la formation médicale postgraduée ne manquent pas. Mais qu’en est-il dans la pratique? Qu’est-ce qui est proposé – et a-t-on suffisamment de possibilités d’en profiter? Que partiellement, si l’on regarde les résultats d’un sondage. Texte: Marcel Marti | responsable politique et communication / directeur adjoint de l’asmac L’association suisse des médecins-assistant(e)s et chef(fe)s de clinique (asmac) veut améliorer la situation de travail des jeunes médecins et obtenir une réduction de la durée de travail. Un des objectifs principaux est d’imposer le droit à la formation médicale postgraduée et d’encourager cette dernière. Les informations sur les offres de formation postgraduée et la sollicitation de ces dernières en constituent la base. Le récent sondage de l’asmac lui sert à établir un premier état des lieux. Comme le montre l’analyse, plus de la moitié des personnes interrogées sont actuellement en formation postgraduée ou l’ont été au cours des deux dernières années, et cela majoritairement dans de plus grands hôpitaux. Pour une personne sur deux, la formation postgraduée n’est pas mise en œuvre conformément au concept de formation postgraduée. Dans certains cas, le concept n’est pas connu. La formation postgraduée interne se déroule de différentes manières, l’accent étant mis sur les exposés, les journal clubs et l’enseignement au chevet du patient.
Priorité aux affaires courantes Les heures prévues pour les cours de formation postgraduée structurée ne sont majoritairement pas respectées. Car le temps de travail sert en premier lieu à exécuter les tâches en attente; on ne tient d’une manière générale pas suffisamment compte des aspects liés à la formation postgraduée. Pour l’offre de cours de formation postgraduée externes, la situation est plus réjouissante. Au moins la moitié des participants au sondage qui sont actuellement en formation postgraduée considèrent que l’offre est bonne voire très bonne. Parmi les autres médecins interrogés qui exercent une autre fonction, elle obtient encore de meilleures notes. Il est important de noter que la situation actuelle du coronavirus a encore un très grand impact sur l’offre de formation postgraduée et la sollicitation de celle-ci. Plus d’informations sur vsao.ch/ fr/medias-et-publications/etudes-et-sondages (rubriqueFeedback-Pool)
@vsaoasmac Pour une personne sur deux, la formation postgraduée n’est actuellement pas conforme aux prescriptions. (Image: georgerudy/Adobe Stock) swimsa
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EDUCATION
Die Ausbildungskommission ist das demokratische Organ der swimsa, welches sich mit allen Fragen beschäftigt, welche die Ausbildung der Medizinstudierenden betreffen. Sie sorgt dafür, dass die Meinung der Schweizer Medizin studierenden in die relevanten Gremien getragen wird und ist bestrebt, die Interessen der Studierenden überall dort zu vertreten, wo dies wünschenswert ist. Möchtest du mehr Informationen oder ebenfalls mitmachen? Kontaktiere unseren Vize-Präsidenten für Ausbildung (vpa@swimsa.ch). 26
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La Commission de la formation est l'organe de la swimsa qui s'occupe de toutes les questions concernant la formation des étudiant∙e∙s en médecine. Elle assure que l'opinion des étudiant∙e∙s en médecine dans les universités suisses est portée à la connaissance de tous les comités et s'efforce de représenter les intérêts des étudiant∙e∙s au mieux. Tu as besoin de plus d’informations ou tu veux participer? Alors contactes la vice-présidente pour l’éducation (vpa@swimsa.ch).
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WHAT UNIVERSITY HAS THE MOST SATISFIED MEDICAL STUDENTS? Text:
Matias Jacomet | Vice-President for Education 21/22
Have you ever talked to students from other medical faculties about their medical education? If you have, you might also have been surprised how different the experiences of students that study the same subject can be, based on where they study it. It already starts before the studies actually start: The faculties in the German part of Switzerland select their future students via an aptitude test, while the faculties of Geneva and Lausanne conduct their selection at the end of the first year. In some medical faculties, students get to interact with patients already during the first years of the semester, while at other faculties the first patient-contact happens during the last year of the bachelor. Some faculties tend to have quite a thoroughly planned schedule, while other faculties also include more time for individual studying. These are just a few of many examples how medical education can differ between the faculties. But what aspects of medical education are the most important regarding student satisfaction? And are there significant differences in student satisfaction between the faculties regarding these aspects of medical education? This is what the AK/CoFo wanted to find out and this was the beginning of the National Comparative Survey.
What aspects of medical education have a significant impact on the general satisfaction of medical students? Taking into account the many noticed differences between the faculties above, the following question arised: What aspects of medical education are relevant for the students' satisfaction? To answer this, the AK/CoFo 20/21, which is represented by students from all ten medical faculties, conducted a brainstorming session to gather as many potentially relevant aspects. A small working group was then assigned to the project and categorised the different aspects into eight variables: “Curriculum & Schedule”, “Lectures & Teaching”, “Practical Courses”, “Patient/Clinical Courses”, “Exams”, “Communication”, “Learning materials & Infrastructure” and “Mental Health”. They also formulated different questions to ask about student satisfaction regarding these variables. The questionnaire was then revisioned and finally unanimously accepted by the AK/CoFo 21/22. At this point, I want to once more thank the over 30 medical students, for all their time and effort they put into the creation, distribution and evaluation of this survey. Without you, this project would never have been possible.
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The variables this survey aims to further investigate
The survey was distributed in November 2021 and nearly 1’200 students participated. The results showed significant correlations to the general student satisfaction for 6 out of the 8 variables mentioned above. Especially the variables “Curriculum & Schedule” and “Lectures & Teaching” seem to be relevant to the student satisfaction with medical education in general, as they show correlations of medium effect sizes. The variables “Practical Courses”, “Exams”, “Learning materials & Infrastructure” as well as “Mental Health” have also shown significant small correlations. Surprisingly, the “Patient/Clinical Courses” have not shown a significant correlation. We strongly assume that we have not been able to find the right questions for this variable, as in general medical students mention their clinical courses as a very relevant aspect of their education. There was also no significant correlations for “Communication”, as well as for age, study year and the gender identities “Female”, “Male” and “Non-binary”. However, participants that chose the option “Prefer not to state” when asked about their gender, show a significant negative correlation with general student satisfaction. This result also needs further evaluation. All in all, the eight variables were able to explain approximately 60% of the variance of general student satisfaction, which is a considerable 28
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amount for a concept as “satisfaction”, as it is generally influenced by many different things. This once more shows that medical students are able to identify relevant aspects of their medical education and an active inclusion of the students in decisions regarding their education could also lead to an improvement of the results of such decisions. There are significant differences! The evaluation of the results clearly showed that at least one faculty seems to be different from the other Swiss medical faculties for every variable and also regarding general student satisfaction. Further analysis allowed us to compare all the faculties pairwise. Unfortunately, it is not possible to discuss every single significant difference in this article. Therefore we wanted to point out the faculties that showed significant differences from at least 3 or more other Swiss medical faculties for one of the variables: This was the case in Bern and Lugano for all the variables, with exception of “Learning materials & Infrastructure” and “Mental Health” for Lugano and “Exams” and “Mental Health” for Bern. In addition to these two faculties, Lucerne and Geneva also show this amount of significant differences regarding “Communication”. In addition to Bern, Lucerne also showed this amount of significant
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differences regarding “Learning materials & Infrastructure”. These 4 faculties have higher mean values for these variables in comparison to the faculties they differ significantly from. On the other hand there were also faculties that showed three or more significant differences to other faculties but showed lower mean values than these faculties for the contemplated variable. This was the case for Basel regarding “Lectures & Teaching”, for Lausanne and Zurich regarding “Practical/Clinical Courses”. Also for Basel, Fribourg and Zurich regarding “Communication” and for Fribourg and Lausanne regarding “Learning materials & Infrastructure”. One more thing to point out was that there were no faculties that had 3 or more significant differences in the variable“Mental Health”. However, as the mean satisfaction of Swiss medical students with “Mental Health” was only slightly over 3, and multiple faculties even showed a mean value below 3 (indicating dissatisfaction), this aspect of student satisfaction would also be in need of improvement.
So these are the results. We already discussed the results with different members of the local student associations to gather possible reasons for these results. You can find their points, as well as the whole study in the National Comparative Survey rapport on the swimsa website. Additionally, swimsa has already been able to present the results to the deans of the Swiss medical faculties during a SMIFK-meeting, received very constructive feedback and was asked how students would like to proceed with these results. To find the best solutions to these challenges, we will need as much input from the local students as possible. This means we need your input! Are the results as expected or are you surprised about something? Why do you think that the results come out this way for your university? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve these different aspects of medical education? If you want to share your thoughts, ideas and questions feel free to contact us via vpa@swimsa.ch.
The general satisfaction for each university.
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HOW DOES SWIMSA ADVOCATE FOR YOU? Text:
Emilie Kabase (NORA), Gaia Grigorov (NPO), Nico Friedrich (NORP), Matias Jacomet (VPA), Rahel Laager (VPG), Amedeo Giussani (VPE), Kate Gurevich (President)
Dear medical students, We, the people working on all the wonderful projects within swimsa, frequently get asked “so what does swimsa do, exactly?”. Sometimes, the concept is hard to grasp. However, swimsa does wonderful things, ranging from helping you go on an exchange to promoting various public health issues. One thing swimsa does is give a voice to you, dear medical students, on a national level. How do we do this? Read below! Representing the opinion of medical students Policy Papers Policy Papers are used to represent the stance of medical students on a general topic. They are adopted by the Delegates’ Assembly of swimsa. At these meetings, which take place once per semester, you are indirectly represented by your local association (e.g. FaMBa for Basel). The representatives appointed by you vote on the adoption of the Policy Paper, thus indirectly representing the Swiss medical students’ stance on a certain topic. A Policy Paper provides background information regarding one broad subject, as well as a call to action for different stakeholders. You can find all of our policy papers on the swimsa website. This type of document can only be adopted after being voted on at the Delegates’ Assembly and represents the opinion of medical students for the next 5 years on a topic. Once approved, a Policy Paper can be used to advocate for change. 30
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What sort of Policy Papers do we have? Just last autumn, three new ones, among them one on STI prevention and one on equity in healthcare, were adopted; in 2020, swimsa issued one on quality medical education as well as on comprehensive sexuality education. You can find all of them on the swimsa website. Statements A statement is more specific - it usually states the opinion of medical students on a particular, punctual issue , e.g. the initiative on tobacco advertisement the Swiss population voted on in February. Sometimes, a statement can derive from a Policy Paper. In this case, it automatically represents the opinion of medical students and requires no other legitimisation. However, a statement can also tackle a completely new topic. In this case, the statement is sent to all the local associations and associate members, which have the opportunity to give a two-week referendum vote.
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What do we do with these documents? Whenever a topic comes up where we feel that we, as medical students, should react, we use these documents to approach stakeholders or post on our social media. Recently, we even got in touch with the Federal Council, starting an exchange on the accessibility of vaccines and sustainable health crisis management after we sent them a letter voicing our concerns.
Why is all this necessary? The way we advocate for you, medical students, is rather bureaucratic and often a tedious and long process. However, with this we try to ensure that what we say and stand for actually represents your opinion. Are you wondering if there is something more interesting we do? Indeed, keep reading on. Representation towards various bodies
What can you do with these documents? Not only swimsa can use these documents to demand change. Medical students and local associations in certain faculties have also brought up these documents while asking, for example, for particular topics to be included during their studies. As Policy Papers and Statements are available on swimsa’s website, they can be used by everyone.
As the national organisation of medical students, we are frequently asked (or we try to sneak our way in ourselves;)) to represent your opinions to a certain organisation. Here, we strongly base ourselves on our policy documents listed above to make sure we represent your opinion to the various bodies.
Who can write these documents? Usually, the topics are brought up by swimsa internals (e.g. someone from the EB or a National Officer) who is passionate about a certain subject, and who decides to open a call to create a Small Working Group (SWG). The SWG then works to redact the document which later needs to be approved by the swimsa members. Associate Members have also been active in coming up with ideas for Policy Papers, and they have participated in the writing process, bringing their precious input and experiences to the table. But every medical student in Switzerland is automatically a member of swimsa, meaning that if you are passionate about a specific topic, you can contact us, share your ideas, and work with us to create the basis for a new advocacy project. You can also join one of our existing commissions (CoSH, CoPHR, AK/CoFo) and bring your opinion, give us your input, and start to get active in swimsa.
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Learn more about our Policy Papers! German
French
Oftentimes a Liaison Officer (LO), a specific position appointed by the swimsa EB, has the task to represent swimsa in one specific setting, while in other cases members of the Executive Board participate in meetings and delegations. Moreover, for the past two years, three Public Health Coordinators have been appointed to focus on Planetary Health, Mental Health and Covid-19, and have been active in working groups collaborating with our external partners. The Joint Commission of Swiss Medical Schools (JCSMS) is a body consisting of all the Deans of Medical Schools in Switzerland. And - that’s right - swimsa has a guest seat. This is an incredible opportunity for us to promote the opinion and ideas of Swiss medical students regarding, for example, the medical education curriculum, and to direct them to the local associations of students, should they want more in-depth information about the student body at their respective university. For example, in March 2022, swimsa presented to the Deans the results of the National Comparative Survey (NCS) - an extensive piece of work completed by representatives from various universities under the lead swimsa
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of our Vice-President for Medical Education. The survey features student satisfaction divided into 8 variables for each university. You can find more information about the NCS on page 27. FMH & VSAO/ASMAC
The Swiss Medical Association (FMH) and the Association of Junior Doctors (VSAO/ASMAC) are close partners of swimsa. swimsa frequently cooperates with these organisations to make the voice of medical students heard. As an example, at the Ärztekammer/Chambre Médicale of the FMH, swimsa and VSAO presented the Climate Motion, which was adopted by the doctors of Switzerland and asks for a more environmentally conscious and sustainable health system. WHO/OMS That’s right, swimsa has a delegate to WHO! Well, not exactly. Up to the start of the pandemic, swimsa was able to send a youth representative to WHA (World Health Assembly - the decision-making body of the WHO) meetings along with the Swiss Public Health Office delegation. However, swimsa was recently able to restart discussions for the re-integration of the youth delegate. BAG/OFSP Sadly, youth and especially medical students are not represented much within the public health office of Switzerland. Nevertheless, swimsa sends a delegate to the meetings of the group focusing on the future of medical education. In the future, we hope to be more represented and have the possibility to directly have an impact on the decisions made that influence the healthcare system of Switzerland.
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Examples of how we have used the opinion of Swiss medical students - read and be inspired! Emilie Emilie, our NORA (National Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights incl. HIV and AIDS), wanted to organise an event during this summer’s Pride. The Pride being a festive event reuniting many people and providing space for prevention, she found it important to take this opportunity to advocate for safe sex including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. Thus, she built a small working group to write a policy paper on this subject. In the end, besides offering the possibility to work on STIs for the Pride, this policy paper helped her in an unexpected task: it contributed to convince Geneva’s Hospital Fondation Privé about the importance of STIs among young people, so that they provided a fund to put into place a project to facilitate young people’s access to STIs screenings. Marc Marc, our Liaison Officer to the VSS/UNES (the national organisation of all university and higher education students), recently exercised his advocacy rights by not only writing a statement for the initiative on animal and human testing, but also being able to present the opinion of Swiss medical students at a press conference. You can read more about it on page 34. LO-BAG/OFSP - a beautiful example The Public Health Office of Switzerland has so far been rather unapproachable to swimsa and medical students in general. We decided to change this. Since the beginning of our term in September 2021, we have been trying various ways to show why meaningful youth participation on a national level benefits both the youth and the decision making bodies. Together with the VSAO/ASMAC, we wrote a letter to the BAG demanding that medical students and young doctors get the opportunity to have a seat at the table. In January 2022, we sent a statement not only to the BAG but also to the Federal Councils demanding more equitable COVID-19 vaccine
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distribution and once again asking for a seat at the table. And we were heard! The Public Health Office answered swimsa that it wishes for more collaboration with the medical students. What do other countries do? Some countries have come much further than Switzerland. Recently, we sat together with representatives from the Portuguese Medical Students’ Association (ANEM-Portugal) and asked them to share their experiences. In Portugal, a Youth National Council exists. The government runs major decisions by this council to make sure youth is in favour of said decisions. This is an incredible advocacy tool not only for medical students but all young people! However, the government has been reluctant to have a Youth Delegate directly integrated into the Public Health Office of the country. As direct negotiations between the medical students’ association and the government have failed, ANEM-Portugal is now using the existing Youth National Council to try and get a seat. Other countries such as Belgium and Australia have been more proactive, with successfully integrating youth delegates in various meetings such as the UN General Assembly. What’s ahead? What do we dream of? Let's take a time machine and travel a couple of years into the future. You stroll into the Parliament Building in Bern, find the right room and take a seat. You greet your friends who you have met before at these meetings, some of them nursing students, others studying pharmaceutical sciences or another healthcare profession. Some of them are medical students just like you. The other people at the table are full-time politicians, spending day after day discussing the next steps in the healthcare system of Switzerland. Discussions start. The first topic on the agenda is the future of the medical school curriculum. You are asked for your opinion. Thankfully, you came prepared. You, along with the help of your fellow youth delegates, have drafted a statement
advocating for more future-centered, practical, interdisciplinary medical education. You tell the participants about the existing policy papers of swimsa and how they represent the opinion of all medical students out there. Last but not least, you bring some concrete examples for possible changes. Your voice is heard. You are asked some follow-up questions and are asked to lead the group on the efforts to improve medical education in Switzerland. It was a good day.
Useful contacts Not sure who to contact in case of questions on advocacy? Feel free to contact the people directly! For questions on and around Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV and AIDS contact our National Officer responsible for the topic, Emilie Kabasa: nora@swimsa.ch For anything related to Public Health, contact our National Public Health Officer, Gaia Grigorov: npo@swimsa.ch. For questions around Human Rights and Peace, contact our National Officer, Nico Friedrich: norp@swimsa.ch. For Advocacy around medical education, contact our Vice-President for Medical Education, Matias Jacomet: vpa@swimsa.ch. Sources: • •
The United Nations Guide to the Youth Delegate Programme 2nd Edition. United Nations, New York, 2020 World Health Organization Youth Delegate Toolkit. IFMSA, Denmark, 2020
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SWIMSA ADVOCATING FOR HUMAN AND ANIMAL TRIALS Text:
Marc Reynaud-de la Jara | Liaison Officer to the VSS/UNES (LO-VSS/UNES)
In March 2022, Switzerland rejected an initiative aiming to forbid animal and human trials. swimsa was pleased with the result as it had officially positioned itself against the initiative. The text would have introduced a complete ban on the use of animals for research purposes. Just as worrying for swimsa: no so called “human testing” would be allowed either, a deadly hit for clinical research. No new therapies could be developed using these methods, and all new drugs imported would be required to respect these same development standards. It was immediately clear to universities and research centres that the initiative would be a disaster for research, but swimsa also identified specific concerns for medical students in the initiative. The effective ban on clinical research meant that Swiss university hospitals would lose their global status, earnt at least partly through the quality of their research. These world-leading institutions hugely benefit Swiss medical students, keeping us close to the latest medical care and research, and even allowing many to take part during our master thesis. In addition, the ban on virtually all new drugs meant we, right at the start of our medical careers, would witness decades of gradually worsening therapy availability for Swiss patients in international comparison. We couldn’t see ourselves denying our future patients life-saving drugs available just across the border.
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It was important for swimsa to bring our perspective of medical students in the campaign against the initiative. The issue of the initiative was first discussed in early autumn 2021 at the Swiss Student’s Union (VSS in German or UNES in French), the umbrella organisation for most Swiss student associations, who did not finally issue an official position on the initiative. This meant that swimsa couldn’t rely on the political expertise of the VSS board to defend students on this matter and had to take it on its own hands. Not yet entirely sure about the best course of action, swimsa internals began drawing up a statement on the initiative. The priority at that stage was making sure the statement represented as many medical students as possible. This entailed multiple consultations, modifications, translations, an approval vote from our Executive Board and finally a two week long referendum among our members, the final stage of validation. Before we finished our statement, we learnt through the VSS that swissuniversities wanted a student organisation to support them in the campaign against the initiative. Since the VSS couldn’t fulfil that role, swimsa was the logical partner. It became an additional motivation to finalise the statement before the campaign started.
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Our two swimsa Internals at the press conference After weeks of anticipation, all people involved were proud of the text swimsa officialised and posted on its website in early January 2022, opening the door to the cooperation with swissuniversities. Two swimsa internals, Kate Gurevich (President of swimsa for the term 21/22) and Marc Reynaud-de la Jara (LO-VSS for the term 21/22) were then invited to participate in a Press Conference organised by swissuniversities and other major scientific and health institutions like the ETH board or unimedsuisse as part of the campaign. It was great to make swimsa’s voice heard in front of many important players in Switzerland’s research, higher education and public health landscape as well as journalists. Additionally, swissuniversities quoted swimsa on its webpage dedicated to the arguments against the initiative. During the press conference we gave concrete examples of how the consequences of the initiative would go beyond direct research and harm many medical students.
Unfortunately, the online format didn’t allow for much discussion and few journalists asked questions. Several articles were published following this event, echoing the arguments that were developed during it. We do hope swimsa’s next press conference will be held in-person and give us the opportunity to have more interactions with the other participants and journalists. Throughout this process, swimsa gained yet more experience we will put to good use the next time we will advocate in the interest of medical students. On that note, don’t hesitate to contact swimsa if you want to be part of the next advocacy project!
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EXCHANGES
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swimsa Exchanges bietet Medizinstudierenden die einmalige Möglichkeit, durch das weltweit grösste Austauschprogramm ein Praktikum im Ausland zu machen:
swimsa Exchanges est une opportunité unique pour tout∙e étudiant∙e en médecine de partir en stage à l’étranger grâce au plus grand programme d’échange du monde:
SCOPE – Standing Committee on Professional Exchange, klinischer Austausch und SCORE – Standing Committee on Research Exchange, Forschungsaustausch IFMSA – International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations.
SCOPE – Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (échange clinique), SCORE – Standing Committee on Research Exchange (échange de recherche) IFMSA – International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations.
swimsa Exchanges unterstützt sowohl dich bei der Organisation eines klinischen Praktikums, bzw. der Arbeit in einem Forschungslabor, als auch die ausländischen Studierenden, welche in die Schweiz kommen. Mehr Informationen: vpx@swimsa.ch
swimsa Exchange est l’organe de la swimsa qui s’occupe d’organiser les stages cliniques et de recherche pour les étudiant·e·s suisses, ainsi que du monde entier désirant venir en Suisse. Plus d’informations: vpx@swimsa.ch
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SCOPE EXCHANGE IN PERU Text:
Noelie Lengeler | University of Berne
For my final year of internships of medical school I wanted to challenge myself to learn Spanish and do an internship in a South american country, a continent I’d always wanted to visit. I read reviews on “pj-ranking.de” on the different possible countries and talked to friends. Finally I decided to apply to Chile, Peru und Bolivia and got accepted in Peru. Due to Covid-19 uncertainty I only got my confirmation a week before departure. I booked my flight and then spent a day feeling like a paranoid person walking around town buying all the PP gear I needed to take.
To get to the hospital every day I took two different small minivan buses called “combis”. Since there is no plan, only people who know the city or at least the route can use them. The bus stops are flexible – everyone just calls out when they want to get down. I very much enjoyed jumping off and onto them – it made me feel like an Arequipean! My internship was in oncological surgery, accompanying Dr. Augusto Martinez during consultations, medical rounds and operations. I had initially applied to do different specialities within internal medicine and was less interested in surgery. Whilst I still wouldn’t have applied for it, it was very diverse and I learnt a lot about the field and the health system in Peru. Some things I found to be very similar to Switzerland and others very different. I was impressed by the knowledge and dedication of the medical staff but not so much by the overall organisation of the hospital.
I arrived in Arequipa in southern Peru to be greeted by my lovely contact person Andrea with a sign, chocolates and a rose. She was very helpful during my whole stay - answering all my questions, helping me get set up with a local SIM card, taking me to my second PCR test and to the hospital on my first day. After my quarantine I was lucky enough to stay with my host family who could not have been nicer and made me feel very much at home.
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For example, patients need to organise their own blood reserves for operations. This means that ten of their relatives come to the hospital at a given time to get tested and donate if compatible.
I felt that the image of doctors being “all-knowing gods” in white was still present and that their advice went unquestioned. In some situations I felt uncomfortable when a serious diagnosis was being discussed in a room with medical staff going in and out and the doctor’s telephone ringing. The patients on the other hand didn’t seem to mind this. At the same time I did feel that medical staff went the extra mile for patients and had a warmer interaction than in hospitals I had been to previously. I was also able to spend a few half days on the internal medicine ward for an insight into this field in Peru. Interesting here was how many young people were hospitalised. For example with systemic tuberculosis and biliary pancreatitis - pathologies rarely presented in Switzerland.
One patient I met didn‘t get a time slot before her operation and therefore had to wait in line to get an extra slot with the already totally booked out surgeon to obtain a note saying she really did need the earlier time... Further differences were toilets with no toilet paper or soap, covers for operations that were made of cloth and repaired countless times and the fact that patients seemed to be more dependant on doctors.
In Peru there are three different types of hospitals. The “Seguro integral de Salud”, which is funded by the ministry for health for poor people with no insurance, the “Salud social” which is designed for working class people funded by employers and the private sector, which only a small proportion of the population can afford. The hospital where I spent the majority of my internship was the “Salud social Carlos Seguin Escobedo” but because Dr. Martinez also works in different private clinics I also had an insight into the private.
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The building and infrastructure of the private hospitals were definitely more fancy and there were a lot less people around. In the "Salud social” there would always be crowds of people waiting in the hallway before the consultations rooms for Dr. Martinez to show up to ask for additional slots in his schedule. This meant that we literally had to squeeze past them and the cries of “Doctor, Doctor!”. Something I felt bad about was the fact that Peruvian medical students have not been able to step foot in a hospital during the last two years due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. It seemed absurd to me, that I was able to do an Internship here whilst they could not. Instead they have had two years of online classes and case presentations. This made me appreciate the privilege of being able to do my internship even more.
Quick travel tips for southern Peru: Arequipa (climb a volcano, Santa Catalina Monastery, Colca Canyon), Cusco, Machu Pichu, Palcoyo Mountain, Tambopata national park staying by the Sandoval lake, Lake Titicaca with a homestay on the Amantani island. In conclusion I could not be more grateful for the month that I spent in Peru. Thank you to IFMSA for organising it!
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THE IMPORTANCE OF EXCHANGES Text:
Nadja Morello | Vice-President for Exchanges 21/22
Until 2019, more than 15’000 medical students from more than 90 countries each year were going on exchange worldwide with the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). The whole exchange program then came to a sudden stop during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Two years later, going back to normal business, after a lot of practical knowledge has been lost and the international infrastructure changed, proves to be very challenging. And yet exchanges are important, even more so now. The IFMSA was founded in 1951 as an organization to bring together medical students after the second world war. The founders and first members of the IFMSA were the former version of swimsa, the “Verein Schweizer Klinikerschaften (VSK)”, founded in 1917, and 6 other European medical students’ associations. The idea was to create bonds and connections between future medical professionals to reestablish and promote collaboration, international education and global health awareness. The first standing committee of the IFMSA was the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE), with the purpose of conducting clinical exchanges between participating countries. Hence the slogan of the IFMSA: “think globally and act locally”.
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The IFMSA grew rapidly as more National Member Organizations (NMOs) from all continents were joining and five more standing committees dedicated to different topics, among them the Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE) were created. Throughout, it was clear that the exchange on a global level between medical students was vital for the education of future medical professionals on global health awareness for the world was constantly becoming more open and accessible. With the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019, the world shifted to working online. Some institutions were able to do so faster, some slower. In some countries, medical education was more or less secured, with the downside of not being able to gather any important hands-on experience. In others, medical students had to start working at the hospital due to staff shortage without much preparation. After experiencing a global pandemic for two years, the virus has almost become a constant to be considered before planning virtually anything. Exchanges are no exception, with cancellations having been more common than actual exchanges when looking at the past two years. A lot of practical knowledge has been lost in the meantime.
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Looking forward, exchanges are one of the tools we have to actively shape the future of the world. There are many good reasons for going on an exchange. Among others, it encourages and enables future medical professionals to
🌍 🌍 🌍 🌍 🌍
Put local work into a global context. Learn clinical skills outside of the curriculum. Get in touch with other healthcare systems. Improve cultural knowledge and intercultural collaboration across borders and with patients. Enhance the understanding of medical and social structures.
Exchanges are a way to bring medical students of all nations together, to learn about good and adequate communication, to combat misinformation with knowledge and replace prejudice and racism with curiosity and respect. All while actively improving medical knowledge and knowhow, enabling future doctors to think globally and act locally. Confronted with a global pandemic and many current wars raging around the world, promoting the international exchange of knowledge and practical skills as well as advocating for peace and intercultural exchange seems to be just as needed in 2022 as it was back in 1951.
There are several opportunities for you to get active. If you are interested in going on an exchange, all information can be found on our website (link below). The application is open from March to June 2022 for the following season, meaning for an exchange in the period between April 2023 and March 2024. Starting from September 2022, leftover spots will be communicated. You can be part of the program without having to travel. IFMSA’s exchange network is organized by local students volunteering. You could help with organizing internships and lodging for someone coming to Switzerland. If you become their Contact Person (CP), you can pick up the incoming student at their arrival, take them on a guided tour of your city and take part in social programs. This way, you get to know a different culture and at the same time re-experience Switzerland in a new light. Some further perks include a discount on your own exchange and a higher chance to get the destination of your choice. If you have any questions or would like to participate in swimsa Exchanges on a national or local level, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your national or local exchange teams. You will find further information and all contacts on swimsa. ch/exchanges.
Nadja, Zuen and Alexandra from the swimsa Exchanges team swimsa
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SCOPE EXCHANGE IN SWITZERLAND Text:
Giuseppe Norcia | University of Sassari, Italy
It all began in December 2020 when I decided to select Switzerland as destination for my clerkship project. At the beginning I chose Switzerland because I was fascinated by the possibility to use my mother tongue, Italian, to communicate during my experience, This desire came from the fact that before Switzerland I have been to Turkey, and honestly, it has been very difficult to interact with the patients because of the language barrier. In addition, I was so curious about Switzerland as a country, because even though it’s very near to Italy I had never been there. Since I come from an island, I was looking forward to seeing this new mountain environment. Moreover, I chose Switzerland because in this context of pandemic I wanted to be sure that the epidemiologic conditions of the country allowed me to go, because in other countries the situation related to COVID-19 made clerkship impossible.
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Then I arrived in Switzerland in October 2021 and me and my Italian friend have been welcomed by the LEO and our contact person. They were all so kind with us and helped us with all our problems. First of all they provided us with a SIM card with internet, then they provided us with a transport card which was very useful for us and we used it a lot to travel all around Switzerland by train. After that we went out for a drink in the city centre and they gave us many advice about what to see, where to go and so on. At the beginning I selected many departments such as cardiology and pneumology but none of them were available for me, so I was assigned to intensive care unit. That was a huge stroke of luck for me since in intensive care I had the possibility to deepen my knowledge about both cardiology and pneumology too.
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The first day at the hospital was amazing, first I was introduced to the chief of my department, and with him we decided some objectives I had to reach before the end of my period there. Everything was well organized, and I had a tutor that followed me during the period and helped me out to reach my aim. My objectives were to get to a basic level of knowledge about cardiorespiratory pathophysiology, understand how to communicate with the patient’s family, understand the essentials of ultrasound in intensive care. Then I took part in every activity of the department, the discussion of clinical case reports, I followed every lessons that twice a week were offered us about the main aspects of our specialty. My tutor allowed me to follow one patient from the beginning to the end of the permanence in our department, this task included the first visit of the patient, the discussion with the entire team, the request for all exams and then the transfer to another department. It helped me a lot and gave me the awareness that Switzerland could be a place where I can work or study in the future. Indeed, I am right now here in Switzerland for another two months period in the same department, that’s because I took very good contact with all the staff and they gave me the opportunity to return back for a new experience. That’s amazing for my curriculum and for my life in general since it’s not common to have the luck to get this experience twice.
In addition, I must mention the fact that I had the luck to meet four amazing friends from Italy and that has made this trip outstanding. With them we visited Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen and I had the possibility to see many parts of Switzerland. One of the things I liked most was the ultrasound course organized by a student. She taught us how to use ultrasound, in an amazing building of USI, in the city centre. Many activities were organized for us, and our contact people and LEO were extremely kind with all of us. Unfortunately for some reason related to the shifts we didn’t take part to all social programs but I am sure it would have been cool. To sum up my clerkship in Switzerland has been one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life, and an amazing experience I strongly recommend everybody. Do not let this opportunity pass if you have it , just grab it and travel since it’s a boost for your personal and professional growth.
INTERESTED? NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! For a research exchange: from 1st year on For a professional exchange: from 3rd year on You can find more infos here: www.swimsa.ch/exchanges https://ifmsa.org/exchange-the-world/ swimsa
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MEDISERVICE - GRATIS MITGLIED WERDEN Text: Marc Schällebaum | Geschäftsführer MEDISERVICE VSAO-ASMAC Medizinstudierende profitieren als mediservice vsao-asmac-Mitglieder von individuellen Lösungen und gezielter Beratung.
ZAHLREICHE VORTEILE
SCHON WÄHREND DES STUDIUMS SPAREN!
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Was vielen Medizinstudenten nicht bewusst ist: Es lohnt sich bereits während des Studiums Mitglied bei mediservice zu werden. mediservice hat sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, Mediziner in jeder Phase des (Beruf-)Lebens mit exklusiven Dienstleistungen und kosteneffizienten Versicherungslösungen zu begleiten. Während des Studiums ist die Mitgliedschaft bei mediservice zudem kostenlos. mediservice ist die Dienstleistungsorganisation des vsao, dem Verband Schweizerischer Assistenz und Oberärztinnen und –ärzte. Das Versicherungsteam von mediservice hilft Ihnen gerne bei der Lösungsfindung: 031 350 44 22, info@mediservice-vsao.ch GRATIS MITGLIED WERDEN Jetzt gratis Mitglied beim vsao und mediservice werden: mediservice-vsao.ch/mitglied Alle mediservice-Dienstleistungen online: www. mediservice-vsao.ch MEDISERVICE VSAO-ASMAC Bollwerk 10 Postfach 3001 Bern Telefon 031 350 44 22 info@mediservice-vsao.ch 44
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umfassende Versicherungslösungen mit ausgewiesenen Versicherungspartner Online-Stellenvermittlungsbörse jobmed.ch Wichtige Informationen durch das vsao Journal Gezielte Beratungen für jeden Lebensabschnitt Laufbahn-Kongress für angehende und junge Ärztinnen und Ärzte medifuture.ch kostenloser Check-up Ihrer aktuellen Versicherungssituation Umfassende Agenda für Seminarangebote auf medisem.ch
MEDISERVICE - DEVENEZ GRATUITEMENT MEMBRE Texte : Marc Schällebaum | Directeur MEDISERVICE VSAO-ASMAC En tant que membres de mediservice vsao-asmac, les étudiants en médecine bénéficient des solutions individuelles et conseils ciblés.
DES NOMBREUX AVANTAGES
RÉALISEZ DES ÉCONOMIES PENDANT VOS ÉTUDES !
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Beaucoup d’étudiants en médecine l’ignorent: il vaut la peine de s’affilier à mediservice déjà pendant les études, car mediservice s’est donné pour tâche d’accompagner les médecins dans chaque phase de leur vie (professionnelle) avec des prestations de service exclusives et des solutions d’assurance intéressantes. De plus, l’affiliation à mediservice est gratuite pendant les études.
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solutions d’assurance complètes avec des partenaires d’assurance compétents Bourse de l’emploi en ligne jobmed.ch/fr Informations importantes par le biais du Journal asmac conseils ciblés pour chaque phase de vie Le congrès de carrière pour les futurs et jeunes médecins sur medifuture.ch check-up des assurances gratuit concernant l’état actuel de vos assurances Agenda pour offres de séminaire sur medisem.ch/fr
mediservice est l’organisation de prestations de service de l’asmac, l’Association suisse des médecins-assistant(e)s et chef(fe)s de clinique. L’équipe des assurances de mediservice vous assiste volontiers pour trouver une solution adaptée : 031 350 44 22, info@mediservice-asmac.ch DEVENEZ GRATUITEMENT MEMBRE Devenez gratuitement membre de l’asmac et mediservice: mediservice-vsao.ch/affiliation Toutes les prestations de mediservice en ligne : www.mediservice-asmac.ch MEDISERVICE VSAO-ASMAC Bollwerk 10 Case postale 3001 Berne Téléphone 031 350 44 22 info@mediservice-vsao.ch swimsa
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INTERNATIONAL
Durch die Zugehörigkeit zur IFMSA bietet swimsa ihren Mitgliedern die Möglichkeit, an Kongressen teilzunehmen, die Medizinstudierende aus aller Welt zusammenbringen. Durch die Teilnahme an Schulungen wie auch europäischen oder globalen Kongressen, kannst du den Einfluss von Medizinstudierenden auf die öffentliche Gesundheit, den Austausch und die medizinische Ausbildung mitgestalten!
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Grâce à son affiliation à l’IFMSA, la swimsa offre l’opportunité à ses membres de prendre part à des congrès réunissant des étudiant·e·s en médecine du monde entier. En prenant part à une formation, à un congrès européen ou mondial, tu peux façonner l’impact que les étudiant·e·s en médecine ont sur la santé publique, les échanges et l’éducation médicale !
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MARCH MEETING 2022 Text:
Rahel Laager | Vice-President for Global Affairs 21/22
Between the 1st and 7th of March 2022 the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations) General Assembly March Meeting took place as a hybrid event in Ohrid, North Macedonia. swimsa was represented by 8 in-person and 1 online delegate. The prior experience within swimsa and the IFMSA of the delegates varied largely with some only just getting to know swimsa. This was the first in-person meeting to take place since the beginning of the pandemic, so expectations but also the anticipation was high! The swimsa delegation prepared tirelessly by reading many documents to be adopted during the meeting but also by stocking up on tons of chocolate (only one of the reasons Swiss delegations are so looked up to), buying matching wear and preparing a Swiss-themed dance for the culture show. In addition to being present in all 6 Standing Committees (Public Health, Human Rights and Peace, Professional Exchange, Research Exchange, Medical Education and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV and AIDS), the swimsa delegation participated actively in all decision making on the level of the Federation by writing and supporting statements, submitting questions to the candidates and attending all presidents’ sessions and plenaries. If you are new to the world of swimsa and IFMSA and do not know what this means exactly, let’s just say we did what the Swiss do best - executed our rights as active members of the international medical community and shaped the organization further with our input. During the March Meeting the IFMSA EB (Executive Board) 22/23 was elected, IFMSA gained 2 new members (from Armenia and Libya), 10 Policy Documents, 6 Memoranda of Understanding
and 30 reports were accepted. After lengthy discussions 33 Bylaws Change Proposals were voted upon and 32 of them were incorporated into the Bylaws to make them more coherent and sustainable. No wonder discussions sometimes lasted until deep into the night and the social programme only started after midnight. During the National Food and Drinks Party, swimsa proudly prepared Raclette, Rivella and chocolate for delegates from other NMOs (National Member Organizations) to try and was frequently complimented on hosting the best table (no wonder, did you see the amount of chocolate?!). Last but definitely not least, we were very proud to have a swimsa member participating in the plenary team and act as Vice-Chairperson, an incredible honor. Does participating at an international meeting like this one sound like something you would like to experience? General Assemblies take place twice a year, in March and August. The call for participants to the August Meeting will start in April so stay tuned and make sure to follow us on social media or contact the VPG (vpg@swimsa. ch) for more information!
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HOW RAISING OUR VOICES CAN SAVE LIVES Or: the story of how medical students brought the urgent health threat of the climate crisis into the Swiss medical association Text:
Bea Albermann | University of Zurich
While the climate and ecological crises are escalating, wars financed by fossil fuels keep on raging and human health is increasingly threatened, it’s important to share the good news: Our voices matter. In October 2021, the Swiss medical chamber of the FMH adopted a new national strategy on planetary health. A strategy that never would have been written in the first place without the voices of engaged medical students all around Switzerland. Thanks to our ongoing advocacy efforts over the past three years, the climate crisis now slowly starts to be treated as what it really is: a health crisis. In fact, the Lancet even describes the climate crisis as the greatest existing threat to human health.
Three years ago, we asked ourselves: How come, during six years of medical school, in some universities there is not a single mention of the health impacts of the climate crisis? And how can it be that the Swiss healthcare system is even contributing to harmful greenhouse gas emissions? Why would we maintain the status quo, if we thereby endanger the health of all current and future generations? And what if doctors became aware of their responsibility in this crisis, raised their voices and started to act?
Health Advocacy can be fun! Students engaged for Planetary Health all around Switzerland met in Bern in March 2022 ©Health For Future Switzerland 48
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Instead of keeping those questions to ourselves, we – you might have guessed it by now – raised our voices. We wrote a policy paper on climate change and health1, which was adopted as the official opinion of Swiss medical students in November 2019. Health For Future groups kept growing in Geneva, Bern and Basel. The more voices asking for climate justice, the merrier, right? So we teamed up: we went to our “big sister” vsao|asmac, the Swiss organization for young doctors, and discussed possibilities on how this urgent issue could become a priority for Swiss doctors.
It’s important to underline: This strategy is not perfect, it is a first small step, but it’s clearly not enough. The evidence of the latest IPCC report is overwhelming: the 1.5°C goal is of utmost importance and every +0.1°C degree warming will cause millions of preventable deaths. This is why swimsa urgently demands more consistent, effective measures. The net-zero target by 2030 and a transformation to a health-promoting, climate-neutral health system are top priorities. We can work together in an interdisciplinary way and activate existing leverage points as quickly as possible. It is up to all of us to raise our voices and act. When we do that, change is coming. And when we join forces, we become life savers. Want to become part of the lifesaving team? Join us on healthforfuture.ch or write to planetaryhealth@swimsa.ch.
I want to know more: What is Planetary Health?
During the COVID19-lockdown, health professionals and students all around Switzerland joined the digital strike for climate justice ©Health For Future Switzerland
Together, in 2020 we wrote a proposal to the Swiss doctors’ chamber asking the FMH to acknowledge the health emergency imposed by the climate crisis and develop a strategy on possible action points of Swiss doctors. No sooner said than done. Our proposal got accepted and delegates from swimsa and vsao|asmac spent a whole year working together with the FMH and experts from the SwissTPH, discussing measures and strategic ways of how to promote planetary health and protect lives.
"Planetary Health" is concerned with the interrelationships between human health and the social, economic and political systems, as well as the natural systems of our planet, on which the existence of human civilisation depends. Planetary Health thus describes a concept in which the health of the planet is of central importance as the basis of human health and all life. The concept uses synergy effects through a holistic view, for example by simultaneously stabilising the climate, protecting health and promoting a sustainable economy through the protection, preservation and improvement of the natural foundations of life. Read the whole planetary health strategy of the FMH on fmh.ch in German or French. 1 swimsa: https://swimsa.ch/wp-content/ uploads/2021/06/swimsa_2019_Positionspapier-Climate-Change-and-Health_D.pdf 2 swimsa: https://swimsa.ch/wp-content/ uploads/2021/06/20200818_Healthy-Recovery-Manifesto_Finalisiert.pdf
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NEWS FROM THE SWIMSA FAMILY
Die swimsa bietet engagierten Medizinstudierenden eine Plattform, sich auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene auszutauschen. Lokal initiierte Projekte können über die swimsa zu nationalen und internationalen Projekten weiterentwickelt werden.
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La swimsa offre la possibilité aux étudiant∙e∙s en médecine d’évoluer au niveau national et au niveau international. Ainsi, les projets initiés localement peuvent se développer, avec l’aide de la swimsa, en projets nationaux et internationaux.
news from the swimsa family
MEDIC LAUSANNE: EMERGENCY MEDICINE FOR STUDENTS Text:
Damien Bossel | University of Lausanne
MEDIC Lausanne (Medical Emergency & Disaster Introduction Courses) is an association of medical students created in September 2020 in Lausanne. The objective of our association is to promote emergency and disaster medicine within health studies. In this context, we organize multiple activities throughout the year. Once a semester, the MEDIC weekend takes place, which includes 15 hours of training in our chosen fields. Saturday morning includes a theoretical part during which an experienced paramedic or emergency doctor teaches participants the basics of ABCDE approach as well as certain emergency procedures (intermediate airways management with Guedel and Wendel cannulas or laryngeal masks, use of CAT tourniquet and placement of pelvic sling). The practical part, with simulated patients for emergency clinical vignettes, is supervised by a group of experts composed only of residents with a strong interest in emergency medicine.
In addition, throughout the semester, we organize various lectures and workshops, such as an introduction to terrorism, the organization of pre-hospital emergency care, pediatric emergencies and many others. In addition, we are delighted to have the opportunity to give “ABCDE” workshops at the SMSC Lugano 2022 and present our future projects to you! Since its creation, our association has experienced real success, proof of the growing interest of students in emergency and disaster medicine. The MEDIC Lausanne committee is fully open to extending the MEDIC concept to other universities in Switzerland and it would be a pleasure for us to collaborate with you! Do not hesitate to follow us on social media (@ medic_lausanne) and contact us by email for any questions (info@association-medic.ch), we are already looking forward to seeing you again !
Sunday is entirely dedicated to disaster medicine with the discovery of the organization of pre-hospital relief during major events but also intra-hospital disaster plans and the operation of health call centers in emergency. During the second part of the day, participants take part in a scenario on paper of a major event, during which they are required to sort patients, organize pre-hospital rescue and hospital transfers, for example. swimsa
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MARCH MEETING 22 AS A POWERFUL AND BLOOMING EXPERIENCE Text:
Emilie Kabasa | NORA 21/22
Medicine is a vast subject. As the years go on, you have to integrate more and more information, making your studies become the core of your everyday life. Lost in a whole encyclopedia of things to learn, it can sometimes be challenging to keep your fire awake and keep going. As a way of coping, you will look for something to grasp on, something that could revive this flame: How to keep going with filling most of your everyday life on something you are not actually passionate about? Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) has always been part of my most cherished interests. However, it was only during my second year that I found out that the subject fitted really well with medicine. Since then, SRHR has been the strong pillar on my way through medical studies, my way to stay fulfilled and motivated, even in the harshest of periods. The 71st General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations came in one of those challenging moments where you ask yourself if what you are doing, is still making you happy. It was held in North Macedonia, and before attending, little did I imagine the changing experience I would live through.
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This General Assembly thrived my beliefs and passion for Sexual Health. Besides giving me the opportunity to attend a whole week of sessions exclusively about a topic I am devoted to, it offered me the chance to meet people from all over the world. People from different cultures and backgrounds but sharing a passion for SRHR. Through the week, passing through meetings, laughter, tears, and intense conversations, I really felt my sacred fire coming back, and I can only be grateful for such a blooming experience. Emilie Kabasa, NORA 21/22
news from the swimsa family
MARROW - BE A MATCH, SAVE A LIFE Text:
Simone Temperli | President of Marrow Switzerland
Dear (future) lifesavers Every year, about 1100 people in Switzerland are diagnosed with leukemia or other diseases of the blood building system. Approximately a third of all children suffering from cancer, have leukemia. Often, a blood stem cell donation is the last and best chance they have to survive. Till now, for every fourth patient, no matching donor can be found, unfortunately. Therefore, Marrow members all around Switzerland are constantly looking for new lifesavers! If you want to know more about how to be a potential blood stem cell donor, do not hesitate to talk to us at the SMSC Project Fair, contact your local Marrow Section or find more information on our website www.marrow.ch. If you want to become a lifesaver, register yourself under www. blutstammzellspende.ch.
We like to take this chance and present our next national event: The second edition of the Leukemia Charity Run! On the weekend of April 30st and May 1st 2022 we need your help to fight against leukemia. Therefore save the date! The goal is easy: on the mentioned weekend, run, hike or walk wherever you want and how long you want. Track your distance and upload your results. Every kilometer counts! Our sponsors will pay for every kilometer you run. You want to do even more? Ask your friends and family to support your run as a godparenthood. Find more information under www.leukemiacharityrun.ch. Last year, 5’388 people all around Switzerland participated and covered 35’589 kilometers. With this amazing results, we were able to fundraise over 80’000 CHF! We are still absolutely overwhelmed by this result and want to thank you once again for your effort and support. We hope to see you all again at the next Leukemia Charity Run! Stay updated about our next events at your university through our Website (www.marrow.ch), Facebook (Marrow Switzerland) or Instagram (marrow_basel, marrow_bern, marrow_fribourg, marrow_geneva, marrow_lausanne, marrow_zurich, marrow_luzern, marrow_ch). Lots of Marrow Love to everyone Marrow Switzerland
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news from the swimsa family
SUTURING FLUMED’S FIRST FRANKENSTEIN Text:
Tobias Müller | University of Lucerne
FluMed conducted a suturing event for students from the Lucerne-Track last autumn. We gathered used medical tools from the sterilisation departments of hospitals, where they clean and sort out the tools that are not fit for the operation room anymore. These tools are definitely still fit to be used for teaching. Also, we bought a set of sewing kits and additional threads to practice. The participants were divided into groups of three and assigned to workplaces that we planned and prepared before. Each workplace had the necessary sewing tools, written instructions and QR-codes to useful learning videos. In the first phase of the event, the goal was to learn and practice some of the more basic suture techniques.
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After everybody had a chance to practice every sewing technique, the groups held a competition on who could sew the scariest „fruit-monster” with the techniques they had just practiced. For that purpose, every group received bananas, oranges and grapes, ready to be butchered and sewed together again in the name of medical education. The only condition was that everything had to be sutured together using the tools and proper suture techniques. The group with the best Frankenstein-fruit monster received a small price. Since the amount of applications was near three times as high as expected (around 30% of all students from the Lucerne-Track participated in the end) we had to rather spontaneously organise or borrow much more sewing-material and create two one-hour-rotations, with one half of the event participants doing the suturing workshop while the other half was waiting in another room with food and drinks and enjoyed each other’s company. Nevertheless, we deplorably still had to limit the available spots for the event due to the limited amount of sewing-tools. However, the popularity of the event motivates us to improve and conduct it again in the future. With the generous support from the swimsa Fonds we were able to finance additional sewing sets, so that we can include more students and that the participants can spend more time sewing and gain even more experiences the next time!
news from the swimsa family
NC-WIKI: TOGETHER FOR MORE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Text:
Elena Robinson | University of Basel Abeelan Rasadurai | University of Basel
In February 2021, five medical students sat together in a Zoom Call and pondered for hours about how NCWiki should help shape the future. In the meantime, we, the NCWiki team, are over 50 medical students from various regions and universities all over Switzerland. All three NC languages are represented in our team. We are all united by the mission to make the requirements for the aptitude test for medical studies fairer. It is important to us that the chances for the Numerus Clausus do not depend on the financial resources of the applicants. In addition, we aim to promote linguistic equality through our trilingual offer. For before NCWiki there was hardly any practice material for French- and Italian-speaking NC participants.
The last year was uncertain. For us university students it was marked by online lessons, for EMS participants by an unfamiliar new exam constellation. Setting up an association during these times and working together nationwide was an additional challenge that could only be mastered thanks to determined and daring members. Together we were able to achieve a lot. Among other things, we were able to gather information and tips and tricks for the individual subtests, produce two entire exercise series and launch our website in three languages. All this content is free and available to everyone. It is great to see our volunteer work bearing fruit and to already be receiving grateful and positive feedback from EMS participants and the broader public (i.e. through the youngCaritas audience award (see picture))! This year we want to go one step further. We will run our first free test simulations, publish more exercise series and hopefully become definitive members of swimsa. Unlike last year, we are now broader, more experienced and more structured as an association with 11 board members and over 50 members. We are overjoyed to be Candidate Members of swimsa and are very grateful for the support and appreciation. We are looking forward to working together to hopefully achieve our goal of becoming a real alternative to private for-profit companies! swimsa
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news from the swimsa family
WHERE TO TURN TO? Meet your local student association
FaMBa - Basel praesidium@fachschaftmedizinbasel.com www.famba.ch
FaMed - Fribourg fs-medizin@unifr.ch student.unifr.ch/med
fsmb - Bern sekretariat@fsmb.ch www.fsmb.ch
MUSt - St. Gallen info@must-hsg.ch www.must-hsg.ch
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AEML - Lausanne aeml@unil.ch www.aeml.ch
aemg - Geneva aemg@unige.ch aemg.unige.ch
FluMed - Lucerne flumed.vorstand@gmail.com www.flumed.ch
smusi - Lugano smusi@usi.ch www.smusi.usi.ch
mesa - Zurich ETH praesidium@mesa.ethz.ch www.mesa.ethz.ch
fvmed - Zurich UZH info@fvmed.ch www.fvmed.ch
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news from the swimsa family
SWIMSA’S PROJECTS Meet our associate members
Achtung Liebe www.achtungliebe.ch
AEST - Action Estudiantine pour la Santé Tropicale www.association-aest.com
AGT - Aufklärung gegen Tabak www.gegentabak.de
ASC - Action Santé Communautaire www.facebook.com/actionsantecommunautaire
ASTiM www.astim.ch
CLASH www.instagram.com/associationclash
gruhu www.gruhu.ch
Doctors and Death www.facebook.com/doctorsanddeath
EROS www.association-eros.com
escolhares www.escolhares.com
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news from the swimsa family
JSEMS - Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland www.sems.ch
NC-Wiki
Marrow Switzerland
www.nc-wiki.ch
www.marrow.ch
MedSICS
Medstache
www.medsics.wixsite.com/medsics
www.medstachelausanne.jimdofree.com
SCS - Swiss Chiropractic Students www.sc-students.ch
M.E.T.I.S.
Teddybär Spital
www.metislausanne.ch
www.tbsbern.ch
POZH - Projekt Organspende Zürich www.fvmed.ch
UAEM Switzerland www.uaem.ch
MEDIC www.instagram.com/medic_lausanne
YS - Young Sonographers www.youngsonographers.ch
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Qui décide de votre avenir professionnel ? Qui a décidé que vous alliez étudier la médecine ? « Moi-même, évidemment », pensez-vous peut-être, perplexe. Mais ce n’est pas complètement vrai. Le fait que vous teniez aujourd’hui un journal swimsa entre les mains en tant qu’étudiant-e en médecine est également lié au nombre de places d’études disponibles et à la manière dont celles-ci ont été attribuées. En ce sens, la politique a aussi son mot à dire.
Vérifiez donc quelle est la position du parti de votre choix et de vos représentant-e-s au Conseil national et au Conseil des États sur les principaux projets de politique de santé. Qui décide de la manière dont vous traiterez vos patients dans les années à venir ? Vous vous en doutez : ce ne sera pas seulement vous. Si les projets actuels du Conseil fédéral et du Parlement se concrétisent, votre quotidien professionnel sera soumis à de plus en plus de contraintes bureaucratiques. Avec le nouvel article 47c LAMal demandé par le Parlement, vous devrez peut-être tenir compte de plafonds de coûts pour vos traitements afin d’éviter des sanctions financières. Et avec l’objectif de maîtrise des coûts qui est prévu, il se pourrait que ce ne soit plus le nombre de médicaments que vous estimez nécessaire qui soit déterminant à l’avenir – mais celui que le Conseil fédéral considère comme approprié.
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Enfin, la Confédération et les cantons pourraient même à tout moment exiger des adaptations tarifaires et, le cas échéant, y procéder eux-mêmes s’ils estiment que les principes d’équité et d’économicité ne sont plus respectés. Comme les soins médicaux ne sont jamais assez « économiques et équitables » pour la politique, les interventions tarifaires deviendraient la règle. Qui décide donc de votre avenir professionnel ? Actuellement, c’est en grande partie le Parlement, qui défend des projets pouvant fortement nuire à notre prise en charge des patients et donc marquer votre avenir professionnel. Mais : qui décide de qui prend les décisions ? C’est là que vous entrez à nouveau en jeu. Vérifiez donc quelle est la position du parti de votre choix et de vos représentant-e-s au Conseil national et au Conseil des États sur les principaux projets de politique de santé. Si vous en tenez compte lors de votre choix électoral ou de votre activité politique, vous participerez au moins un peu aux décisions déterminantes pour votre avenir professionnel. Les étudiants en médecine peuvent s’affilier gratuitement à la FMH après le bachelor et bénéficier entre autres d’un abonnement gratuit au Swiss Medical Forum et au Bulletin des médecins suisses. Inscriptions : www.fmh.ch.
Wer entscheidet, wie Ihre berufliche Zukunft aussieht? Dr. med. Yvonne Gilli, Präsidentin der FMH Dr méd. Yvonne Gilli, Présidente de la FMH
Wer hat entschieden, dass Sie Medizin studieren? Natürlich Sie selbst, denken Sie vielleicht verwundert. Aber: Das ist nur die halbe Wahrheit. Die Tatsache, dass Sie heute als Medizinstudent*in ein swimsa-Journal in den Händen halten, hängt auch damit zusammen, wie viele Studienplätze zur Verfügung standen und wie diese vergeben wurden. Insofern hat die Politik hier mitentschieden.
Prüfen Sie doch einmal, welche Haltung die Partei Ihrer Wahl und Ihre Vertreter*innen in National- und Ständerat zu den zentralen gesundheitspolitischen Vorlagen einnehmen. Wer entscheidet, wie Sie in den nächsten Jahren Ihre Patient*innen behandeln werden? Sie ahnen es: Es werden nicht Sie allein sein. Sollten die aktuellen Vorhaben von Bundesrat und Parlament umgesetzt werden, wird Ihre tägliche Arbeit immer mehr behördlichen Auflagen unterliegen. Mit dem im Parlament geforderten neuen Artikel 47c KVG müssten Sie bei Ihren Behandlungen neu Kostenobergrenzen berücksichtigen, um finanzielle Sanktionen zu vermeiden. Mit der geplanten Zielvorgabe könnte zukünftig nicht mehr entscheidend sein, wie viele Medikamente Sie für nötig halten – sondern was der Bundesrat für angemessen hält. Und last but not least könnten Bund und Kantone jederzeit Tarifanpassungen einfor-
dern und allenfalls auch selbst vornehmen, wenn sie das Gebot der «Wirtschaftlichkeit und Billigkeit» nicht mehr erfüllt sehen. Da der Politik die medizinische Versorgung nie «wirtschaftlich und billig» genug ist, würden Tarifeingriffe zum Regelfall. Wer entscheidet also, wie Ihre berufliche Zukunft aussieht? Aktuell ist es in grossen Teilen das Parlament, das Vorlagen vorantreibt, die unsere Patient*innenversorgung stark beeinträchtigen und damit Ihre berufliche Zukunft prägen könnten. Doch: Wer entscheidet darüber, wer entscheidet? Hier kommen wieder Sie ins Spiel. Prüfen Sie doch einmal, welche Haltung die Partei Ihrer Wahl und Ihre Vertreter*innen in National- und Ständerat zu den zentralen gesundheitspolitischen Vorlagen einnehmen. Wenn Sie dies bei Ihrer Wahlentscheidung oder politischen Aktivität berücksichtigen, dann entscheiden Sie zumindest ein wenig darüber mit, wie Ihre berufliche Zukunft aussehen wird. Nach dem Bachelorabschluss können Medizinstudierende der FMH gebührenfrei beitreten: Die Studierenden-Mitgliedschaft ist unter anderem verbunden mit einem kostenlosen Abonnement der Weiterbildungszeitschrift Swiss Medical Forum und der Schweizerischen Ärztezeitung. Anmeldung: www.fmh.ch
WWW.FMH.CH | INFO@FMH.CH | +41 31 359 11 11 swimsa
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SWIMSA IN PICTURES
The Autumn Delegates' Assembly 2022 in Fribourg
Representing Swiss Medical Students at the IFMSA March Meeting 2022
The EB being productive during its Winter Retreat
Have you ordered your swimsa socks and shirt yet? Contact vpc@swimsa.ch
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At the Delegates' Assembly
The Swiss March Meeting 2022 delegation in North Macedonia
NEO/NORE-Weekend in Krakow, Poland
So many positions that want to be filled swimsa
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TIME FOR SOME QUESTIONS As every semester comes to an end with some tough exam questions, so does the swimsa Journal. Did you pay attention to the previous pages? Have you taken notes? Or have you skipped most swimsa events last year and now depend on what your friends told you? Now it is time to find out! Show us your swimsa knowledge in this multiple-choice exam preparation! Write the letter of the right answer in the boxes below and find the solution word.
Question 1: How do you spell the abbreviation of the Swiss Medical Students’ Association correctly? • swiMSA (A) • SWIMSA (S) • swimsa (E) • Swimsa (P) Question 2: Where will the next SMSC take place in autumn? • Fribourg (D) • St. Gallen (I) • Basel (T) • Bern (L) Question 3: How many medical students in Switzerland does swimsa represent? • about 4'000 (B) • about 6'000 (M) • about 9'000 (U) • about 14’000 (R) Question 4: The highest award for commitment within swimsa is called… • swimsa Award (G) • swimsa Medal of Honour (N) • U ROCK swimsa Award (C) • swimsa Merci (W)
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Question 5: When applying for swimsa Exchanges you can primarily choose between… • Northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere (F) • Professional exchange or research exchange (A) • travelling more than 500km or less than 500km (Q) • Cornflakes or bread for breakfast (J) Question 6: Which of the following associations joined the swimsa family at the delegates’ assembly last autumn? • “Marrow” and “EROS” (O) • “Achtung Liebe” and “CLASH” (H) • “MEDIC” and “NC-Wiki” (T) • “Young Sonographers” and “Doctors and Death” (S) Question 7: Which of the following is not a real swimsa internals position? • LO-FMH - Liaison Officer for the FMH (Swiss Medical Association) (E) • NEO-In - National Exchange Officer for Incomings (K) • NORP - National Officer on Human Rights and Peace (V) • NOPE - National Officer on Personal Experiences (I) Question 8: What are the official languages of swimsa? •German, French, Italian and English (O) •German and French (A) •German, French, Italian, Romansh and English (L) •There is no official language (Y) Question 9: What event takes place twice a year and is considered swimsa’s highest and most powerful board where crucial decisions and elections are made? • The SMSC (Swiss Medical Students’ Convention) (X) • The DV/AD (Delegiertenversamlung/Assemblée des délégués) (N) • The Christmas Dinner (C) • The EB (Executive Board) retreat (T) Your solution:
Solution word: E - D - U - C - A - T - I - O - N swimsa
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THIS IS YOUR LOCAL STUDENT COUNCIL for all the medical students at your university. They organize social events, parties, represent you to your faculty and fight for your medical education.
THESE ARE YOUR LOCAL PROJECTS which work on different public health and human rights topics. You can join any project you like or even start your own.
THIS IS YOU, a medical student in Switzerland
THIS IS YOUR NATIONAL ORGANISATION swimsa is the umbrella organisation for all Swiss medical students. Its members are 10 student councils and the local projects. In the comittee for education, swimsa works towards an improved education on a national level. Via the IFMSA, it enables worldwide student exchanges. Twice per year, it organises the SMSC-Conference with students from all parts of Switzerland. An event you MUST have experienced at least once! www.swimsa.ch 68 swimsa
... AND THIS IS HOW WE CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER The International Federation fo Medical Students‘ is the umbrella organisation for all the national associations of more than 120 different countries worldwide. They gather twice per year in the socalled General Assembly (GA), where 1000 students come together and exchange ideas. swimsa is always represented by a Swiss delegation, which YOU can be part of as well! www.ifmsa.org
