Welcome to the August edition of the AMSA Global Health monthly newsletter!

Happy Spring! 🌱🌸🌻🌺🪲🪷🌼🪻🍄☀️

We're delighted to share the August edition of the AMSA Global Health newsletter, designed specifically for you. As medical students, we have the unique potential to shape a more equitable and healthy world. This newsletter will equip you with the latest updates, resources, events and opportunities in global health. Whether you're passionate about a specific cause or just starting to explore this field, we'll help you translate your ambition into action.

As we continue to grow our newsletter, please send this on to anyone you think may be interested, and to your medical student cohort at large. AMSA Global Health wants YOU to be part of our network! Subscribe to stay up to date with us and access exclusive global health content, tailored to the Australian medical student.

You can also follow us on social media for more (info, events, memes, resources, et al) - we’re @AMSAGlobalHealth everywhere, or you can click here for direct links.

Global Health adventures 🌟

Here’s what we’ve been up to in August:

AMSA Sexual & Reproductive Health x AMSA Gender Equity: Women’s Pain Submission

The AMSA Sexual & Reproductive Health and AMSA Gender Equity teams have also published a media release regarding the submission and the issue of women’s pain:

AMSA Global Health x Academy of Child & Adolescent Health webinar series

• Our Code Green and Crossing Borders teams collaborated with the Academy of Child & Adolescent Health (ACAH) to present educational webinars in their specialty areas:

• Climate Change and Child Health (Code Green x ACAH x DEA) → Explored the effects of climate change on maternal and neonatal health, including: food shortages, child growth and malnutrition; air pollution, childhood asthma and paediatric respiratory illnesses.

• Refugee Child Health (Crossing Borders x ACAH) → Explored the impacts of displacement, war and conflict on child health, as well as professional development on a trauma informed approach to engaging with children and their families from refugee backgrounds.

Gaza Advocacy Action Toolbox

• Given the scale of the current crisis in Palestine, it can be understandably overwhelming to know how to help and where to begin. AMSA Global Health is committed to educating on and taking action for threats to global health. As such, we are addressing this crisis due to its devastating impacts on health and wellbeing. This document, collated by our Reactive Advocacy team, reflects our ethical and moral responsibility to take a stand.

• This document has been endorsed by the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW).

• If you have trouble accessing the toolbox via the attachment, it’s also accessible via our official linktree here: https://tr.ee/3HSUibsT58

What’s on 📣

EVENTS:

• AMSA Healthy Communities ➡️ Park Run in Albert Park, Melbourne at 8am every Saturday (details here) with free coffee ☕️ up for grabs!

• AMSA Sexual & Reproductive Health ➡️ Sexual Health Series, 6pm AEST on Thursday 5th September (online - details here)

• Global Health Forum 2 ➡️ Saturday 7th (Career Pathways in Global Health) and Sunday 8th (Elections & GHG Updates) September (online, with state-based nodes - details here and more info below!)

• Keep up with our events, the finer details and updates here 🗓️

COMING UP: AMSA Global Health Forum is THIS WEEKEND on Sat 7th and Sun 8th September!

COMING UP: AMSA’s annual Global Health Conference ‘Inception’ is THIS MONTH from 20th-23rd September in Adelaide!

• AMSA Global Health member and Global Health Group member discounts will also expire on this deadline! If you are part of our community and you have not received an email with instructions about how to claim your discounts, please reach out to [email protected] ASAP and we will be happy to help.

• A cheeky reminder that only AMSA members can attend AMSA events (such as GHC)! If you haven’t officially joined yet, click here to sign up 🧡

RECRUITMENT:

• Please keep an eye on our social media for updates - while our 2025 Executive Team callouts have now closed, our 2025 Management Team callouts will open in mid September!

• The AMSA Global Health Executive Team is elected each year at Forum 2, which in 2024 will be held on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th of September with elections taking place on the Sunday (online via Zoom). All shortlisted applicants will be eligible to present their vision and relevant experience to the AMSA Global Health community (made up of our current Executive and Management Teams, subcommittee members, and Global Health Group representatives), who will then vote to elect successful applicants to each role.

• The AMSA Global Health Management Team is elected each year by application, interview, and selection by the AMSA Global Health Executive Team (incoming and outgoing) and Management Team (outgoing).

• All roles are officially held from 1 Dec 2024 to 1 Dec 2025, with an extended handover/shadowing period from Sep/Oct to 1 Dec each year.

AMSA Global Health Structure

• If you think you might like to apply for one of these roles, we encourage you to reach out to the current role holder to ask questions and discuss your ideas to assist you in your application (this is not a requirement, although it is looked on favourably).

• If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

External opportunities 🪐 

Upcoming conferences:

• AMSA Global Health Conference | 20-23 September 2024 | Adelaide, Australia

• World Health Summit | 13-15 October 2024 | Berlin, Germany (hybrid event)

• Global Model WHO | 29 October - 1 November 2024 | Geneva, Switzerland

• World Extreme Medicine Conference | 16-18 November 2024 | Edinburgh, Scotland

• Eliminating Cervical Cancer Conference | 27-29 November 2024 | Melbourne, Australia (hybrid event)

Got something you’d like us to share or promote in our newsletter? Reach out to us via [email protected] 📩

Book of the month 📖

Our Education Officer, Julia, runs monthly book club exploring key takeaways from relevant global health books. The best part? You don’t even have to read the books to participate (though you’re most welcome to), because Julia will read them for you and then give you the lowdown. Effortless learning? Insightful and engaging discussions? We love to see it.

The Education Team will collaborate with the Global Health Conference in August and September on the topic of mental heath in a global health context. Check out our instagram for the reveal of Julia’s book of the month for September! 👀 

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, head to our instagram ➡️ you can join our book club group chat on Instagram to get in on the discussion!

What in the world? 🌏

• Global health reform must continue amid new infectious disease threats: BMJ Editorial. The adoption of amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) at the World Health Assembly in May 2024 represents much needed reform of global health law to meet the challenges of future public health emergencies. Despite wavering confidence in international law and multilateralism, these reforms show “that consensus through diplomacy on important global health issues is feasible.” Read more here.

• WHO Director-General declares mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (again). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, after rising cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the potential for further spread. This now triggers a coordinated international response to an extraordinary event and the mobilisation of resources, such as vaccines and diagnostic testing, to curb the spread of this infectious disease. Learn more here and here.

• Drs4Drs presents new webinar series, in collaboration with AMSA Mental Health! Medical students and doctors in training are invited to a webinar series featuring personal experiences and stories from doctors on topics such as the AHPRA notification process, anxiety or burnout. See more here.

• The Australian Global Health Alliance (AHGA) is Australia’s peak body for global health organisations. They are working for a strong, equitable and sustainable global health ecosystem, and driving change through national and global connections, partnerships, research and innovation, promoting best practices in global health, and advocacy.

  • Want to stay in the loop? Sign up to the AGHA newsletter here.

• Medical students’ placement poverty remains unaddressed in the federal budget. Read more from AMSA here and the ABC here. You can also sign the petition to include medical students in paid placements here!

• Want to learn more about global health? Check out Harvard University’s free online global health courses! More info here.

• Some old school AMSA Global Health: A few years ago, in collaboration with AMSA MedEd, we developed AMSA Academy online modules on various global health issues. These modules involve a variety of topics such as climate change, tropical medicine, and refugee and asylum seekers. Our aim is to encourage medical students to critically think about and engage with the complexities of health on a global scale. Check them out here: AMSA Global Health online modules at AMSA Academy

That’s a wrap for August! Thank you for reading our newsletter - we hope it’s been helpful!

Don’t forget to follow us on social media - as well as the newsletter, this is one of the best ways to stay up to date with us and with other global health happenings both in Australia and around the world.

Got any questions, comments, submissions or ideas for the newsletter? We’re always happy to hear from you - please email [email protected] or [email protected] any time. We can also be reached via our social media (@AMSAGlobalHealth everywhere).

Want more info about AMSA Global Health? We’ve got you: click here 💛

Best wishes until next month!

The AMSA Global Health team 🌏