WHAT IS SCOPE? Introduction SCOPE is one of the six Standing Committees in the IFMSA and stands for the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange. It constitutes the largest exchange program within the IFMSA and it has been, and still is the backbone of the organization since its foundation. Currently, over 8 000 international exchanges are made every year and over 80 countries take part in SCOPE. Aims of SCOPE The aim of SCOPE is to promote international understanding and co-operation among medical students and all health professionals through international exchange of students. The exchange program offers the students a unique educational and cultural experience in addition to the regular medical curriculum. It serves to broaden students’ understanding of medical and social conditions in different countries. The aim of a clerkship is NOT: To provide an opportunity for the purpose of earning money A holiday Intended to be a permanent career placement or recruitment opportunity in another country A vehicle for any person to permanently leave their country and territory. Definition of the Professional Exchange A Professional Exchange involves the exchange of a medical student who gains medical experience in a hospital abroad. This practice, named a clerkship, can be either pre-clinical or clinical. The clerkship is purely educational for the student and he will not receive payment for it. How does the exchange work The National Member Organizations (NMOs) in IFMSA are almost all represented in SCOPE by a National Exchange Officer (NEO). This person is responsible for the national exchange program of his NMO, both on the national and international level. The basis for the exchange is bilateral or unilateral exchange contracts that are signed at the General Assembly by two NEOs from two different countries. These contracts decide which countries will participate and how many students will be exchanged during the forthcoming year. The term "unit" is used, in which "1 unit" means the exchange of one student for one month.

By signing the so-called bilateral contracts the countries may not only send the number of students stated in the contracts (outgoing) but also commit themselves to host the same number of foreign students (incoming). Usually this means to arrange free board and lodging for the foreign students and to offer them a social program. If two countries sign a unilateral contract, it means that one of the countries will send the stated number of students to the other country without receiving any in return. This means that the outgoing student (or the national member organisation) will have to pay for his own lodging and boarding, although these arrangements and the social program will be offered by the hosting country. In order to run the exchange program as smoothly as possible all countries have their own exchange conditions. In these conditions all the precise information of one particular country is stated, such as the available periods, towns, fields, the working conditions, any particular language demanded, application documents needed, deadline of Card of Acceptances and Card of Confirmations (see more later), required equipment which the incoming should bring for his exchange, required vaccinations etc. It is very important that also the LEOs are informed about the exchange conditions of the other countries in order to advise their outgoing students properly and thus avoid unnecessary problems. Exchange conditions can be read by the local and national officers at their own databases (within the www.ifmsa.net) or by students at www.ifmsa.net/public webpages. The Standing Committee on Public Health As medical student leaders and activists, as human beings, it is health that brings us all together. The American bacteriologist and public health icon C.E.A. Winslow thought of public health as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities.” There is one major thing that can be derived from this definition – public health seeks to prevent disease at the level of the community and society. It points out the key differences between public health and medicine the way we learn it in university. While classical medicine focuses on curing disease, the public health approach is to prevent disease from occurring. Another difference is that doctors are taught to focus on the individual patient, whereas public health takes a different view and focuses on the populations as a whole. Modern public health however suggests measures based on population health analysis, trying to find answers to why a certain population is at risk for acquiring disease. Action is then

centered on introducing simple, cost-effective, and preventative measures in order to improve the health of the population as a whole. Due to public health measures like vaccination programs, control of infectious diseases, increased awareness of causes of chronic diseases, road safety programs, and others, most countries of the world have witnessed an exponential increase in life expectancy during the last century. The Standing Committee on Public Health, consists of a group of dedicated students around the world, working on developing, implementing and improving public health in their communities and societies. The fascinating thing about public health is that it is literally everywhere. There is hardly anything in our society which is not in some way related to, or influenced by public health. There are many ways of explaining and defining public health. The most important thing is to find your own approach and ask yourself, “What does public health mean to you?”. The Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH) brings together medical students from all over the world to learn, build skills, cooperate, explore, and share ideas when it comes to addressing all issues related to public health, including global health issues, health policies, and health promotion and education activities. The aim of SCOPH is to work for a healthy society that is empowered by knowledge, skills, and opportunities to live a life of complete physical, mental and social well-being. We seek to achieve this through our community based activities and through our international activity. Locally there are a large number of projects carried out, each based on the needs of the Population. Internationally we exchange ideas and knowledge to improve and evaluate our work and personal skills. In addition, our Standing Committee acts as a voice representing medical students around the globe through Advocacy and Policy Making, thus being a worldwide platform for medical students.

The focus of our efforts is to try to tackle the main Public Health issues according to local and regional needs. Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes mellitus, Cancer, Tobacco smoking, Alcohol and Substance abuse, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Health, Road Safety, and Rural Health are just some of the many topics that SCOPH focuses on. Some of our goals are: -Disease prevention within our society -Health promotion and education

-Raising awareness about Global Public Health issues amongst medical students and our society -Advocating for health policies as the voice of medical students worldwide -Developing skills and knowledge in medical students as the future health professionals -Working as an international team and collaborating with external public health organizations to use the potential of over one million worldwide medical students As SCOPH members we have the chance to develop skills and knowledge for our personal development. We learn about organization, teamwork, leadership, time and selfmanagement, and communication as a part of our development as complete and skillful health professionals. Medical students involved in SCOPH projects gain a much better understanding of public health matters in their own countries as well as of the situation around the world. This creates awareness within medical students of their role in public health as future health professionals, and provides them with the necessary skills to address global public health issues. Prepared with enough experience and knowledge we will be able to share this knowhow with our patients in order to empower our societies to live a healthy life. The persons chosen for these positions should be hardworking, good planners and organizers, accessible, approachable, reliable, and responsible. SCORA SCORA, the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS, is one of the six committees within the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). Through SCORA, medical students across the globe work locally, nationally and worldwide to increase awareness and health concerning reproductive health and related issues. The vision of SCORA is a world free of HIV/AIDS and other STIs, with complete respect for every person’s reproductive rights and choice of sexuality, and with universal gender equality. Our mission is such that, as an organization of future doctors which is not affiliated to any religious or political party, we will, through education, strive to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections whilst challenging the widespread violation of reproductive rights and gender inequality. From the beginning, SCORA has believed that one of the important methods of fighting AIDS is through prevention; and the only way of prevention is through education. Therefore, the main focus of this committee is on activities that emphasize already existing

solutions and create new educational programs for medical students, as well as for the general population, emphasizing teenagers as a risk group. This is done through training, awareness campaigns, local, national and international projects, assessment and improvement of medical education. The activities of students working in SCORA concentrate on promotion of healthy sexual and reproductive behaviors and contraceptives, prevention of HIV and STIs, on fight against all forms of stigma and discrimination towards PLWHA (People Living With HIV) and LGBTQI community, prevention of unsafe abortion, on respecting gender equality and maternal health. The projects are a little different in each country, but mostly we have the same basis: interactive methods to get people involved and to get them thinking, we focus on talking and communication without giving long lectures and the whole session should be as much fun and interactive as possible. SCORA PROJECTS SCORA has currently a number of IFMSA recognized projects – Transnational (officially recognizing collaboration between two or more national member organizations of the Federation) or Endorsed (run by one national member organization), the projects are: Transnational • Northern European Cooperation of Sexual Education Projects (NECSE) • SCORA Twinning • SCORA Xchange (The SCORA EXCHANGE program aims to provide medical students with theoretical knowledge and practical work concerning HIV/AIDS. This will be achieved through lectures, laboratory work and direct contact with HIV positive children and with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).) • Workshops in Peer Education for Medical Students in Lebanon and Poland (Peer education describes education programs that make use of trainers and educators who share similar background characteristics with those being taught. Our being medical students and teaching things when we meet at GA’s is peer education.) • First Gynecological Consultation • Sexperience • Illuminaids: zero stigma and discrimination towards PLWHA • Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) • World AIDs Day • The Red Ribbon • International Women’s Day Endorsed • Sexual Education for Sex Workers • Red Party Some of the topics SCORA is dealing with: 1. HIV/AIDS? What is it all about?

2. What is Reproductive Health? 3. Gender ( Sex includes the biological and physiological characteristics of men and women while gender is socially constructed roles and behaviors.) 4. Awareness ribbons colors & meanings : Red Ribbon: • Meaning: Most commonly associated with the fight against AIDS and HIV White Ribbon: • Meaning: This color is a symbol of violence against women, peace Blue Ribbon: • Meaning: Child abuse Pink Ribbon: • Meaning: Most commonly associated with breast cancer awareness, Purple Ribbon: • Meaning: This color is a symbol of domestic violence SCORA Publications 1. "Medical Student International" on Adolescents' Reproductive Health 1998 2. "Medical Student International" on Child Health-2000 3. SCORA Information Package for Newcomers – 2011 4. SCORA Peer Education Database - games and methodologies from different peer education projects in the world are compiled 5. World AIDS Day activity report - annually released 6. SCORA Magazine - SCORAlicious: published and archived at the ifmsa-scora yahoogroup 7. IFMSA-website: www.ifmsa.org then reproductive health and www.medstudentsfightaids.org Events Calendar February 6 th International Zero Tolerance to FGM day March 8 th International Women’s Day April 7 th World Health Day 3rd Saturday of May Candle Light Memorial May 17 th International day against Homophobia and Transphobia July 20 th World Youth Day October Breast Cancer Awareness Month 4 th Monday of October Breast Cancer Awareness Day November 25 th International Day of Elimination of Violence against women December 1 st World AIDS Day December 10 th Human Rights Day

SCORP mission statement “The Standing Committee on human Rights and Peace is committed to promoting Human Rights and Peace. As future health care professionals we work towards empowering and improving the health of refugees and other vulnerable people.” SCORP History In the year 1983 when the global refugee issue rose into general knowledge, the Standing Committee on Refugees was founded. The mission of the new standing committee was to call attention to the ever-growing problems of refugees and internally displaced people. After a while, however, the committee members noticed that the efforts made were rather palliative and short term. For addressing the challenge better and finding sustainable solutions, the importance of the prevention of conflicts and human right violations was noticed. Based on these ideas, the Standing Committee on Refugees and Peace was founded in 1994. In 2005, after noticing that SCORP was more and more dealing with Human Rights and indirectly through that with refugees, it changed it’s name again, to better illustrate its true activities. So it became the Standing Committee on human Rights and Peace, keeping its abbreviation - SCORP.

SCORP Aims SCORP has the following aims, focussing on health issues: • To learn about the problems that vulnerable populations face. • To collaborate with NGOs in establishing projects for medical students to work in international refugee camps. • To educate students and professionals in the health care system vulnerable populations’ health. • To speak and act for peaceable conflict solutions and discuss and learn about conflict prevention. • To establish and develop multidisciplinary co-operation in matters of peace-culture building Structure: NORP o The NORP is the National officer. The duty of the NORP is to coordinate, lead, and report the SCORP activities of their NMO. The NORP is also the medium of communication

between the SCORP in an NMO, and the international SCORP team. They are the representative of the entire NMO and all SCORPions within their respected NMO. The NORP is elected through the NMO elections. LORP o Similar to a NORP, the LORP is in charge of the local committee. Their duty will be to be in charge of the SCORP activities in their local committees. They will be the medium of communication between their Local committee and the NORP. LORPs can also contact the international team if need be. SCORPion o Any motivated individual involved with SCORP. They are committed to the cause, and often volunteer or try to help out in anyway for SCORP Projects. They also can use their creativity, share their ideas, and use their personal skills to create projects, start events, facilitate training, and many other things. SCORP is for everyone and anyone who wants to give all they can. What do I want to work with in SCORP? o you can link SCORP to your medical studies! (Patient rights, Rights of health care workers, ethics and support, treatment of unregistered immigrants, and the list goes on). Think about major problems of your country, region, world. By doing so you can establish what your projects/workshops/campaigns will focus on. What can I do in SCORP? o With such a wide spectrum of topics there are many different actions that can be taken in SCORP. An awareness campaign, a charity dinner, workshops and trainings in various important aspects of human rights, volunteer work, and many other actions. Your only limits are the limits set by the Committee itself. Always ask for opinions of your fellow SCORPions as you can be amazed by the amount of creativity present! o You will have to set goals for what you wish to do in SCORP. Think of what you will be aiming mostly to do, such as charity work? Volunteering? Awareness campaigns? There is much to do; all you need to do is think of it! Standing committee on medical education History Medical Education should be a concern of every medical student as it shapes not only the quality of future doctors, but also the quality of healthcare. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) has a dedicated organ which aims to implement an optimal learning environment for all medical students around the world – the Standing Committee On Medical Education (SCOME). It was one of IFMSA’s first standing committees from the beginning of its foundation in 1951. IFMSA SCOME acts as a discussion forum for students interested in the different aspects of medical education in the hope of pursuing and achieving its aim.

Important moments in the history of SCOME First policy statement of IFMSA: 1951-1970 - Impact of Technology on Health Education Declaration on Primary Health Care and Medical Education, 1979 Policy declaration on Primary Health Care, 1980 Policy Declaration on Medical Education, 1980 Resolution on Medical Education, 1983 Mission Healthcare is changing at an unprecedented rate and at multiple fronts. Technology has revolutionized archaic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Medical science has increased our understanding of the body and created an explosion of new information. Patients are increasingly questioning and less trusting their doctors. However, medical schools are not or only slowly introducing changes in their curriculum. Teachers at many medical faculties are not educated to teach; they are doctors and mostly lack knowledge of how to show their skills to their students. We question that students educated in a so-called traditional curriculum are able to face the needs of healthcare in a modern society. Scientific data show that modern medical curricula are a lot more likely to teach students in an appropriate way in order to create doctors equipped with various skills and knowledge. Although there are a number of innovative approaches to teaching medicine, partly based on findings of cognitive science, change in medical curricula occurs slowly and at few medical schools. The need for change is either not recognized or ignored in many universities. As medical students are directly exposed to medical curricula, they should rightfully be assumed to be experts on their educational system and should therefore have an influence on the creation of new curricula. From IFMSA’s experience, it is often the medical students who are the strongest proponents for adapting their education to the needs of their community. Here SCOME enters the game. We try to promote modern medical education. Convinced by many positive examples we go on that mission by teaching and training students, teachers and professors, exchanging experiences and spreading information. As a global grassroots organization of medical students locally active in more than 94 countries worldwide, IFMSA has made meaningful contributions to improve medical education over the last decades. 4 Standing Committee on Medical Education - Manual 4 International Federation of Medical Students‘ Associations On our way to improve medical education Are medical students throughout the world acquainted with the subject of “medical education”? Do they recognize their role in the field of medical education and can they really make a change? Most of the students get involved in the process of medical education as passive participants fulfilling their duties, but not scrutinizing the educational process itself. In this way, they are missing the unique opportunity that they have as “consumers”/“clients”,

to give their opinion on the educational process and thus provide the data about that system from “inside”. In general, students show lack of interest and awareness for this important issue. This is the main reason why motivating students is our first goal. Currently, there is a “reform-pandemic” in medical education going on worldwide. Medical curricula are going through changes in most of the medical faculties throughout the world. Since it is difficult to predict the results of these changes and it takes a long period, they are usually drawn from the reform process itself. It is of great importance that students are actively involved in this process because they can very early inform the faculty authorities of the disadvantages which the new system might have. Students should promote vital feedback which is essential for the development of an efficient medical education system. Student organizations should exchange experience and data which will enhance their role as active participants in the reform process. In that direction, the role of SCOME is not to represent a mere talking point, but a central coordinative unit which will guide medical students throughout the world towards a better medical education. SCOME is not meant to be only a discussion forum, but “headquarters” that will analyze the current situation in medical education, set up strategy for action and council students how to put that strategy in action in their own countries. In most of the cases it is rather hard to improve our educational system. In many countries there is no tradition of integrating students in faculty development. Sometimes they are not even members of decision-making bodies within the schools or they are only a minority in those. So statements and proposals of students do not have a high value for stakeholders. We must be aware of this well-known situation causing multiple problems. Our strategy has to be adapted to these circumstances. How? In the last years we worked in three main fields: a. Locally The most promising strategy for change is a local approach. Even if students do not have a majority within the faculty boards, students could convince deans, professors, teachers and stakeholders to develop their education. It may not be possible to change the whole curriculum at once; but small changes in each of the different subjects will slowly but steadily improve the curriculum as a whole. In a constructive and cooperative way one can find many small solutions to make life easier. To get some ideas of how to approach them have a look at SCOME’s Policy Statements, exchange experiences with other National and Local Officers on Medical Education (NOMEs and LOMEs) using the SCOME mailing list ([email protected]) and have a look at the SCOME-wikipedia at wiki.ifmsa.org/scome! To enable NOMEs and LOMEs to facilitate improvements on the local level, one of the main activities within SCOME are training sessions. Training covers all fields of medical 5 Standing Committee on Medical Education - Manual 5 International Federation of Medical Students‘ Associations

education, like assessment and exams, evaluation, teaching and learning systems, problembased-learning, community-based-learning, computer-based-learning, policies of government and ministries. It is important to provide as many training sessions as possible. These sessions are held on IFMSA General Assemblies (in March and August), pre-GA workshops, regional and national meetings and on special international training workshops. What is the task of SCOME on the local level? Provide some additional courses that can be useful for medical students Facilitate discussions between students and faculty Participate in the evaluation process Improve medical education Contribute to SCOME projects and start new national ones Collect local students’ opinions and try to implement them Represent local students in faculty and university boards b. International Projects We have different types of international projects: Database projects The main objective of these projects is to collect information (e.g. about curricula, residencies) and make it available for all medical students. Research in Medical Education We support and encourage students to do research on the field of Medical Education. Therefore we work together with the scientific students’ conferences where we initiate medical education sessions and provide workshops. Furthermore we have our own research projects. Courses After students found a lack of a special topic in their curriculum they initiate courses. Students also invite guest speakers and experts themselves. If these courses lead to a success and the interest of the students is high enough, the medical school will accept to integrate them in the curriculum eventually. There are also many courses run by students as peer educators. Training To improve our knowledge and skills we organize training workshops e.g. on the topic of the implementation of the Bologna process in medical education. c. International lobby

We cooperate with international organizations dealing with medical education and we represent the opinions and vision of medical student’s worldwide. Internationally this is mainly done through IFMSA’s Liaison Officer on Medical Education issues who is the student member of the executive boards of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). NOMEs should work in a similar way on a national level with their national associations for medical education. Standing Committee on Research Exchange SCORE is one of the six Standing Committees in the IFMSA and stands for the Standing Committee On research Exchange. SCORE was founded in 1991. The primary mission of SCORE is to provide intensive and focused research projects, which allow medical students to expand their knowledge of specific scientific areas of their choice In 2003, SCORE had 50 active participating countries, offering 1200 research project, and provided over 600 student opportunities to participate in research exchange The official language of the Research Exchange program is English. Lodging, boarding, and social program are arranged by the hosting local committee of each country. Objectives of SCORE • SCORE provides medical students opportunity to participate in a rewarding and affordable clinical or pre-clinical research in foreign country. • Research Projects organized through SCORE are designed to deepen medical student knowledge in the various fields of medical and clinical research. • The possibility of partaking in research abroad is intended to broaden medical students' body of knowledge, and introduce them to different approaches to clinical investigation, medical education, health care, and ethical research standards. Research Exchange Projects The student is incorporated into a research team of their choice and participates in research under the direct supervision of the tutor. The student will be guided through the basic principles of research, such as literature studies, collecting information, scientific writing and laboratory work. At the end of the project, the student is expected to write a short essay about his/her results and achievements. The Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE) provides the medical students with a unique possibility to experience a clinical or pre-clinical research in a foreign country. The student is incorporated in a research team and conducts a research work under the supervision of a certain tutor. The student will be guided through the basic principles of research, such as literature studies, collecting information, scientific writing, laboratory work, statistics and ethical aspects.

Penicillin, Insulin, The Human Genome Project, HTLV-1. Rio, Copenhagen, Toronto, Sydney. Are you interested in medical research and want to see the world? Then join the Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE). SCORE is committed to building research awareness among medical students here at UWI. We are in our infancy stages and are looking for a good team of enthusiastic students who are willing to help. Never done research in STANDING COMMITTEE ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INCLUDING AIDS (SCORA) The Standing Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS (SCORA) is a committee under the auspices of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). • Definition of the research exchange program The SCORE research exchange program enables medical students from participating member NMOs to take part in research projects abroad. Exchange students participate in a specified research project for a period of time under the direct supervision and guidance of a tutor. Students benefit from engaging in research in areas of interest. The official language of the research exchange program is English. Lodging, boarding, and social program are arranged by the local committee of the IFMSA National Member Organization (NMO). The academic recognition of the research exchange program varies among medical schools. Some universities recognize exchange projects as a part of their curricula and others award academic credits. The participating student should find out before departure if his/her chosen project meets the criteria given by his/her home university. • Definition of the research exchange project The research exchange allows the local committee to host a foreign medical student for a defined period of time. A participating student is incorporated into a research team of their choice and participates in research under the direct supervision of a tutor. The student will be guided through the basic principles of research, such as literature studies, collecting information, scientific writing, laboratory work, statistics and ethical aspects related to their discipline. At the end of the project, the student might be expected to write a short essay about his/her results and achievements. The research exchange projects are specifically defined by their tutor, approved by the SCORE Supervisory Board, and listed in the IFMSA-coordinated database of the research projects of the participating country. The duration of the research project and the language are specified in the description of the project. Usually the projects last 4 weeks to 6 months but some projects may last up to 6 months. The research exchange project is usually carried out in English the language of the hosting country may also be used if specified. • How does the research exchange work?

The National Member Organizations (NMOs) in the IFMSA are represented in SCORE by a National Officer on Research Exchange (NORE). The NORE is responsible for the national research exchange program both on the national and international level. The basis for an exchange is a so-called bilateral and unilateral contract that is signed by the NOREs from the two different National Member Organizations. These contracts determine which countries and how many students will be exchanged during the forthcoming year. All countries have their own exchange program that sheds light on different aspect of the exchange experience. Every local committee provides information that includes available towns and the periods of availability, documents needed for the application, working conditions, vaccinations, required equipment, deadlines for sending the documents etc.