Australian Medical Students' Association

The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) is an independent association of the 17,000 medical students in Australia. AMSA was formed in 1960 in Brisbane, as a conference organised to network medical students from Australia. It has since grown to become the peak representative body for Australia's medical students - serving a mandate to connect, inform and represent medical students in Australia. It's tri-annual Council meetings include representatives from medical societies at each of Australia's 20 medical schools.

AMSA is a member of the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations.

History

In 1960, medical students from around Australia met in Brisbane for their first national conference. Never before had Australian medical students come together as one body to discuss ideas, share information and voice their opinions and concerns.^[1] Since then, the Australian Medical Students' Association has grown and evolved into one of Australia's largest student representative bodies.

Past Presidents

• 2016: Elise Buisson, The University of Western Sydney
• 2015: James Lawler, The University of Newcastle
• 2014: Jessica Dean, Monash University
• 2013: Benjamin Veness, The University of Sydney
• 2012: James Churchill, The University of Melbourne
• 2011: Robert Marshall, The University of Western Australia
• 2010: Ross Roberts-Thomson, The University of Adelaide
• 2009: Tiffany Fulde, The University of New South Wales
• 2008: Michael Bonning, The University of Queensland
• 2007: Robert Mitchell, Monash University
• 2006: Teresa Cosgriff, The University of Melbourne
• 2005: Dror Maor, The University of Western Australia
• 2004: Matthew Hutchinson, The University of Adelaide
• 2003: Nicholas Brown, The University of Queensland

Advocacy

2015 advocacy priorities

At the meeting of the third National AMSA Council of 2014 in Hobart, AMSA voted upon the advocacy priorities for 2015. They are as follows;

Primary priorities:

     1. Quality internships for all graduating medical students, both international and domestic
     2. Improved Mental health services for medical students
     3. Ensuring high quality of medical education and quality clinical placements for all medical schools
     4. Funding of Medical School Education and advocating against Deregulation of Higher Education Fees.

Secondary priorities:

     1. National internship application process through the Commonwealth and States
     2. Universal Health Coverage
     3. Indigenous Health, specifically around the promotion and retention of indigenous students.

Annual conferences

AMSA National Convention

The AMSA National Convention is an annual conference gathering 1,500 medical students from every corner of Australia as well as students from New Zealand. Since its inception in 1960, Convention has grown and evolved to be the highlight of the medical student calendar. Since the 2013 Convention on the Gold Coast, AMSA Convention is the largest student run conference in the world. The Convention program consists of four academic day sessions, one sports day including the annual Emergency Medical Challenge, and seven social evenings culminating a Gala Ball to close Convention. With the tagline of 'Unconventional', the 2014 AMSA National Convention was the largest AMSA Convention held to date, and was hosted by the city of Adelaide at the Adelaide Convention Centre. It delivered on its promise to be unparalleled, unconventional and unrelenting.^[2]

AMSA Global Health Conference

Originally known as the Developing World Conference, and established in 2005 by members of the Australian Medical Students’ Association, the Global Health Conference is a meeting of medical students from around Australia that aims to fulfill the desire of medical students to discuss broader issues relevant to global health.

The inaugural conference hosted 200 delegates in Sydney, whilst the 2006 conference in Perth saw more than 250 students attend. In 2007, Adelaide took the conference to new heights, hosting over 300 delegates at an event that sold out nationwide in less than 12 hours.

The academic programme is filled with speakers from many disciplines, including workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres, Health Advisors to Non-for-profit organisations, Politicians and many many more; while the social programme allows students to meet like-minded individuals from around the country.

The Global Health Conference aims to educate and empower medical students with knowledge about global health.

2016 will see the Global Health Conference come to Newcastle for the first time drawing students from across the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand and all 20 Medical Schools. More information can be found on the website, New Global Health Conference

AMSA National Leadership Development Seminar

AMSA's National Leadership Development Seminar (NLDS) is held each year in the nation's capital, Canberra. Running over three days, the seminar is an exclusive conference on the medical student calendar with only 80-100 students selected to attend. The seminar aims to bring together some of the brightest minds and challenge and develop their leadership and opinions.

Community engagement

Vampire Cup

The Vampire Cup is AMSA's national blood drive run in association with the Australian Red Cross. The drive is run over the months of July/August each year. The 20 Australian medical societies compete for the prestigious cup with the society with the highest number of donations per capita being awarded victory. In 2015, there were 1797 donations nationally with Deakin University Medical Society (MeDUSA) winning the Vampire Cup with 249 donations, the highest number of donations in the history of Vampire Cup. This is the fifth year in a row that Deakin has claimed the Cup.

See also

• International Federation of Medical Students' Associations
• Australian Medical Association

References

External links

• amsa.org.au - the website of the Australian Medical Students' Association