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

Happy spooky season! 👻🎃👹🧌🧟🧛🏻🧜‍♀️🧚🦄🧡🌙

We're delighted to share the September 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 September:

Global Health Conference - ‘Inception’

This year, the entire AMSA Global Health team had the privilege of attending GHC 2024 in Adelaide, and it was an incredible journey for all of us! The conference kicked off with an inspiring opening Ceremony featuring Professor Nicola Spurrier and a powerful First Nations Panel discussing tokenism in healthcare. This set the tone for the rest of the conference, encouraging deep engagement with systemic issues in global health.

The academic sessions were diverse and thought-provoking, with our team participating in several breakout sessions on important topics like trauma-informed care, medicine in resource-poor settings, space medicine, and the need for diversity in dermatology. One of the standout sessions was the Nutrition Workshop led by Dr. Sandro Demaio, which explored the critical role of nutrition in public health. This session not only highlighted the link between diet and chronic diseases but also emphasized the responsibility of future healthcare professionals to advocate for healthier, more sustainable food systems.

The Gala Ball was the perfect way for our team to reflect on the week, celebrate our learning, and deepen the connections we made with fellow delegates! Until next time 🌏

Keep up to date for future conferences via the AMSA Global Health Conference website, Facebook page, and Instagram page.

Global Health Forum 2:

Our second biannual Global Health Forum was held over the first weekend of September, featuring an interactive Careers in Global Health breakout event, Global Health Group official business, and perhaps most excitingly Elections for the 2025 AMSA Global Health Exec team!

Kicking off the weekend with the Careers in Global Health event, Forum offered its delegates a unique insider’s look into the various different lives of global health experts from diverse fields, via three rotating breakout streams on Public Health + Research, Surgery + On-the-Ground Work, and Paeds + Obs&Gyn. Insightful discussions and advice were presented by our guests on their remarkable experiences from aerospace medicine to refugee child health and public policy.

We would like to once again thank our guest speakers for sharing their incredibly thoughtful insights with us, allowing all present to truly ask what a career in global health looks like for themselves.

Further reading from Forum:

• https://adastravita.com/

• https://awems.org.au/ 

• https://www.asam.org.au/

• https://communities.springernature.com/posts/if-you-had-to-read-one-book-on-global-health

On Sunday, we heard presentations from a spectacular group of candidates for Elections and had the unenviable yet exciting task of voting in our incoming Exec team. We appreciate the effort each candidate has put into their application and presentation, and offer again our congratulations to all incumbent Exec members.

Exciting updates were also provided by our Global Health Groups, and as always, we were blown away by the events and achievements realised by each GHG. Some of the initiatives highlighted include ANU GHS’s Global Health Careers Night, Ignite and UMMSS GHC’s Global Health Cocktail Night, MSAP’s Interpreter Night, and IMPACT’s Red Party among many others.

The future of AGH Representative roles in GHGs was also discussed.

Our NatCos would also love to take a moment to offer their sincerest appreciation for the AGH Reps and GHG President/Chairs’ efforts and engagement with AGH.

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 📣

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

COMING UP: AMSA Global Health Film Festival from 22nd October to 8th November!

The Australian Global Health Film Festival is an annual event organised by the Australian Global Health Alliance. As their new reciprocal member, AMSA Global Health has been offered 10 complimentary tickets (originally at $14) to any of their screenings from 22 October to 8 November in Melbourne, Sydney or Canberra — more details on their site, FB event page, and below.

🎟️ Tickets are available on a first come first served basis, email our National Coordinator Charlie at [email protected] with your screening date preference, full name, uni + year level to secure yours now!

• 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 close by 11:59pm on October 7th (TODAY)!

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

External opportunities 🪐 

Upcoming conferences:

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

• Victorian Healthcare Week Expo | 16-17 October | Melbourne, Australia

• 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 October! 👀 

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? 🌏

• Antimicrobial resistance to be subject to a high-level meeting at the UN General assembly. The decision to host this discussion at the United Nations in New York rather than at the World Health Assembly in Geneva reflects the fact that AMR affects the human, animal, and environmental sectors more broadly than traditional health issues do. This makes sense as there are 1.3 to 5 million deaths from AMR each year, vastly higher than the toll from HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Learn more here

• First case of mpox strain linked to global health warning detected in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.This highly transmissible clade 1b variant has been linked to the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa. The US is the latest country to help support Africa's efforts to combat the outbreak, promising 1 million mpox vaccine doses and over $500 million in aid. Learn more here

• Britain has closed it’s last coal fired power plant! 🎉 Read more about the latest progress in the global clean energy transition here.

• Childhood Obesity Nearly Doubles Globally (Since 1990). The deleterious consequences of this epidemic are already evident: childhood hypertension, type 2 diabetes, among others. Learn 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 September! 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 🌏