Survival Kit

for Pre-Regional Meeting and

Regional Meeting

IFMSA
Imprint
Regional Coordinator
Maria Jose Cisneros Caceres - Ecuador
Regional Team
David Imbago Jacome - Ecuador
Maria Ignacia Alvarez - Chile
Victor Echeveste - Mexico
Sergio Menchaca - Mexico
Carlos Morales - Mexico
Paula Escobedo Aedo - Chile
Ilse Ramirez - Mexico
Daniela Estefania Meneses Valle - Ecuador
Diego Villagomez - Ecuador
Publications Support Division
Firas Yassine - Lebanon
Mikolaj Maga - Poland

The International Federation of Medical Students

Associations (IFMSA) is a non-profit, non-governmental
organization representing associations of medical students
worlwide. IFMSA was founded in 1951 and currently
maintains 123 National Member Organizations from
more than 100 countries across six continents. With over
1.3 million members, IFMSA is recognized as a nongovernmental organization within the United Nations
system and the World Health Organization. It is also the
student chapter of the World Medical Association.
For more than 60 years, IFMSA has existed to bring
together the global medical students community at the
local, national, and international levels on social and
health issues.

Publisher
International Federation of Medical
Students Associations (IFMSA)

This is an IFMSA Publication

Notice

International Secretariat:
c/o Academic Medical Center
Meibergdreef 15 1105AZ

2014 - Only portions of this publication

may be reproduced for non political and
non profit purposes, provided mentioning
the source.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Disclaimer

Phone: +31 2 05668823

Email: gs@ifmsa.org
Homepage: www.ifmsa.org

This publication contains the collective

views of different contributors, the opinions
expressed in this publication are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the position of IFMSA.

All reasonable precautions have been

taken by the IFMSA to verify the information
contained in this publication. However, the
published material is being distributed
without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied. The responsibility for
the interpretation and use of the material
herein lies with the reader.

Contact Us
publications@ifmsa.org

The mention of specific companies or

of certain manufacturers products does
not imply that they are endorsed or
recommended by the IFMSA in preference
to others of a similar nature that are not
mentioned.

Some of the photos and graphics used in

this publication are the property of their
respective authors. We have taken every
consideration not to violate their rights.

Contents

Meet the Americas Regional Team

page 3

Welcome Message
page 4

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

General Agenda
page 5

Workshops
page 6

Regional Meeting
General Agenda
page 11

www.ifmsa.org

Presidents Sessions
page 11

Standing Committee Sessions

page 12

Activities
page 17

Plenary
page 18

About Colombia
page 19

Meet the Americas Regional Team

1. Maria Jose Cisneros Caceres

Regional Coordinator

6. Paula Escobedo
SCORA Regional Assistant

2. Maria Ignacia Alvarez

General Assistant

7. Sergio Menchaca
SCOPH Regional Assistant

3. David Imbago Jacome

General Assistant

8. Carlos Morales & Ilse Ramirez

SCOPE & SCORE Regional Assistants

4. Daniela Estefania Meneses Valle

SCORP Regional Assistant

9. Victor Echeveste
SCOME Regional Assistant

5. Diego Villagomez
Trainings SD Regional Assistant

Welcome Message
Beloved Americas Family,
Time has come for us to meet again, this
time in Magic Colombia.
The Regional Meeting is the most
important event we have; it represents a
time for capacity building, development
of leadership skills and an opportunity to
become key actors in the progress of our
Region towards a brighter future.
This is the time for us to gather and create
magic; the time for us to unify our region
while we embrace our diversity.
This space wants to become a place in
which we will keep working on the vision
of Global Health Leadership and strength
our Americas among friends.
For those who have already attended a
Regional Meeting in the past we surely
count on your knowledge and experiences
to enrich this event. To the newcomers we
urge you to learn everything from everyone.
You will see, at the end, that here in the
Americas, we are all one big family!
We want to wish you the best Regional
Meeting ever, and we hope you felt in love
with our Americas Region, like we have!

This time working with and for you has

been amazing but we know theres so
much left to be done; we have a lot to learn
and walk, but if we walk together we will
get there!
All the best from the Americas Regional
Team whos ready to rock your World.
On behalf of the Americas Team,
Maria Jose Cisneros Caceres
Regional Coordinator for the Americas
2014-2015

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

General Agenda

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

Workshops
IPAS:
Hello our lovely workshop participants! Were so very excited that youve decided to join
us on this journey! We have been working hard to make sure we have an absolutely
amazing workshop, and were extremely lucky that Cecilia Espinoza from Ipas will also be
joining us as a facilitator.
The workshop will build capacity among medical students and MSAs on maternal
health and peer outreach. It covers several related topics; for example: human, sexual
and reproductive rights; abortion laws and policies; barriers to access care, including
stigma; safe abortion methods; and identification and referral of women with abortionrelated complications. The curriculum also includes information and activities on values
clarification for abortion attitude transformation, as well as youth participation and
leadership.
Workshop Coordinators:

Kelly Thompson

Paula Escobedo

Cecilia Espinosa

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

Workshops
Training Experienced Trainers (TET):
We will work hard on improving our capacities regarding NMO Development and Finances!
Administer a NMO requires a number of skills and knowledge, and our medical school
they do not teach us that! BUT its ok, because this workshop has the purpose of filling
those blanks in the process of developing and managing an Organization, covering a wide
range of topics and matters but having a special focus on the Administrative skills and
NMO Financial Sustainability.
We will travel a special path in which we will cover different areas and we will end up not
only as Official Trainers of IFMSA but as highly experienced, ready to rock your NMOs, the
Region and All IFMSA!
We cant wait to meet you, get ready for the best experience you will have. Join us in
Magic Colombia.
Workshop Coordinators:

Camille Pelletier
Vernooy

Maria Jose Cisneros

Caceres

Diego Villagomez

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

Workshops
Training New Human Rights Trainers (TNHRT):
Dear participants, welcome to the TNHRT! I am delighted to be organizing this workshop
and I believe that it will be a success because it combines a diversity of factors: excellent
choice of topics such as the right to health (which gives a comprehensive overview
of everything that constitutes this right) and other sessions that assess vulnerable
populations who are mostly at risk of having this right denied, high level of interactivity
and great soft skills to guide you and build you up into a better doctor who is capable of
making the change your community. So well done on your excellent choice and I promise
to give you an incredible experience!
Workshop Coordinators:

Matthew Valentino

Daniella Meneses

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

Workshops
Global Health Diplomacy, advocacy and external representation:
The workshop on Global Health Diplomacy, Advocacy and External Representation will
serve as a platform for learning how external representation works and has the potential
to be a key training ground for the development of skills on advocacy, public speaking,
leadership and debate. Our involvement with different organizations consolidates the
position of IFMSA as an important international organization in the international health
field. We are going to learn a lot about the IFMSA work on Global Health Diplomacy,
Advocacy and External Representation with a special focus on Climate Change and
Health, together, we are going to improve our leadership skills and develop new ones.
By the end of the workshop we will not have only medical students in a room, but Global
Health leaders ready to make a change in our planet.
Workshop Coordinators:

Arthur Mello

Manon Pigeolet

Maria Jose Cisneros

Caceres

Pre-Regional Meeting Workshops

Workshops
Exchanges Workshop:
The pre-RM on Exchanges is a great opportunity to new National and Local Officers to get
familiar with everything that involves the exchanges world. It is an opportunity to be in a
smaller group and make all the questions and solve every doubt you have. It is also a way
of knowing the International level of the exchanges deeper and meet other National and
Local Officers from other NMOs that may have the same problems as you or solutions for
problems you have. We are really excited to be sharing with you this pre-RM and we hope
that you all have fun while you are learning.
Workshop Coordinators:

Omar Cherkaoui &

Luiza Alonso

Regional Meeting
General Agenda

Regional Meeting
Presidents Sessions
This year presidents session would go
far and beyond! We are working to have a
meeting in which capacity building would
play a key roll along side with empowerment
of our region present and future leaders.
We will have the best time.

Regional Meeting
Standing Committee Sessions
SCOME:
It is my pleasure to welcome the SCOME
PAMSA family to Colombia, where we
expect to live amazing experiences. We
meet once a year in the region for a week,
to share, learn and develop strategies and
knowledge about medical education. This
Regional Meeting is a great opportunity
to get involved and learn more about
SCOME. We as medical students can
become agents of change, proposing new
initiatives and suggesting the necessary
tools to improve the quality for the
education, therefore, this assembly joins
great people who have common goals.
I can personally say that a meeting of
this magnitude completely changes your
perspective about what IFMSA is, you can
also acquire valuable skills, which you can
take home to improve the quality for your
national projects, and finally, to know and
learn from your peers around the region.
The RM is a unique opportunity, Colombia
is waiting for you!

Regional Meeting
Standing Committee Sessions
SCOPE/SCORE:
We are very excited to present the agenda for the SCOPE/SCORE sessions during the
RM2015! The sessions were designed to cover all the topics you suggested in the call for
input and promote communication between NMOs. Please be ready to learn, participate
and share your experience with exchanges and to bring all possible questions and
suggestions to the sessions. We are going to make this Regional Meeting the platform
towards growth and collaboration as a region. Also, dont forget to bring a bathing suit ;)

SCOPH:
It is for me a great honor to share with you the agenda of the next Regional Meeting
of the Americas. I am so excited to see you all soon in Colombia. Be prepared to have
the best experience you will ever had in the IFMSA world. I would suggest you all not to
forget something typical from your country to share with the rest of the SCOPH sessions
participants, as well as information regarding to your health system we are going to use
during the sessions. But the most important, do not leave your country without your
Orange Power!

Regional Meeting
Standing Committee Sessions
SCORA:
SCORA sessions WILL ROCK this January 2015 in Cali!. What is this going to be about?
Well, as SCORA is the Standing Committee on Reproductive and Sexual Health including
AIDS, we work in issues related with reproductive and sexual health... Want to know more?
You will be more than welcome to be part of these sessions.
What is expected from you? It doesnt matter if you are a new member or if you have a lot
of story in SCORA, we just need your MOTIVATION and an OPEN MIND to live and enjoy
this experience! Even if you were designed by your delegation to attend this session, I
promise, this will be unforgettable! Paula Escobedo, SCORA Regional Assistant for the
Americas 2014/15.

Regional Meeting
Standing Committee Sessions
SCORP:
I hope that youre as excited as I am for our upcoming SCORP Sessions in the Regional
Meeting (RM) of the Americas. For those of you who are coming for the first time, you
will learn many things from our amazing Standing Committee; you will understand why
Human Rights and Peace are essential for medical students and why we need to advocate
for these topics. For those who have attended Sessions before, we are going to have the
best time! You will all find motivation and different tools that will help you be the best
SCORPions ever.
During our Sessions well discuss different topics that you can find in the agenda. Ive
taken in considerations the topics you want to see and others that I think are needed
for the development of our region. But most important, come with all of your energy, be
prepared to have fun and share a good time.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, be the change you want to see in the world, just by joining
SCORP and attending to these sessions you are all being part of the change we need as
future doctors.
I hope these Sessions fulfill your expectations and contribute to make this RM be an
amazing experience. Im looking forward to meet you all!

Regional Meeting
Activities

Sally Gordon
Projects Support Division
Regional Asisstant for Asia-Pacific
Activities Fair:

opportunity to bring your activity (project,

short course, initiative, program etc.) to life,
presenting your NMOs work to your friends
and colleagues at the regional meeting.
We would love these presentations to be
as creative and interesting as possible!
Winners of the activities presentations will
be awarded a certificate to congratulate
their achievement, and have their activity
promoted throughout the whole of the
IFMSA. We cant wait to see you what you
have in store for us!
Poster Fair under the theme Medical
Education in the Americas:

Activities Presentations:

According to the World Health Organization,

Medical Education is defined as: Course
of study required to educate a legally
qualified and licensed practitioner of
medicine, concerned with maintaining or
restoring human health through the study,
diagnosis and treatment of disease and
injury, through the science of medicine
and the applied practice of that science.
Gaining a basic medical degree may take
from five to eight or even nine years,
depending on jurisdiction and university.
Medical doctors include generalists and
specialists. Medical training completed
by internship qualifies a medical doctor to
become a physician or a surgeon.

The activities presentations are a unique

As part of an international federation, we

Here is YOUR opportunity to show the rest

of the region what your NMO has achieved!
The activities fair is a fantastic and fun
opportunity for you to promote your
activity (project, short course, initiative,
program etc) within the Americas region,
as well as recruit IFMSA members to
help with your activity, and gain useful
advice from colleagues working in similar
areas. Winners of the activities fair will
be awarded a certificate to congratulate
their achievement, and have their activity
promoted throughout the whole of the
IFMSA. We cant wait to see you there!

have the opportunity to share with medical

students from other countries and regions,
how we learn medicine, what problems we
face, how can we tackle them. By getting
input from other medical education
systems, we will be able to apply ideas
into our own system, with the objective to
improve the quality of medical education
in every country.
Participants are expected to create a Poster
about their countrys medical education
system. Countries with more than one
NMO, should create only one poster if they
want to participate. Each country will be
given 5 minutes to present the main points
to the judges.
Therefore, the poster should be selfexplanatory and clearly readable. It is
suggested that posterscontain pictures
(including maps, graphs and tables)
and phrases, instead of sentences and
paragraphs. Participants may feel free
to be creative, both in the poster and the
presentation.
Below are the suggested contents of the
poster:

program divided? (basic sciences,

clinical science, internship, social
service)
5. How many years is the duration of
your medical education program?
6. Requirements to be accepted in a
Medical School?
7. Requirements to practice medicine
in your country
8. Problems you face as medical
student regarding your study system?
9. What can your medical education
system contribute to other systems
in the region? (special features you
consider help your education)
We will have a specific time for this event
in the General agenda, so get ready to
show all of us how things are done in your
country.

Plenary:
This is the first ever year in which we will have plenaries

1. General information about the

country:

during the Regional Meeting!

2. Number of Universities and Medical

Schools

when and where we will made decision regarding

3. Public education system vs Private

education system (Medical Schools):
Cost and quality
4. How is your medical education

Plenaries are the decision making body; Is the place

the changes on our Internal Operational Guidelines
(IOGs), hear and decide about the next host of the
Regional Meeting 2016, witness a high quality projects
presentation, and many more surprises!
Encourage your Delegation to attend this session and
make the room vibrate when your NMO name is called!

About Colombia
Regional Meeting Hotel & Venue:
Visitors will find a lasting warm and special
place at Dann Carlton Hotel facilites that
will make you feel as you were at home
enjoying your business or tourist staying
in a first class style.
-

93 deluxe room.
3 elegant suites.
A luxurious presidental suite.
Air conditioning system.
Anti-noise Windows.
Personal Access with digital card to
floors and rooms.
Phone system with direct national
and worldwide dialing in each room
and bathroom.
International and national satellite TV
system.
Safe Box.
Wi-fi zoning and cable for broadband
internet Access

Hotel Information:
Carrera 2 N 1-60, Barrio el pen
PBX (57)(2)8933000 8862000
FAX (57)(2)8934000
TOLL FREE 018000523111
http://www.hotelesdanncali.com.co/
CALI-COLOMBIA-SURAMERICA

Pre-Regional Meeting Hotel & Venue:

Located in the heart of the country, Armenia
is a city with an average temperature
ranging between 24 28C. The proximity
of Armenia with nearby towns makes it a
reference point in tourism, providing an
endless list of plans of adventure, culture,
ecoturism, nature and many more. This
region is also gifted with breathtaking
landscapes that show the vast beauty of
the coffee region. Thanks to its size and
the quality of the roads, the department
of Quindio allows mobilization in an easy
and comfortable way between its 12
townships, and each of those offers great
experiences.
Hotel Information:
Km 5 Va al Valle a 1 minuto del Jardn
Botnico
TEL: 320 6705909 3148268708
CALARCA-QUINDIO
www.fincahotellarivera.com
fincahotellarivera@gmail.com
fincalariveraquindio@gmail.com

About Colombia
Organizing Committee:
Dear Americas Region Family,
It is with great excitement and honor that
we invite you to attend the next version of
the most important event of our Region:
The Americas Regional Meeting 2015.
A part of the Andes mountain range,
Santiago de Cali is the Worlds Capital of
Salsa and the main center in Colombia for
sports contests, being the only Colombian
city to have hosted several international
championships and games. All this,
together with Calis tropical savanna
climate, the day and night entertainment
and the kindness of its people, make it a
wonderful spot for hosting an international
event such as the The Americas Regional
Meeting 2015.
We, the ASCEMCOL Family, cherish and
respect the IFMSA not only for its impact
on medical education and global health
issues but also for its hard work on
strengthening several bonds of friendship
and collaboration among our countries
that go beyond our expectations as future
physicians, proving that investing in
human values and youth empowerment
does positively impact the world. Our 25
years experience on organizing national
academic, community and scientific events
will make the Americas Regional Meeting

2015 a summit full of professional trainings

and sessions, luxury accommodation and
joyful nightlife, which will make your stay in
Cali and Colombia the most unforgettable
experience of yourlife!
We invite you to start off the new year
on the right foot in Cali, the subsidiary of
heaven and salsa.

Sincerely,
The Organizing Committee
The Americas Regional Meeting 2015

Chair of the OC:

Social Program Coordinator:

Estefana Lpez Ramrez

Email: rmcolombia2015@gmail.com
Facebook: stefa.nita19

Edier Moreno
Facebook: eider.moreno.1

Vice-Chair of the OC:

Juan Felipe Mier Garca
Email: vicechair.rm2015@gmail.com
Facebook: juanfelipemier
Pre-RM Coordinator:
Camila Zambrano Morales
Facebook: camila.zambranomorales
Marketing:
Harold Basallo Triana
Facebook: harold.basallo
Sponsorship Coordinator:
Yerson R. Penagos Osnas
facebook: yosnas
Logistics Coordinator:
Juan Felipe Lasso
Facebook: lassoidrobo