EMSA Autumn Assembly 2018 | September 1-7, Cluj-Napoca
From 1st to 7th September 2018, the General Assembly of EMSA (European Medical Students’ Association) took place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Fourteen active members of HelMSIC, from every Greek Medical School, represented their fellow students at a European level.
EMSA is the organization which represents medical students all over Europe. It aims at the communication and interaction between medical students and at organising of programs at a European and a local level. It consists of six sectors of action (pillars): Public Health, Medical Education, Medical Science, Medical Ethics and Human Rights, Health Policies and European Integration.
EMSA holds two General Assemblies anually, one in the spring and one in the autumn, involving more than 200 medical students from all over Europe. Each EMSA meeting is focused on a scientific subject, in which speeches are given by external collaborators of the organization during the Symposium. In this assembly, the theme subject was eHealth, and the speeches about the use of Technology in Medicine inspired the participants.
One of the most important parts of a General Assembly is the plenaries where administrative decisions are made, concerning the future of the organization. Examples of such decisions are changes to the Internal Regulations, the election of the new EMSA European Board and the countries hosting future events.
HelMSIC comes back to Greece very proud and excited, as it was elected to host the Autumn Assembly 2019 in Athens. The delegates who represented, promoted and presented the candidature and the team that constructed it had both made great efforts. The Greek delegates presented their plans and their vision for the next Autumn Assembly, answered as many questions as possible, showed how much they wanted to host the event and they managed to inspire trust to the other member organizations. We would like to congratuate the other candidature, EMSA Bahçeşehir – Istanbuland, for their amazing work. The following year will a year of preparations for the Autumn Assembly 2019 in Athens. The organizing committee and all HelMSIC members want this assembly to remain etched in the participants’ minds as a great experience!
The meeting also includes educational trainings and workshops. The participants had the opportunity to be trained on various topics from external collaborators of the organization with a range of knowledge on health issues. The numerous workshops and trainings that were taking place at the same time, aimed at the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills that will be useful for future doctors. They were related to general topic of eHealth, but they also contained skills such as first aid, problem solving and interprofessional cooperation.
One of the most interesting parts of the Assembly is the Projects’ Fair & Twinning Market, in which every EMSA member organization had the opportunity to present some of the most important projects it had organized last year, as well as the Twinning Project between Medical Schools. The Greek delegation presented the “Surgical Suturing Workshop” and the “Health Festival”. The later won the Green Project Award!
EMSA General Assemblies give medical students from all over Europe the opportunity to interact, to exchange opinions about health issues at European level and to make important decisions about the future of the organization.
The next EMSA General Assembly will be held in Heidelberg, Germany, during this spring!