History
"The
involvement of the United States of America in the International
Federation of Medical Students' Associations dates from shortly after
the founding of IFMSA in 1951. IFMSA was first a collaborative effort
borne of the post-World War II sentiment of cooperation among medical
students in Europe, designed to ameliorate the difficulty in securing
international health electives for medical students."
England,
1948. Student International Clinical Conference (S.I.C.C.) was held
as an initiative by the International Union of Students (I.U.S.) which
was created directly after World War II . The Dutch medical students
promised to host the next conference, but due to a conflict, the western
student organisations left I.U.S. But still, the wish for a totally
non-political international student federation is born.
Paris,
December 1950. An international congress concerning the
establishment of a possible federation was held, and Denmark was given
the assignment to investigate the possibilities of receiving economic
support from WHO.
WHO was
positive towards the federation but couldn't make any promises at that
time. The students were encouraged to work out a plan of organisation
with clear goals, aims and administrational proposals.
Copenhagen,
26-28 May 1951.The rough outlines of a constitution are drawn up.
The representatives of eight countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway,
Finland, Germany, Spain, England and Italy) gathered in Copenhagen to
start a non-political student organization with the objectives of
"studying and promoting the interests of medical student co-operation on
a purely professional basis, and promoting activities in the field of
student health and student relief. And that the name of the organisation
should be the International Federation of Medical Students Associations
(IFMSA).
A provisional
directing body is created, its task being to investigate the
possibilities of establishing a stabile federation. The chairmanship is
given to England. Three committees are created: Standing Committee on
Medical Exchange (SCOME, the responsibility of the Netherlands),
Standing Committee on Practical Exchange (SCOPE, the responsibility of
Denmark) and Standing Committee on Students Health (SCOSH, the
responsibility of Finland).
A bureau of
information, located in Geneva, supported by WHO and under the command
of a general secretary and an assistant. The mission of the bureau is to
establish contact between all the members of the organisation, WHO and
other international organisations.
The highest
decision-making body is made up of the General Assembly (GA), which
meets yearly. Each member organisation is represented by a certain
number of delegates. Each country owns two votes plus one vote for every
5000 medical students in the country, maximum 5 votes. Every year the GA
chooses an Executive Board (EB) consisting of the heads of the three
standing committees. The EB is to meet twice a year.
Netherlands,
10-28 July 1951.Despite the break with I.U.S, the Dutch kept their
promise and organised the S.I.C.C. During the congress many discussions
were devoted to question the international co-operation, and the name of
IFMSA was heard frequently.
London, 1-4
July 1952. The first GA took place, and 30 participants attended it
representing 10 countries. SCOME has already printed a publication on
how the education is laid up, which subjects are studied and how much
time the different specialties receive in the curriculum in the
different countries. SCOSH has put together a comprehensive
questionnaire and went on completing this investigation with SCOME,
perhaps with the aid of World University Service (WUS).
Student
exchange and summer courses have already been arranged in Denmark and
England. S.I.C.C. has completely fallen under the rule of IFMSA. At that
year, S.I.C.C. was unfortunately cancelled due to a lack of applicants.
Denmark became the new chairman.
Picture: First official general assembly, 1952 in London, the United
Kingdom
It is interesting that several other international student organizations
based on professional interests also were founded in the immediate
post-war period, such as IPSF (1949), IADS (1951), IAAS (1957), AIESEC
(1949) and IAESTE (1948). All these were founded in Europe where the
general student movement was trying to collect as many souls as possible
for its political struggle at the same time. One reason for the
formation of these professional organizations was as a reaction against
the political student movement, in an attempt to create a non-political,
more professional and career-oriented alternative.
International
relations were felt to be not only desirable but essential for the
stable development of science, technology, economy and general welfare.
During the past
50 years the structure and functions of IFMSA have been changed several
times. From the original European group, the association has grown to
include members from all over the world. IFMSA principles have been
further defined in the present IFMSA Constitution( which was last
adopted in March 2000),which states that:
-
The
federation pursues its aims without political, religious, social,
racial, national, sexual or any other discrimination
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The
federation promotes humanitarian ideals among medical students and so
seeks to contribute to the creation of responsible future physicians
-
The
federation respects the autonomy of its members
New
Constitution and Bylaws were adopted in the extraordinary GA held in
Kuopio, Finland in March 2000, after two years of hard work IFMSA had
new regulations, more suitable for its current structure and way of
working. The organization was officially re-registered at the Chamber of
Commerce in The Netherlands in July 2000.
The General
Secretariat was originally located in Copenhagen (Denmark) from 1951,
but was temporarily transferred to Canada in 1962 before returning to
Copenhagen (Denmark) in 1963. It was moved to London (GB) in 1970,
Helsinki (Finland) in 1971 and then Vienna (Austria) in 1978. Due to
financial and organizational constraints the General Secretariat had to
be temporarily changed to L'Aquila (Italy) in 1987 and was eventually
settled at the Academisch Medisch Centrum in Amsterdam ( the
Netherlands) in 1989. In 1999, an agreement with the World Medical
Association was reached and the General Secretariat was moved to Ferney-Voltaire
(France) where it stays at the moment. Nowadays, One Executive Board
Member is partly supported by WMA to stay there with a fellowship as a
part of the framework collaboration agreement.
SCOPE
In 1958 the Committee On Transatlantic Exchange (COTE) was established
to arrange exchanges between European and American students, and in 1959
detailed regulations of these exchanges were set up. Later on, This
committee was incorporated into SCOPE.
In 1956, 11
countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges. At that year there were
906 exchangees.
In 1957, 18 countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges.
In 1966, 35 countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges.
In 1980, more than 3000 students went on SCOPE exchanges.
In 1990, more than 4000 students went on SCOPE exchanges in 39 different
countries.
SCORE
At the same time "Electives" were added to the normal range of clinical
clerkships organized by SCOPE.
In 1986 SCOEE
(Standing Committee on Electives Exchange) was founded, and this was a
productive approach to the European Community student mobility projects
(later promoted by AIEME (currently named IFMSA-Spain) and NeMSIC
(currently called IFMSA-The Netherlands) within the ERASMUS/INSERT-MED
programme).
During the
meeting in Hurghada, Egypt in August 1998, SCOEE changed its name into
the currently SCORE (Standing Committee on Research Exchange) to have a
better definition of their exchanges.
SCOME
The Standing Committee on Medical Education was created in order to
compare the various medical education systems of the world. It
participated in the first world conference on Medical Education in 1952,
and in 1954 the World Medical Association (WMA) published a report on
Medical Education by IFMSA.
The first SCOME
workshop organized by IFMSA with the assistance of WHO was entitled
"Fitting medical education to the needs of whom?" (1982), followed by
"Evaluation in medical education: Roulette or valid assessment?" (1983),
"PHC in undergraduate ME", "Is European medical education in crisis?"
(1984), and "Programme evaluation: working towards an efficient ME
system relevant to community health needs" (1985). The policy on medical
education was drafted in Medithalia (Denmark) and a close relationship
between IFMSA and the Network of Community-Oriented Health Institutions
started in 1984. SCOME was invited to a planning session in October 1984
for a future Network meeting in Milanomedicina (Italy) concerning
strategies for change in medical schools, in order to bring them into
line with current ME theory.
In the 90s two
valuable SCOME projects were in the pipeline: firstly MESTBHIRD ("
Medical Students Teaching Basic Health in Rural Districts"), a pilot
project aiming to promote health education to children at primary and
secondary schools in the third world, by teaching basic hygiene and
health care with special emphasis on AIDS prevention. Students were
encouraged to volunteer and take an active parf in projects helping the
local society. The project was developed in collaboration with several
governmental and non-governmental organizations such as WHO, UNICEF, the
Thai Medical Students Organization and the Asian Medical Students
Organization (AMSA).
The second new
SCOME Project is the questionnaire about medical curricula. Through it
IFMSA intends to compare the different courses in the world in order to
facilitate the mobility of students between different countries. In 1971
SCOME organized such a comparison for the first time and the information
they collected was recorded in a booklet. At the EOM in Sarajevo in 1991
the Working Committee on Medical Education decided to start a new
comparison. A new questionnaire for the survey has been drawn up and
sent to all NMOs, and was distributed to all faculties of IFMSA member
countries. A new booklet was published with all the information
collected.
SCOME is still
working in this project and currently an online database has been
developed to ease the collection of the information.
SCOPH
In that post-war atmosphere, health conditions were a matter of concern
for everybody, and students' health was especially interesting for
medical students. The Standing Committee on Students' Health (SCOSH) was
born, and in 1954, in co-operation with the World University Service (WUS),
carried out a survey on the condition of students' health. During the
sixties SCOSH organized annual drug appeals for developing countries and
planned medical students' emergency groups. In 1965 the acronym SCOSH
was changed to SCOH (SC on Health), with a wider orientation towards the
promotion of effective health policies in general.
The interest in
the health and social conditions of different populations in the world
was also increasing, so in 1957 the SC on Population (SCOP) was created.
Which later on merged with SCOH. In the 60s, SCOSH organised a yearly
collections of medical drugs Drug Appeals for the developing countries
and crisis groups made up of students were planned. Eventually the name
of this standing committee changed to become SCOPH ( standing committee
on public health) which is one of our current SCs. Following the
recommendations of the meeting in Lagos, the so-called SCOPA (SC on
Population Activities) was established in 1976.
During the
eighties the demand for redefinition of its aims became increasingly
pressing, not because population issues were of no concern anymore, but
because the state of affairs in health matters called for a broader
prospective when tackling pending problems, as described in the
frequently-cited declaration of Alma Ata. Eventually this standing
committee was incorporate into SCOPH as well.
SCORP
The problem of refugees' health and social conditions led to the
creation of SCOR (Standing Committee of Refugees), the SCOR Refugees'
Week (March 1984) and subsequent KuMSA Refugees' Aid Projects in Sudan.
SCOR was later named SCORP (SC on Refugees and Peace) after including in
its activities issues such as war prevention, anti-personal mines
campaigns etc...
SCORA
Driven by a strong will to actively take part in prevention activities
concerning HIV and sexually transmitted infections, medical students in
1992 formed the youngest working group in IFMSA: the Standing Committee
on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (SCOAS).
The activities
in SCOAS later developed from HIV/STD advocacy and awareness campaigns
to encompass a wider range of reproductive health and related issues. To
mark this change of focus, the name was in 1998 changed to the Standing
Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS (SCORA).
Over the last
couple of years, more emphasis has been put on women's health and rights
and the importance of gender equality policies in IFMSA.
International
workshops organised by SCORA also mirror this development:
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HIV and
Cultural Issues (1997)
-
Refugees and
Reproductive Health (1998)
-
Maternal and
Child Health (1999)
SCOMF
In 1957 the Standing Committee on Medical Films (SCOMF) was established.
It aimed to promote the educational importance of medical films in
normal medical training. But This committee didn't exist for long, and
ended its work in 1961.
In the
fifties various Student International Clinical Conferences (SICC)
were organized by IFMSA in different countries.
In 1963,
the first IFMSA summer schools were organized in Scandinavia, United
Kingdom (in tropical medicine) and Denmark (preclinical students). In
the same year IFMSA promoted a Blood Donation Week and a Book Appeal for
students from developing countries (organized by FRG). later on many
summer schools were organized , the most inportant of which were the
series of international summer schools on stop AIDS which started in
1995.
The
seventies witnessed the worldwide broadening of IFMSA, the promotion
of many conferences on all aspects of regional and international items,
but also the raising of a number of organizational problems like
communication, financial constraints, and politicization of IFMSA
policies. Conferences on items such as selection methods for admission
to medical schools, practical clinical training in medical education and
the problem of drugs (experimentation, production and use) took place.
In 1970,
the Drug Appeal becomes an official IFMSA project. Along with this runs
the Equipment Appeal that started 1967. Leftovers from the industrial
countries are sent to developing countries that lack these products.
In 1972,
Medical Students Exchange in Developing Countries (MESTUDEC) becomes a
primary health project, and is recognised in Ghanzi, Botswana. Also
health Education was promoted in Nabobi, Ghana.
In 1973,
the GA in Singapore marked the start of the upsurge of interest by IFMSA
in third world problems and the Primary Health Care (PHC) orientation of
medical studies.
In 1975,
the GA in Philadelphia (USA) was another important step (with the
impressive International Educational Symposium on Physician Migration),
as well as the 1976 GA in Hong Kong with its satellite seminar on
Environment and Population in Japan.
In 1978,
a new category of members is accepted so called Corresponding Members.
These are later to be called Associate Members and are part of a
prepatory phase before full membership is achieved.
From 1979 to
1985, IFMSA gave special emphasis to Declarations and Resolutions
that could apply to medical students internationally. Thus declarations
were adopted in Kiljava (Finland) and Cairo (Egypt) on PHC and ME, in
Wartensee and L'Aquila on Prevention of Nuclear War, and in L'Aquila
(Italy) and Solbacka (Sweden) on ME and many other more.
In 1986,
an international seminar on Health Needs and Students Action in
Developing Countries was held. A new system of primary health care
projects was set up Village Concept Projects.
In 1988,
the first Village Concept Project was set up in Ghana. The GA in Lagos,
Nigeria was chaotic. No new board was elected; instead concentration was
put on the building of a new structure and better laws of the
constitution. Many people doubted the sustainability of IFMSA at that
time.
In the early
seventies the need for decentralization was felt, in order to be more
involved in world medical students' affairs and to reflect the thoughts
and inspirations not just of medical students in a certain continent but
of students from all parts of the world.
In 1968 IFMSA
greatly contributed to the foundation of FAMSA, the Federation of
African Medical student Associations. In 1966 ARMSA (the Asian Regional
Medical Student Association), had been established. Although ARMSA
existed only for some 7 years this regional body promoted activities in
medical students' affairs with some outstanding results.
Following this
new tendency IFMSA was reorganized into 4 (and subsequently 5 and 6)
regions. Each region was co-ordinated by a Regional Vice-President. This
Vice-Presidents do not exist at the moment, although these days there is
a growing need to go back to these regionalized support teams again due
to the enormous growth of IFMSA in the last years.
From the need
for intersectorial solutions to health problems arose the realization of
" Intersectorial Meetings of International Student Organizations" from
1986 onwards, and IMISO was officially founded, consisting of IPSF, EPSA,
EMSA, AIESEC, IAAS, IFSA, ELSA and IFMSA.
The "Intersectoral
Action for Health" which was held in Geneva, April 1986, was the first
joint theme meeting of international student organisations (IMISO),
organised by IFMSA. This was the result of the first Training Programme
"Leadership Training for Health for All", that was organized jointly by
IFMSA and WHO.
The following
year (1987) the Village Project became a reality, in Ojobi, Ghana. IMISO
was the umbrella under which many other Village Concept Projects were
born but this intersectorial organization faced several financial and
management problems and the member organisations (IFMSA among them)
decided to dissolve it and work in a more unofficial and informal way.
The dissolution proccess was started in early 2001 but the old IMISO
members keep on collaborating in several current and future initiatives
such as Village Concepts, Bioethical Symposiums and Disaster
Preparedness Workshops.
In May 1983,
IFMSA had the first contact with the Network of Community Oriented
Health Institutions.
In 1969,
IFMSA was admitted to an official relationship with the WHO, and this
collaboration resulted in the organization of a symposium on "Programmed
Learning in Medical Education", as well as immunology and tropical
medicine programmes.
WHO continued
to support IFMSA, mostly in the field of Medical Education through the
organization of a Health Leadership Training in Geneva and a number of
international student workshops. These were on "Evaluation" in Belgrade
in 1987, on "A Comprehensive Health Intervention Plan at Community
Level" in Lagos in 1988, and on " Rational Use of Drugs" in Cesme
(Turkey) in 1990. Currently we have good collaborations with the Child
and Adolescent health, Non communicable diseases along with many other
departments.
IFMSA workshops
on Refugees health, Mother and Child health and Ageing and health were a
good example of this cooperation.
In 1971,
a symposium on pollution and overpopulation was organized in Edinburgh
(GB) by IFMSA in conjunction with WHO, UNESCO and the Royal Medical
Society of Edinburgh. It was then considered that population overgrowth
was a major problem which needed to be tackled with all possible
resources to avoid serious ill effects.
IFMSA's
contribution towards this problem was sporadic, but nevertheless
constructive during the early seventies. The Asian Regional Seminar on
Population Overgrowth was organized in Japan in 1973, and an
international interdisciplinary students' seminar on Population Dynamics
and Family Planning in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1974.
In 1983,
A co-operation with International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War (IPPNW) began.
In the middle
eighties IFMSA suffered a major crisis of confidence. Member countries
could not get actively involved in IFMSA work and policy-making because
they were given no chance to understand and follow what was going on.
The Federation had become so untouchable to the average national
representative that it was difficult for anyone undertaking medical
studies to become fully committed. This had led to an unfortunate
centralization of power to the senior officers of the Federation, such
that not even the average executive board members had a reasonable
opportunity to follow IFMSA's central affairs.
This
uncertainty concerning the policy-making, finances, membership
formalities, official correspondence, and dissemination (or lack of
dissemination) of information led to confusion, paralysis and split,
even within the Executive Board. Having dogged the organization for
almost 5 years. Discussion of the Constitution had become a major issue
at meetings. Arguments over petty technical points wasted much valuable
time when more important topics needed to be discussed.
In spite of all
this, many valuable initiatives were promoted: in 1986 IFMSA organized
an international seminar on "Health Needs and Students' Action in
Developing Countries", and the "Village Concept", a totally new approach
in third world aid projects, was designed.
With the
founding of an international medical student journal, Medical Students
International (MSI), IFMSA aimed to produce a regular informative
magazine, containing articles from national and international medical
students' organizations. Up until now several MSIs have been published,
the last ones on Adolescents and reproductive health and The Child, and
two more are in preparation, on Ageing and Health and Exchanges.
IFMSA
Newsletter, VAGUS, is being issued 5 times a year and distributed to all
our member organisations. The Internet facilities have allowed as well
to put it as electronic version in our Website.
Communication
and dissemination of information to our members has been improved with
the use of the new technologies. Internet has allowed an electronic
version of IFMSA to be made widely available. The www.ifmsa.org Website
has been re-designed completely this year (2001-2002) and currently
electronic-exchange facilities for SCORE and SCOPE are being developed.
Nowadays IFMSA
is a very well-established international federation with broad
representation and close relations with medical students' associations
all over the world. It is recognized as an important non-governmental
organization and collaborative partner by WHO, UNESCO, other UN agencies
and several INGOs, such as the Global Health Forum. We are on the way to
making closer links with several other international student
organizations and INGOs.
Our exchange
programme is well-established, and has good prospects for improvement
both in terms of quantity of places and quality, now that we have
introduced more alternative clerkships, research exchanges,
summer-schools, electives.
We are
recognized as a consultative body in questions relating to medical
education and the medical consequences of nuclear war, and our local and
national activities in both these areas have often been catalysts for
other student and professional groups.
New fields are
presently developing, including Primary Health Care and Human Rights,
with many valuable projects. The IFMSA Village Concept can be considered
a milestone in third world aid philosophy. Following IFMSA's experience
in Ghana, many such projects were realized (Sudan, Sudan II, Rwanda,
Zimbabwe, La Joya, Tanzania, Panama) and we hope many more will come up
in the near future.
A lot of work
has been done all through this our 50th year of existence. All in order
to celebrate our 50th anniversary with a big event that would show the
IFMSA potential to the outside world. We sincerely hope that in 50 years
from now, somebody will add more lines to this small but intense history
that all of us, for small our contribution might seem to be, have helped
to build.
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