projects bulletin issue 2

MARCH 2007 WWW.IFMSA.ORG/PROJECTS ISSUE 2

Projects Bulletin

Here is the second issue of the Projects Bulletin with more great projects in IFMSA. The idea of competition has encouraged submission to the Projects Bulletin; we have received 13 projects applications to gain the title of "best IFMSA project". The panel of experienced students in project management in IFMSA has evaluated the applications according to standard criteria and named the top 5 projects in IFMSA to date. The Projects Bulletin can be a very helpful tool in promoting your project worldwide. Also, it can be used for quality control of the projects. We hope the Projects Bulletin becomes a source of motivation for more medical students to start new projects serving our communities. The editorial board can only evaluate projects which apply for it, thus there might be better pro-jects running within the IFMSA network that we don’t know about. The next issue would be pub-lished by next August in print and online - we are looking forward to hear about your projects! Ahmed Magdy & Goran Mijaljica

Message from the Editors

BEST IFMSA PROJECTS Kumba Village Project page 2 Residency Database page 3 Uganda Village Project page 4 Teddy Bear Hospital page 5 Night Ambulance page 6

Idiot's Guide to Projects page 1-8

Projects Announcements page 7

International Federation of Medical Students' Associations

Projects in IFMSA

One of the main activities of the IFMSA and its member organizations are projects. According to the IFMSA Bylaws, the term Projects refers to activities in any field of interest of medical students within IFMSA principles, aims and policy state-ments. This includes Projects, Events, Workshops, Surveys, Networks and Campaigns. The Projects Support Division is the advisory and reference body of issues related to IFMSA Projects. We currently have 41 official projects in IFMSA, one of which has the endorsed status, two initiative projects, and the remaining projects are recognized as IFMSA transnational projects. Projects are the central activities of the IFMSA. Through projects, IFMSA members act locally, whilst the constant international cooperation allows them to keep a global level of thinking. Projects make IFMSA dynamic, active and useful for the local communities. Whether they are working in a village in Uganda, making children smile while examining their teddy bears, educating medical students about transplantation medicine, educating about the danger from HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis, or helping the inhabitants of Kumba, our projects represent the soul of a student-run organization and proves we have broken the cultural barriers to join forces to fight for a better and healthier world!

Idiot's Guide to Projects

ISSUE 2

How to Apply for Official Project Recognition? -1-

IFMSA official projects are divided into three categories: endorsed, transnational and initiative. The endorsed projects can be run by any IFMSA NMO, while the transnational projects must involve at least two NMOs or one NMO and a partner organization; the initiative projects are centrally running projects, they should involve the IFMSA EB in it’s planning and organization and they reflect the focus fields of work of our federation during the period they are running.


Do you know why 33% of the population in Cameroon lives with one US dollar daily? Why less than 1% of the Cameroo-nian children sleep under a mosquito bed-net? Or why so many children in Kumba are affected by malaria every year? The Kumba Village project team searched for the answers to these questions and it’s members have decided to join their forces and fight against this injustice. The project was set up in August 2003 by the IFMSA National Member Organization in Italy (SISM) within the local committee of Ferara and in November 2005 established a partnership with PorMSIC-Portugal based on economical and interventional agreements. The development program aims to contribute to the resolu-tion of problems related to health and education of the population of Kumba, a town in the south-western province of Cameroon, and its rural territories. Nevertheless, the project’s implementation framework also provides medical students with the opportunity to improve their medical practical skills as well as to gain experience in the field of international coop-eration. Why Kumba? Most of the sanitary problems of Cameroon, identified by the World Health Organization and the Demographic and Health Survey in Cameroon, are due to the population’s (especially of the rural areas) insufficient knowledge of hygienic and sanitary issues including the correct use of food and water resources. There are numerous governmental and non-government programs aimed at the prevention and treatment of the identified pathologies. There is, nevertheless, always a great disparity in the access to such programs between the rural and urban population. Kumba, the project’s target city is one of the biggest cities in the English-speaking zone of Cameroon (about 350.000 inhabitants) and is fully characterized by the situation and the problems stated above. What about their plan? The Kumba Village Project is a student-run project and closely collaborates with the local clinics of St. Francis and Ejed, as well as Kumba’s General Hospital. According to its planning, two complementary projects were developed; a “Clinical Ac-tivities Project” in the urban area of Kumba and a “Sanitary Education Project” in the village of Lobangè. In the Clinical Activity Project groups of up to twelve students are sent every year to assist in medical care delivery, under the authoriza-tion, tutoring and supervision of specified professionals of the clinics or the already qualified volunteers (physicians). The Program of Sanitary Education is carried out by properly trained sanitary teams, in collaboration with Lobange-Mbonge Health Committee. It consists of campaigns of sanitary education in a rural area of Kumba - Lobangè village, aiming to increase the population’s knowledge of both hygiene and sanitary issues. It makes use of interactive educating methods. Can you join their team? International participation is open for two students in each group of the Clinical Activity Project. Details about how to join the team of volunteers can be found at www.kumbaproject.org. Any further questions may be directed towards the project coor-dinators, Kostas Batzalexis at [email protected], or Igor Milet at [email protected].

Manuela Moraru Kostantinos Batzalexis

Kumba Village Project

ISSUE 2


Have you ever flirted with the idea of going abroad for your residency, or have you ever had a friend thinking of it? Then we have good news for you! If you’re sure that you want to take your residency abroad then the news is even better! For all of you, I would like to introduce you to the…

RDB Residency Database

First things first. What is RDB (Residency DataBase)? It is an official IFMSA transnational project coordinated by Helm-SIC Greece and IFMSA-Spain. It is a database which you can visit at http://www.helmsic.gr/residency-database/index.php. There you can find more info on the requirements needed to complete your residency in about 40 countries and …stay tuned! It will grow more in the future!

Everything happens for a reason! So does the existence of this project! At the very beginning it was created based on the difficulties to gather information about residency in other countries. It was even harder to compare the available data, since the information was not similar. Nowadays, although the web has expanded rapidly and makes it easier to search for infor-mation, it is still difficult to find all the information you want and to compare the data. Moreover, the students not only need the typical information official national websites can provide, they also want many additional information including tips on daily expenses, as well as the geographical and political situation of the country. The reason for the existence of this programme was to do away with all these previous difficulties.

What is special about RDB is that the information is not written in a text format. It is uploaded as answers to specific questions in the RDB questionnaire, which consists of five sections. With this simple structure, anyone can find the required information readily organized and ready to be compared with similar data about other countries. All you need to do is just click on the name of the country you are interested in!

Trust us? Why not? We are not a commercial project! Our purpose is to give information to graduate students. The ques-tionnaires are filled in by students or post graduates who answers the questions fully, truthfully and clearly. Nothing more – nothing less! And if you still hesitate to trust these people, in most questionnaires there are links that can take you to some official information. In most cases there will be an e-mail or a contact number of the person who completed the question-naire, for further enquiries.

Help us, help you and other medical students will be helped in the future! At the time we wrote this article, the number of countries taking part in the project was about 40, but the international coordinating team is planning to take this number to least 50, with a target of a further ten countries by the end of this year. In order to reach this goal we welcome your help! We invite you to enter the project’s website and download our questionnaire (in .doc or .zip format). Then you can com-plete it on your own or with our help. You can find us at [email protected] and at [email protected] .

We hope that we gave you a taste of our project and we will be glad to receive many messages from anyone of you!

Laura Chamorro Gonzalez

Dimosthenis Kiimetoglou

Residency Database

How to Apply for Official Project Recognition? -2-

In order to gain official status, a project must submit an application form signed and stamped by the responsible NMO and a project proposal to the GS and the PSD Director, as regulated in the IFMSA bylaws (for more details please refer to Chapter 9 of the IFMSA Bylaws). The General Assembly is in charge of the recognition of the candidates, after analyzing the advice of the IFMSA PSD. The deadlines for submitting them are May 1 and December 1, for transnational and initia-tive projects. Endorsed project applications have no regulated deadline and their recognition is the task of the IFMSA EB.

ISSUE 2


Driving along the dusty roads of the Iganga district - a rural area in southeastern Uganda near the source of the Nile - in a crowded mataatu, you will pass by fields of coffee, maize, potatoes, pineapples, sugar cane and soybeans sprouting from some of Africa’s most fertile ground. Families live in cramped mud huts covered by banana leaves. Most hike for kilome-ters to access muddy water holes. Preventable infectious diseases run rampant - malaria, diarrheal illness, and sexually trans-mitted diseases. The problems faced here seem overwhelming, but the impact of simple interventions can be profound.

The Uganda Village Project was inspired by the Village Concept Project (VCP) model of IFMSA, which values interdisci-plinary, sustainable, culturally appropriate project design. The core of the VCP spirit is to work collaboratively with villages to find solutions to community health and development problems. These villages are often far from the populated centers where the large NGOs are based. The Uganda Village Project was founded in 2003 by students working with a partner NGO which helped them perform a needs assessment in the area. It began as a project of IFMSA-USA and since its incep-tion has been in close communication with the other American VCPs in Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya. However, there are several things that are different about Uganda Village Project than most VCPs.

Uganda Village Project works in several counties in Iganga, rather than working in a single village. We work with several local partners and community groups who specialize in different types of projects and serve different catchment areas. Our main areas of focus are healthcare (with special attention to HIV/AIDS, obstetric fistula, and eyesight), clean water, and orphan support. Some of our accomplishments over the years include increasing access to HIV testing and counseling, con-ducting vision screenings accompanied by the distribution of eyeglasses, protecting several springs to increase access to safe water sources, creating an HIV/AIDS resource guide and offering tuition at secondary and vocational schools for over a hundred orphans. We have been instrumental in advocating for and introducing increased access to chlorination products in the district that result in greater sanitation of water. In conjunction with a community-based organization, we are beginning a microfinance supported, income-generating agricultural project.

Our long-term interns are responsible for maintaining the quality of the programs while the summer volunteers travel to Uganda to implement small-scale projects previously researched and planned by the interns and our local partners, and to learn about and experience the local culture and the endemic issues to the area. Volunteers come from vastly different back-

grounds, ranging from students of public health in California to international relations in Uganda, but all share an interest in global health and development.

We strive to keep our work in tune with the grassroots needs of the communities we partner with - we believe that this is the most effective way to effect improvement and development. More information regarding our projects can be found on our website: www.ugandavillageproject.org. Or for further informa-tion please e-mail us at: [email protected]

Alison Schroth, Chava Cogan &

Kristina Wang

Uganda Village Project

The Projects Proposal Review Committee (PPRC) -1-

The PPRC was set up to support both Project Coordinators in their endeavors to have their projects recognized as IFMSA official projects, and the IFMSA EB and the General Assembly in the evaluation and acceptance of these candidate projects. There are three possibilities for the PPRC: to accept a proposal, to reject it, or to advise revision (before acceptance). The main tasks of the PPRC are to give the project coordinators all necessary advice and support to enhance their work pertain-ing to project design, goal-setting, proposal and grant writing, project management, and evaluation.

ISSUE 2


Once upon a time, there was a pretty little girl who just loved to chase butterflies. But one day, going for the most beauti-ful blue one, she fell down and broke her leg. With tears in her eyes, the pretty little girl went to a big, funny smelling build-ing were mean people dressed up in white coats were running from here to there, making all pretty little children cry.

But hey! Look at that blonde boy! He is not running… he is smiling…but no….he has a white coat too…Wait a minute! What is he holding in his hands? The boy gives the pretty little girl a Teddy Bear with a sad face and a white bandage around his head. The Teddy Bear is hurt. We must help him. The blonde boy has a steto.. stetho.. stethoscope and the pretty little girl is listening to the Teddy Bear’s heart. Oooo….poor Teddy!

He needs an injection…but needles are bad! But it is the only way that Teddy can be cured and smile again…It will hurt just a second Teddy dear! It is already over! The blonde boy takes off the bandage, and Teddy is smiling to the pretty little girl.

A man in a white coat is approaching. The pretty little girl now knows that she will only be able to chase butterflies again if the man in the white coat will make her hurt for a second. And it is not hurting so bad after all! Teddy did not cry! She will be strong too!

The pretty little girl found out that there are many blonde boys and girls with lots of Teddys that need the help of pretty little children all over the world.... And all of them have written on their white coats “IFMSA” and “EMSA”**. What does that mean? Why are they giving away cards with www.dsms.net/teddybear written on them? It doesn’t matter! She was afraid of the doctor. She isn’t afraid anymore. She thinks that the blonde boy was afraid of her too, but now he talks to her confidently.

The pretty little girl thinks that maybe she will have a white coat one day, but for now, she has the most beautiful blue butterfly in the world to chase…

Oana Tudorache **Teddy Bear Hospital is an IFMSA transnational project organized in collaboration with the European Medical Students Association (EMSA)

Teddy Bear Hospital

The Projects Proposal Review Committee (PPRC) -2-

As regulated in the IFMSA bylaws, PPRC is in charge with the revision of the candidate project proposals, which will be tabled at the next General Assembly to be recognized as official IFMSA projects, and to advise the PSD Director, the Ex-ecutive Board, and the General Assembly about the quality of the contents of these project proposals. The current PPRC has six members, five of which are experienced IFMSA Alumni, and one is the PSD director.

ISSUE 2


When the night has come…

There is only one answer to a question like “how many people lack primary health-care?”, and it does not depend on the region you refer at; that answer would be “too many...” According to the available statistics, in Chile, people living below the poverty line are facing health issues related to infectious diseases, alcoholism and the development of final stage chronic illnesses. This all seems to be directly related to the lack of medicines and medical advice.

“Night Ambulance” is a project organized by IFMSA-Chile’s SCORP department, in close collaboration with “Hogar de Cristo”, a local Non-Governmental Organization. This project aims at making a difference in the lives of those living in poverty, by improving their state of health and access to primary healthcare. It all happens in the night, as when the night has come, homeless people start showing up on streets…

I won’t be afraid…

The pattern followed by IFMSA - Chile and their partners, “Hogar de Cristo”, is setting up groups of volunteers going out on the streets every Wednesday night. Each group has a team coordinator, in charge with organizing the shift, keeping in touch with partners, and a medical doctor.

After deciding upon the streets or shelters to be visited, the “Night Ambulance” takes off at 9 in the evening, having a bag full of medicines and first aid supplies. Under the supervision of the team’s physician, the students identify the people in need of medical attention, take clinical histories, check vital signs, perform physical examinations, write the charts and help the doctor in the health care procedures. For the emergencies and elaborated follow-ups, the patients are taken to the poly-clinic set up by the partner NGO where they are treated free of charge, or to the hospital emergency rooms. By 1am, the group of daring volunteers returns from the visited areas, which sometimes can be a little bit dangerous…but they are not afraid…

Stay by me…

Although a few times the shift had to be cancelled due to the absence of a physician, and even if during the exams period volunteers were hard to find, an average of fifteen patients were treated every Wednesday night spent on the streets last year. And that means the target was reached in the previous season. In October 2006 all volunteers involved in the pro-ject were invited to a thanking dinner called “Cena de Pan y Vino” (“Bread and Wine Dinner”). People in need put great value on this kind of help, so…stay by them next year too!

More information about the “Night Ambulance” can be found on the website of the project, available soon at www.unidadmovil.tk or for further information please con-tact the project coordinator at [email protected].

Oana Tudorache

Night Ambulance

Project Objectives -1-

A project is defined by the problem addressed, it's timeline (projects have a beginning and an end) and the project's objec-tives (what is set to be achieved in the project within that specific time-frame). In order to set up a realistic and achievable project, the project's goals and objectives must be clearly defined. By reading the project’s objectives one should have a clear idea of what the achievements of that particular project will be. Whilst the aims are general and far reaching, the objectives are concrete and precise.

ISSUE 2

Orphanage Initiative in Romania Orphanage Initiative in Romania is an IFMSA project which was initiated in 1996 and it offers any student the possibility to help children in need. There are many orphaned and abandoned children in Romania, and they lack attention and affection, above other things. By joining this project for three weeks during summer, you can visit six major cities in Romania and work as volunteers in an orphanage. The rotations are arranged in: Bucharest, Cluj, Craiova, Iasi, Oradea and Timisoara and have aprox. 45 participants. During the rest of the year, Romanian students continue these activities at the end of each week. Rotations: 1st rotation: July 12th - August 1st & 2nd rotation: August 2nd – August 22nd . The closing dates for ap-plications will be the 15th of April 2007 for both rotations 1 and 2. The selection will be done by the international coordina-tor by the 25th of April 2007. If you want to know more about this project: http://www.ssmb.ro/oir/ or contact National Coordinator: International Coordinator: Dana-Mihaela Ciobanu Kristin Turcuta [email protected] [email protected] Mob: +40 722 729 320 Students for Kids International Projects (SKIP) We are a passionate, enthusiatic and entirely voluntarily student run charitable organisation, striving to provide amazing personal, professional and cultural development for future healthcare professionals through the development and manage-ment of sustainable community-based children's projects. This year, between June and August, we will be operating a grand total of 11 projects around the world. These projects will be taking place in Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, South Africa, Mada-gascar, India, Thailand as well as two projects taking place in both Sri Lanka and Belarus! Students from Universities across the UK (including International Students through our New External Volunteering Scheme!) will be working on community development and child support programs, ranging from basic education and health promotion to play schemes and basic care for vulnerable children and orphans. We will be working in partnership with lo-cally based organisations and communities to try and create sustainable interventions that further the futures of children and their surrounding communities. If you would like to know more or donate money to support our work then please visit our website at www.skipkids.org.uk or contact Claire and Stacey at [email protected].

Projects Announcements

Project Objectives -2-

All objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. Here is something about each of these five items:

*Specific - Be precise about what you are going to achieve

*Measurable - Quantify you objectives

*Achievable - Are you attempting too much?

*Realistic - Do you have the resource to make the objective happen (human, financial, equipment and material resources, will you have enough time)?

*Timed - When you plan to achieve the objective (within two months? By June of the next year?)


Projects Bulletin is official IFMSA publication

International Federation of Medical Students' Associations

General Secretariat IFMSA c/o WMA B.P. 63 01212 Ferney-Voltaire cedex France Phone:+33 450 404 759 Fax: +33 450 405 937 Email: [email protected] Home page: http://www.ifmsa.org

Copy Editing by Jonathan Mamo

Design & Layout by Ahmed Magdy

© Portions of Projects Bulletin may be reproduced for non political, and non profit purposes mentioning the source provided. Notice: Every care has been taken in the prepara-tion of these articles. Nevertheless, errors cannot always be avoided. IFMSA cannot accept any responsibility for any liability.

Email: [email protected]

EB - Executive Board

GA - General Assembly

PSD - Projects Support Division

SG - Secretary General

VCP - Village Concept Project

PPRC - Projects Proposal Review Committee

GS - General Secretariat

NMO - National Member Organization

WHO - World Health Organization

SC - Standing Committee

List of IFMSA abbreviations

Project Advisors

In order to enhance and strengthen the IFMSA Projects Support Division, we recently introduced another type of support to projects and project coordinators. Project advisors would assist project coordinators who are in process of applying for official IFMSA recognition, and provide the official running projects with assistance for project management, fundraising, etc. Specific duties of the project advsiors would be to provide support and guidance for projects coordinators while writ-ing a project proposal, support with the application process and report writting. The Project Advisors tasks also include assistence for running projects with project management, fundraising, international cooperation, human resources, and follow up related issues. Each project applying for official IFMSA status will be assigned to a project advisor. Projects which have already gained recognition will be retroactively assigned to a project advisor. Project advisors are elected by the Projects Support Division Director, based on their qualifications in the field.


Editorial Board of Projects Bulletin

Ahmed Magdy, IFMSA Publications Director Goran Mijaljica, IFMSA Projects Director Juan Manuel Munoz, IFMSA PPRC Member Manuela Moraru, IFMSA PPRC Member Maciej Matlok, IFMSA PPRC Member Mihnea Ionescu, Rex Crossley Award Coordinator Oana Tudorache, Rex Crossley Award Coordinator

projects bulletin issue 2

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