exchanges
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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swimsa
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.
