Today we hear from David Humphreys (Australia delegate) and Sam Liu (UK delegate) about their experiences of day 2 of AMSC 2008.

Photo courtesy of Kai Yuen Wong

This morning saw the official opening of the 29th AMSC currently taking place in Tokyo, Japan.

The occasion represented the culmination of nearly two years of hard work and dedication by a remarkable organising committee led by Ms Waka Shibata, a final year medical student from Jichi Medical University. In her welcome message to delegates, Ms Shibata describes the conference academic program as providing “knowledge that cannot be learnt in [medical school] lectures or textbooks.” Delegates will certainly embrace such an approach with open arms.

(more…)

Today more than 400 medical students from over 20 countries arrived in Tokyo, Japan to participate in the 29th AMSC hosted by the Asian Medical Students’ Association of Japan. With the help of Kai Yuen Wong who recently did an intern at The Lancet Student and currently part of the UK delegation in Japan, we will be hearing more from the numerous participating countries and delegates as the conference progresses. The theme this year is “Non Communicable Diseases and Health Promotion” and the conference will be held from 25 July – 1 August 2008.

With an extensive program of academic, social and cultural events, ranging from group discussions and paper presentations to field trips and cultural workshops, the conference will certainly be full of many exciting learning opportunities.

Welcoming Party at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. Photo courtesy of Kai Yuen Wong.

“It is 1.34am on the first night of AMSC 2008 in Tokyo and I am sat in a lobby area with my fellow paper presenters ardently working on our presentation. It has been an interesting day so far. Finding the venue was a task in itself but amongst the heat, humidity and growing odour of sweat, it was all made worthwhile upon seeing familiar faces of fellow UK delegates as well as previous AMSC faces. This was followed by the icebreaking session, an attempt at breaking barriers between groups of people with only their university course in common. The ice was thawed if not entirely broken, and I believe that as time goes by, the ice will have well and truly melted in the overpowering heat of Tokyo and the passion of the medical students at this conference.” - Joon Soo Ha (UK delegate)

Tomorrow will be the opening ceremony and we will be hearing more soon.

Hello everyone!

This week on The Lancet Student we published a great article by Kendra Wu on avian influenza in Hong Kong. There have also been two blog postings: an opinion piece on how to improve undergraduate medical education, and a fantastic report on Project Muso Ladamunen, an NGO based in Mali.

And a final reminder regarding the Medsin-UK/The Lancet Student collaboration on ‘Power, Politics and Global Health‘…..the deadline for submitting articles is this coming Tuesday, July 31st! We’ve been really impressed with the submissions so far, so we encourage you all to keep sending in your articles.

Students Richard A. Hickman and William Anderson give their thoughts on how to improve undergraduate medical education.

UK undergraduate medical education is forever changing, with some emphasis now shifted away from the preclinical sciences toward subjects such as sociology and communication skills. There are several problems with this modern syllabus. Firstly, most undergraduates get far less teaching now than previously, in biochemistry, physiology and anatomy, with biology practicals significantly curtailed and compulsory dissection not even existing in some institutions. Instead, these students are forced to study predominantly from lectures and books [1,2,3].  The reduction in emphasis of these topics and the limited modalities in which to learn these areas could be partly why some consultants regard medical student’s knowledge more superficial than before [4,5]. Secondly, the lack of exposure to practical research provides little appeal to successfully recruit clinical academics. Such experiences are found in most graduate entry and intercalated students; a minority of UK medical students. Is this lack of awareness another reason for the diminished number of clinical academics? [6]

We are pleased at our own medical schools for providing optional modules/activities in specific preclinical disciplines that allow students to explore these topics in more depth, sometimes with exposure to practicals. In Warwick, dissection is part of the core curriculum of the medical course; Birmingham has dissection as an optional area of study. WA found it was dissection that he found most useful in learning anatomy; similar views are heard in those who choose to dissect in Birmingham [7].

We believe an expansion of biomedical science teaching with more practical elements is necessary to improve the confidence of our clinical teachers. Such implementation could improve undergraduate knowledge of relevant preclinical science and entice more students to select an academic career, thus sustaining the next generation of future medical education.

Richard A. Hickman, BMedSc (Hons.)
5th year intercalated medical student, University of Birmingham, UK
RXH422@bham.ac.uk

William Anderson, BSc (Hons.)
2nd year graduate entry medical student, University of Warwick, UK

All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

1.  Turney BW. Anatomy in a modern medical curriculum. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2007. 89(2):104-7.

2.  Weatherall DJ. Science in the undergraduate curriculum during the 20^th century. Med Educ. 2006;40(3):195-201.

3.  Burton JL, Underwood J. Clinical, educational, and epidemiological value of autopsy. Lancet. 2007 369:1471-80.

4.  Waterston SW, Stewart JJ. Survey of clinician’s attitudes to the anatomical teaching and knowledge of medical students. Clin Anat. 2005; 18(5):380-4.

5.  McKeown PP, Heylings DJ, Stevenson M, McKelvey KJ, Nixon JR, McCluskey DR. The impact of curricular change on medical students’ knowledge of anatomy. Med Educ. 2003. 37(11):954-61.

6.  Aldridge J, Fitzpatrick S. Clinical academic staffing levels in UK medical schools. URL:  http://www.chms.ac.uk/documents/ClinicalAcademicStaffSurvey2008-Medicine_001.pdf

7.  Heetun M. Anatomy dissection: RIP? sBMJ. 2007, 15:45-88.

Joshua Schulman-Marcus writes about Project Muso Ladamunen, an NGO based in Mali that he is involved in.

Over the past few months, I have been privileged to join a group of young Americans on the board of Project Muso Ladamunen.  I thought that readers of The Lancet Student might be interested in learning about our ongoing work in the West African country of Mali

Project Muso works with Malian colleagues in Yirimadjo, a peri-urban community on the outskirts of the capital Bamako.  The primary focus of our work has been to empower women through an education/literacy program, health services and literacy, professional training, access to microfinance, and health education.  These numerous elements are rooted in a philosophy that escaping the “trap” of extreme poverty requires a comprehensive approach.  In order to achieve early successes, we have been in frequent consultation with our advisers from Partners in Health and the Harvard School of Public Health.  Additionally, we recently deepened our collabration with a well-regarded NGO Tostan.  Likewise, our microfinance program has proved so popular that we are working to expand the number of loans so that women can establish their own business enterprises in fields such as hairdressing and traditional fabric-dying.

(more…)

A new report, Outsourcing Abuse, was published earlier this week documenting 300 cases of excessive force used during the detention and removal of asylum seekers. The incidents documented were carried out by employees of private companies working on behalf of the Border and Immigration agency in the UK. It is known that one law firm has settled six civil action claims out of court against Home Office contracters, although the Home Office has refused to disclose details of other settlements.

In 2004, the Medical Foundation For the Victims of Torture published a report ‘Harm on Removal’ describing a number of cases in which gratuitous or excessive force was used during the removal of asylum seekers from the UK. Medical Justice, Birnberg Peirce & Partners and the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns has since gathered evidence of 18  independent doctors who have examined detainees and obtained medical evidence demonstrating widespread use of excessive force by immigration escorts. (more…)

Hello everyone,

We just wanted to take a moment to draw your attention to some of the changes and updates we have been making to the website. As Kai mentioned in Friday’s podcast, he spent the better part of last week working on some website changes. We were inspired by all of his hard work and efforts (many thanks Kai!) and have made a few changes ourselves. Most notably, we have added new categories and links to the ‘Resources‘ scrolldown for news media websites, as well as a listing of sites that provide excellent statistical information. We’re sure many of these are already familiar to you, but you might also be interested in seeing some of the websites we dug up.

In the late fall or early winter, The Lancet Student will be getting an entirely new look! We are all really excited about that, but in the interim to big changes, we will keep making smaller changes and improvements that make the website more functional and user friendly, as well as making it a better tool to profile all of the fantastic work that students do towards furthering global health causes and initiatives.

Sophie and Christine

On Monday, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charging him with 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Darfur region. This is the first time that a sitting head of state has been charged by the ICC since its formation in 2002. It has been estimated that between 200,000-400,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the rebellion started in 2003, the majority being from the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. Greater still is the almost 2.5 million people that have been forced from their homes and into internally displaced person camps, where they are subject to further violence and killings, as well as rape, hunger and starvation.

It is uncertain how the UN Security Council will vote on the warrant request, given the alliance Sudan has with members Russia and China. The move comes at a particularly delicate time for China who is just weeks away from hosting the summer Olympics in Beijing and has already faced significant international protest and condemnation over their continued business relationship with Sudan, believed to play a large role in enabling the government to continue its campaign of violence. China has publicly indicated “concern” over the warrant charges, despite voting in 2005 with the rest of the Council to unanimously support Moreno-Ocamp’s investigation into claims of genocide in Darfur. Even if the Security Council votes in favour of the warrant, many speculate it could be years until an actual arrest is made, let alone for Al Bashir to be brought to trial. In many ways, the arrest warrant may be, at least in the short-term, a symbolic move that attempts to break the current impasse of the situation in Darfur.

But, it’s a move that has been hailed by human rights groups and welcomed as a bold signal that ‘no one is above the law’. It has also prompted a vocal outcry of opposition. A series of protests held in the nation’s capital of Khartoum - though largely attended by pro-government supporters - have denounced Moreno-Ocamp and the legitimacy of the ICC. There are concerns that if this backlash becomes violent it could further destabalize the region and place the lives of Sudanese and aid workers in the region at even greater risk. The UN and humanitarian organizations working in Darfur have increased security measures in the wake of Monday’s announcement.

It is yet to be determined whether requesting an arrest warrant for Al Bashir will have the results the ICC intended or simply ignite dispute in an already tenuous balance of international relations, perhaps also inadvertently bringing harm to those it seeks to protect. But in the end, Moreno-Ocamp’s position is not an enviable one: ‘I don’t have the luxury to look away. I have evidence‘.

Peter Witzler, student organizer for the Health Action AIDS Campaign with Physicians for Human Rights, gives us an update on the PEPFAR bill being debated in the US Senate.

http://students.phrblog.org/2008/07/14/pepfar-update/

As I write this, we are still unsure when the final PEPFAR bill will be voted on and exactly what it will look like. However, I wanted to take a step back to acknowledge the amazing work students have done to bring us to this point, where the Senate is debating a $50 billion dollar AIDS, TB and malaria program.

Just a over a month ago, I began writing about the legislative stalemate we were facing in the Senate. Not ones to sit on the side lines, PHR Student members answered the call to action by calling and emailing Senators Reid and McConnell to get the bill moving. But that still wasn’t enough. We hit the editorial pages of newspapers with letters to the editor and op-eds calling for PEPFAR’s speedy passage. June Chae, leader of the University of Illinois in Chicago PHR Chapter got her letter printed in the Chicago Sun-Times.

(more…)

Chandra Mani Dhungana writes on safe motherhood in Nepal and his experiences working in rural communities.

 Photo by: Chandr Mani Dhungana
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife conducting normal delivery
in remote health post of Nepal

Safe motherhood means ensuring that all women receive the care they need to be safe and healthy throughout pregnancy and child birth.  Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world - most often in developing countries where poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, strict taboos, conflict, and less priority on safe motherhood exists - a women dies from complications related to pregnancy or child birth. In my home country of Nepal, every two hours a mother dies from complications related to pregnancy and child birth. The majority of deaths occur in remote areas and most often in homes, making maternal mortality the health indicator with the largest disparity between the urban (accessible) and rural (inaccessible) areas.

Pregnancy related complications are among the leading causes of death and disability for women of reproductive age. For every woman who dies, 30 to 50 women suffer from injury, infection or disease. Most of these deaths are preventable. The low status of women, illiteracy, poor access to health facilities and services, and lack of affordability prevent women from utilizing health services, making them more vulnerable to death. Most deliveries occur in homes without the presence of a trained health worker which further increases the chance of mortality. Relatives, friends, and elderly handling the delivery are unaware of the danger signs which further increase the vulnerability of mothers.

(more…)