2008 AMSA Global Health Conference
News of the Australian Medical Students Association conference being held in Melbourne, Australia, in early July.
Thanks to Caitlin Keighley for this contribution.
On behalf of the 2008 AMSA Global Health Conference (GHC2008) Organising Committee it is with great pleasure that we introduce the readers of The Lancet Student to this unique and inspiring event.
AMSA, the Australian Medical Students’ Association, is the peak national representative body for all 12,000 Australian medical students enrolled in the 17 medical schools around the country. The Global Health Conference-being held in Melbourne from July 4-8-is AMSA’s annual student-run conference devoted to informing and educating medical students from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region about key issues influencing Developing World Health. Through a world-class academic program, the conference offers delegates a holistic approach towards understanding economic, social, political and environmental determinants of health in developing world communities. This program combines plenary sessions, seminars, and debates with interactive workshops and small group discussions to equip delegates with the tangible skills and the knowledge necessary to empower them towards enacting positive social change.
This conference is the only student-run academic event held in Oceania which focuses solely on global health, and attracts the regions most motivated and engaged medical students as its audience. This year, the conference sold out nationwide in less than 10 minutes. This is testament to the phenomenal interest amongst medical students in attending this event and hearing addresses of the highest quality delivered by Australia’s forefront intellectual and policy experts. The conference has been widely endorsed and supported by a number of leading academic, research and non-governmental organizations, including the likes of World Vision, Red Cross, Caritas, Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres.
This annual meeting attracts some of our region’s most dynamic and influential young leaders, serving as a forum to transfer knowledge and build effective partnerships between like-minded individuals and organisations. In the past, this interaction and dialogue has led to numerous practical outcomes in the formation of groups and ongoing student-run projects within developing communities in Australia and around the world. Examples of these include the Medical Students’ Aid Project (coordinating the delivery of medical aid supplies to developing communities through student medical electives), Hands of Help student charity organisation (facilitating development projects in Indigenous Australia and developing communities overseas), and the AMSA Global Health Network (the student-based forum linking the 16 global health groups around Australian medical schools).
In its short, four year history, the conference has grown in scale and precedence at a remarkable rate. With 500 places filled in minutes this year and an additional 500 on the conference waiting list, student demand to engage with Global Health issues has never been greater. In 2008, delegates will hear from a range of highly renowned speakers and some of the world’s foremost minds in Global Health. Sir Gustav Nossal, director of a medical research institute at the age of 35, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Global Health and namesake of the Nossal Institute, will be the opening keynote speaker. Plenary sessions will also include Professor Joe Camilleri, Founding Director of Melbourne’s Centre for Dialogue, Julian Burnside QC, an esteemed Human Rights advocate and lawyer, and Jim Kim, previously Director of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organisation and currently the Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. Official opening addresses will be received from the Vice-Chancellors of two of Australia’s most distinguished universities and senior parliamentary figures.
Academic themes of the conference are explored within five key streams: ‘Health, Conflict & the Political Process‘, ‘Indigenous Health: on our doorstep & around the world‘, ‘Culture, Environment & Society: catalysts for addressing health’, ‘Global Health and the “Big Guys”: international health policy and development‘ and ‘Marginalised Populations: migration, assimilation and human rights‘. These areas of focus will form the basis for lectures, workshops and case-studies, and upon which concluding suggestions will be made by delegates as the foundations for directing conference outcomes, recommendations and policy statements.
The following words are taken from Nelson Mandela’s famous call to arms delivered at London’s Trafalgar Square in 2005:
‘Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great…
you can be that great generation.’
With these inspiring words at its core, GHC2008 aims to inspire, empower and equip our delegates with tangible skills and knowledge necessary to promote and enact global health equity.
The conference promotional DVD is available for viewing via the following link: http://www.expioproductions.com/GHCPromo-Download-WINv2.wmv. More information regarding the 2008 AMSA Global Health Conference may be obtained via the website: www.amsa.org.au/ghc2008
We look forward to providing you with exciting news as it comes!
Tim Lindsay, Caitlin Keighley
GHC08 Partnerships Team
Daniel Yore, David Humphreys
GHC08 Co-Convenors
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