The Journey of the Dutch Delegates at the 66th MM

General Assemblies of IFMSA typically consist of several activities such as Standing Committee Sessions, Theme Events, Regional Sessions, NMO (National Member Organization) hours and many more.

The day started with the Standing Committee Sessions, where members come together to discuss, deliberate and represent the different focus areas of our Federation, for example Public Health, Medical Education and Human Rights.

As I represent the Public Health theme within IFMSA-the Netherlands, I proceeded to Theme Events about non-communicable diseases, organ & tissue donation and other interesting sessions. We discussed the different organ donation systems in different countries (presumed and informed consent) and what the disadvantages and advantages of both were. Due to different cultural norms, this led to a heated discussion on which method should be preferred. We did agree however that the most important aspect of organ donation projects is the education of the general population so they can make an informed choice.

During the regional sessions, members from each IFMSA region (Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean Region and Europe) came together to discuss their regional priorities for each focus area. I attended the European Public Health session in which we discussed and brainstormed about current rising public health issues such as climate change in relation to health, vaccination and body image in relation to social media use. IFMSA-NL is just starting with the implementation of new projects related to climate change, which made this session especially interesting. We were able to share our vision about the promotion of more sustainable living by creating awareness about the effects of the fashion industry on greenhouse gas emissions and stimulating sustainable alternatives.

Of course, since a delegation is nothing when it isn't a good team, we also made use of this time to get to know each other better and help each other achieving our personal GA goals.

Stay tuned for more blogs on the General Assembly in Montenegro the upcoming days!