At the end of this month the term of the current Executive Board will come to an end. We are looking back on a year rich in experiences, exciting projects and new friendships. It was wonderful to meet so many new people who see the world in different ways and who all had in common the same drive to have an impact as a medical student. swimsa can make you invest quite some energy, and looking back, we can say, it was all worth it.
The ongoing pandemic influenced our ways of working and the possibilities we had. We became creative and found new ways to effectively guarantee the functioning of swimsa as an organization. We are proud to look back and see what we achieved during these two semesters. Just to mention a few: many new documents and guidelines will facilitate the work of swimsa in the future, written policy papers on many different topics allowed us to share the ideas and vision of medical students all around Switzerland, and by increasing our social media output more than ever before we were able to reach more people and show them what swimsa is up to.
We would like to thank every swimsa internal for their immense workload and support through our term, and also all of you for being enthusiastic and actively engaged in whatever way and capacity outside your full time studies! Thanks to you, medical studies in Switzerland are far more than textbooks, lectures and exams.
Not least our thanks also go to our partners and sponsors as well as the medical facilities that enable us to do our work no matter the circumstances.
We wish our successors the very best and are looking forward to seeing the new swimsa internals come up with new projects and pursuing the goals to make the voice of Swiss medical students heard! Thank you all again for joining us through the term 20/21 and we wish you the very best for your restart at university and further swimsa engagement.
Take care,
your swimsa Executive Board 20/21
In the back: Thilo (GS), Stephanie (P), Stefan (VPE), Charlotte (VPA), Ariane (VPC)
In the front: Dilana (VPI), Camille (VPPR), Kate (T), Valeria (VPG)
15th-17th of October 2021 Follow us on social media and keep updated on what's to come!
Are you looking for an opportunity to be active in swimsa and shape the future of the organization? It is not too late yet to become a member of the Executive Board for the term 21/22!
General Secretary (GS)
Vice-President for External Affairs (VPE)
How to learn more: request more information or a personal meeting by reaching out to gs@swimsa.ch.
If you are interested in this rewarding experience, send your documents in English:
This year's IFMSA August Meeting took place in a hybrid format with 40 National Member Organization representatives present in Panama from the 29th of July until the 7th of August 2021. During the meeting swimsa contributed actively to the progress of IFMSA with writing statements and asking questions during the Sessions and Plenaries.
swimsa Exchanges
Exchanges Weekend 2021 08.-10.10.2021
It's official now! We will have our annual Exchanges Weekend 2021 from Friday (afternoon) 08.10.2021 to Sunday (afternoon) 10.10.2021. The official registration will open somewhen in the middle of August 2021. Keep an eye open for our promotion when it starts! (Follow us on Instagram).
If you want to be the first one to receive more information about the Call for Participants: send us your contact details here by 14.08.2021.
P.S. We will have some special international (IFMSA) guests attending this event, so don't miss it!
picture taken by Valeria Scheiwiller
Left-over spots Exchange the world!
You can apply for a SCOPE exchange in any month between December 2021 and March 2022. Fill out the following google form and check out which countries are still available.
Here you can find the exchange reports from previous SCOPE outgoings.
We have one Research exchange (SCORE) spot left for Romania for a month between December 2021 and March 2022. Send an email to nore@swimsa.ch to receive more information about it.
First come, first serve!
News from the swimsa family
Dear swimsa family,
Four years ago, the organization Young Sonographers was founded to push ultrasound teaching forward throughout Switzerland.
What initially sounded like a great idea, but seemed far away is becoming the actual state of things! Young Sonographers are present at 7 medical universities and teach basic abdominal ultrasound to over 400 medical students per year.
This great success led us to rethink how we teach and what materials we use. The first version of our online learning resource was an incredible amount of work and indispensable for the whole program. However, we think we can improve the way medical students in Switzerland learn ultrasound even more and therefore we decided to update the complete eLearning, align it better in between chapters and use the latest didactic advances. This update is carried out now and slowly takes shape, also thanks to the great support we received from swimsa.
Many thanks to all of you!
M.E.T.I.S. x AfricaSmile
Exciting times are ahead: M.E.T.I.S. is very happy to announce a new collaboration with the association AfricaSmile in Togo! In July of this year, three of our Executive Board members had the opportunity to travel on-site and see first-hand how the local Togolese association strives to combat poverty and improve access to health resources. Sharing our vision of a world where everybody has equal access to health care, M.E.T.I.S. was very impressed by the various projects AfricaSmile has created and continues to build up. This collaboration will be M.E.T.I.S.’ 7th and newest project; we are looking forward to many fruitful years and new opportunities in the fight for equality in health care. If you have any questions or wish to support this collaboration, do not hesitate to contact us via metis@swimsa.ch.
Do you want to share your project with the rest of the swimsa family? Send us pictures and texts from your local activities to newsletter@swimsa.ch!
Aus dem Nähkästchen plaudern Goldsponsor - vsao
#swissmedtalk: So heisst der neue, von uns unterstützte Podcast der Berner Medizinstudenten Willi Balandies und Afreed Ashraf. Junge Ärztinnen und Ärzte sowie Medizinstudierende berichten darin über ihren Alltag – der ideale Ratgeber für alle, die sich für diesen Berufsweg interessieren! Dabei kommt auch ziemlich Überraschendes und sehr Persönliches aufs Tapet ….
#swissmedtalk: c’est le nom du podcast soutenu par l’asmac qui a été lancé par les étudiants en médecine Willi Balandies et Afreed Ashraf. De jeunes médecins et étudiants en médecine y parlent de leur quotidien – un guide parfait pour tous ceux qui s’intéressent à ce parcours professionnel! Des surprises et confidences vous y attendent …
Losing track of all the associations? Here a brief overview:
your local Fachschaft/ association des étudiant-e-s
This is your local association for the med students at your university. They organise social events, parties, represent you to your faculty and fight for your medical education.
The Swiss Medical Students’ Association is the umbrella organisation for all Swiss med students. Her members are all the 7 Fachschaften/associations and projects like Achtung Liebe, marrow, METIS, Teddybärspital etc. Twice per year, she organises the SMSC (= Swiss Medical Students’ Conference) with students from all parts of Switzerland. An event you MUST have experienced at least once! www.swimsa.chFacebookInstagramNewsletter
The International Federation of Medical Students' Associations is the umbrella organisation for all the national associations of more than 120 different countries worldwide! They gather twice per year in the so-called General Assembly (=GA), where 1000 students come together to discuss on global health issues and exchange ideas. swimsa is always represented by a Swiss delegation. https://ifmsa.org
In case you’re interested to get active in global health topics on a national or international level, don’t hesitate to contact us! contact@swimsa.ch
