Asian Medical Students’ Association Japan Knowledge Salon
You may remember a previous blog entry by the Asian Medical Students Association(AMSA). Today, it’s over to Yufu Itoh, Regional Chairperson of AMSA Japan to tell us about a new salon they are trying out! Rhona
AMSA Japan recently held an event called “AMSA Japan Knowledge Salon” so that “new” students could learn about what AMSA`s doing and about Asian Medical Students’ Conference (AMSC) and East-Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) related topics. Especially because AMSA Japan`s main activities are the major conferences like the AMSC and the EAMSC and some domestic gatherings, we had been feeling that the opportunities for students to become involved in AMSA`s activities were limited. Therefore, we came up with this new idea of holding more small AMSA events on a regular basis so that more students, especially newcomers, can take part in our activities casually. This will help us promote AMSA Japan and AMSC2008 in Tokyo, and grow our membership continuously.
In the morning, we first did a very fun icebreaking session where we all introduced ourselves with sentences that begin with each letter of our name, and then we did an introduction about AMSA Japan and our main activities for the newcomers. After that, we had workshops on alcohol (theme for 21st EAMSC) and health promotion (theme for 29th AMSC). For alcohol, Kei, AMSA Japan Chairperson and I did a presentation on medical and social related alcohol problems in Japan, especially about alcohol addiction and drunk driving. Not only did we gain knowledge on this topic, but also, we had some fun with a checklist on our risks of alcohol addiction based on our drinking habits. For health promotion, Waka, Organizing Chairperson of AMSC2008, did a case discussion on a diabetes patient who quit coming to the hospital because his efforts to improve his lifestyle weren`t effective. Some of the discussion points were;
1. Why did the patient quit coming to the hospital?
2. How can we make this patient come to the hospital again and continue his efforts to improve his lifestyle?
3. What are the important factors for a successful health promotion?
Through this discussion, we learned that health promotion is not just the patients` problem but also involves the people and environment surrounding the patients, and all these factors must work together as a whole to promote health in society.
After lunch, we visited a sports gym, in relation to health promotion. The sports instructor there took us on a tour inside the gym, and showed us their swimming pools and training machines. We were all surprised that there were so many people of all ages working out there. Though we didn`t have much time, the sports instructor gave us a brief lecture about the training programs that they offer and about the needs of the people who use that gym. Because each user of the gym has different aims, the instructors of the gym generally don`t interfere with what the users of the gym do there. However, for those users who seek advice on their health or want specific training, the instructors offer counseling about the user`s health by using body checkup, and may recommend and offer training programs.
Although this was our first attempt to hold this kind of event, we thought it went quite well. The workshops and the visit to the sports gym were all very fruitful, and we believe that the newcomers all became interested in the activities of the Asian Medical Students’ Assocation. We hope that their involvement in AMSA will not end here, but will continue until the Asian Medical Students’ Conference 2008 and beyond. We also got a lot of feedback from the participants, so we are sure that we can make this event better and better. We are planning to hold this event every month, so we are looking forward to the next AMSA Japan Knowledge Salon, with improved programs and more participants! Yufu Itoh, RC Japan
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