IFMSA GA AM21 in Panama and online

Text: Valeria Scheiwiller | University of Lugano

On the 70th General Assembly (GA) August Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), Swiss students were present in the sessions of the Standing Committees on Professional Exchange. Read here their report on this meeting.

This General Assembly was the first one to be conducted in a hybrid format from 29.07.07.08.2021. The team of officials and NMO representatives from 40 National Member Organizations (NMOs) gathered in Panama for the President’s sessions and Plenaries. swimsa sent one NMO representative to Panama whereas four delegates joined the sessions from Switzerland. The standing committee sessions took place exclusively online on the weekend of 14.16.08.2021. Because of the COVID19 pandemic the participants had to quarantine for three days, take a test and wear masks at all times. Due to the time zone differences the sessions started at 6:30am (Panama time) and lasted until 1pm which left some time for physical training sessions and open space discussions for the present NMO presidents at the venue. Besides some technical problems which need to be addressed before the next hybrid IFMSA General Assembly, the event took place smoothly.

swimsa’s NMO representative delivered valuable input towards the bank and secretariat situation of IFMSA. Furthermore together with the president’s session delegates swimsa worked on two proposals for International Team positions and handed these in to the IFMSA EB elect.

During the August Meeting the handover to the next VicePresident for Global Affairs was successfully conducted.

For the AM21 delegation, Valeria Scheiwiller Head of Delegation