The Journey of the Dutch Delegates at the 66th MM

With every General Assembly time seems to be an irrelevant thing. Whilst being in the IFMSA-bubble the days fly by. This was also the case during this March Meeting. As said in our first blog, the Dutch delegation would enjoy many days filled with their Standing Committee sessions, Theme Events, Fairs, training sessions, Plenaries, and much more.

So what has been going on within the Standing Committees? Fairs, fairs, and more fairs!

During Poster Fairs, where posters of different projects from around the world are presented, many new ideas can be gained. Our lovely Dutch delegates who work hard towards Medical Education were inspired by the many projects about Mental Health that are organized in different countries. Seeing as mental health is a ‘hot topic’ among medical students in the Netherlands, yet often still lacking in the curriculum, we within IFMSA-NL have been trying to look for more ways to make students aware of issues related to mental health.

Our delegates in return had the chance to showcase many different projects we do within IFMSA-NL. For instance the ‘Right Now’, a newsletter that is published by IFMSA-NL every three months and focuses on refugees and Human Rights. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a forum for public opinion on these topics and stimulate it through editorials, columns and reviews. The enthusiasm during the Poster Fair surrounding topics on Human Rights and Peace resulted in more worldwide prescriptions for this magazine!

And also the World Aids Day Party that was a huge success in the Netherlands last year intrigued many. This success story made others very inspired to start thinking about how they could implement this party in their NMO and thus raise more awareness on the World Aids Day.

What’s more, our National Public Health Officer had the chance to talk about a subject that is very dear to her: the dangers of antimicrobial resistance and why we should act now! She has been spreading the word on this topic around, and now even had the chance to educate those present at the GA from around the world.

The Dutch delegates have been inspired and inspired others for projects compassing all kinds of topics. However, it’s not just inspiration that is done. For the exchanges it’s all about promotion! As August is the time when contracts for exchanges between different countries are signed, March is the time to promote your own exchange program and start thinking about which countries to sign contracts with. No one is capable of missing the ‘Exchange Fair’, seeing as all Exchange Officers and others representatives walk around the GA the rest of the day full of stickers, stamps, face paint and happy smiles.

And a place where everyone joins in is the Activities Fair. IFMSA-NL was represented at the Activities Fair by four of our activities: Dr. House project, a project focusing on the improvement of analytical and critical thinking regarding treatment and diagnosis; Fair Fashion, a project focusing on creating awareness about the effects of the fashion industry on human health, human rights, and climate change; Global Medicine, the official magazine of IFMSA-NL about Global Health written by and for students; and Proud, a symposium to make health care workers aware of the stigmas surrounding sex workers in the health sector.