AMSA Orange Guide 2020

AN OFFICIAL AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION
2020
OrangeGuide
An introduction to
What is amsa?
WHAT’S ON IN 2020?
How DO I GET INVOLVED?
1

Copyright 2020, Australian Medical Students’ Association
Design & Layout: Michele Fu
Editing & Proof Reading: Michele Fu
Front Cover: AMSA National Council 2 2019
Acknowledgements:
Thank you to the contributors to previous Orange Guides on which this guide is based, and
to the following people and their teams who contributed to this year’s Orange Guide:
Contributing Authors: Daniel Zou (Advocacy), Travis Lines (Policy), Sylviya Ganeshamoorthy
(Vampire Cup), Nadja Mathewson (Mental Health), Anthony Copeland (AMSA Queer), Anna
Shalit (Gender Equity), Jackie Maher (Crossing Borders), Roberta Sidoti (Code Green),
Jacqueline Bredhauer (Healthy Communities), Sarah Keenan (Sexual and Reproductive
Health), Felix Altit (National Council), George He (NLDS), Olivia Chang (Convention),
Victoria Chang (GHC), Emma Deacon (RHS), Michele Fu (Publications), Georgia Behrens
(Global Health), Kitty Robertson (IFMSA), Sarah Clark (Rural Health), Anna Kwok (MedEd)
& Calvin Xu (ISN).

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5
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WELCOME
ADVOCACY
POLICY
T A B L E O F
CONTENTS
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10
14
19
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24
25
PROJECTS
GLOBAL HEALTH
PROJECTS
EVENTS
PUBLICATIONS
SIGS
NATIONAL EXEC
AMSA REPS
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welcome to amsa
Welcome to the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA)! Whether you have just started
medicine (in which case, congratulations!) or you’ve been around here a while, AMSA welcomes
you with open arms!
Medical students are a diverse bunch - we’ve all got our own passions, interests and what we
think we want to get out of our degree. Whatever your interests are, the chances are, the Australian
Medical Students’ Association has a platform to help you pursue it.
Passionate about global health? Want access to more educational resources? Keen to meet new
people at some of the best student-run events in the world? Looking to learn skills in health policy?
Keep flipping through to see how we can foster your passions.
AMSA has opportunities set up to make your student experience the best one possible. Whether
you find something in AMSA that piques your fancy today or not, stay in touch with us through
Facebook and Instagram, and if you’d like you can sign up to become an AMSA member on our
website!
/youramsa @youramsa amsa.org.au
What is AMSA?
The Australian Medical Students Association is the peak representative body for the 17,000
medical students around the country. Our chief mandate is represent, connect and inform medical
students like you! We do this through:
Advocacy - AMSA advocacy aims to provide all medical students with a voice on
issues that matter most to them; whether it be on medical student mental health,
medical education quality and internship availability or climate change.
Events and projects - Foster connections through our unique large scale events and
create change through the community with our impassioned projects.
Special interest groups - Nurture your specific interests in Global Health, Rural Health
and Medical Education through our national Special Interest Groups.
Publications and media - Stay informed and up to date on pressing issues, and on all
of AMSA’s work through our social media, guides and publications.
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Advocacy
AMSA endeavours to harness the voice of 17,000 medical students to represent you at the
highest forums and push for change to make your medical school experience better! AMSA
advocacy happens at multiple levels. At the federal level, AMSA engages with the government
and key medical stakeholders such as the Australian Medical Association, the Medical Deans of
Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ) and the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA);
often working in concert to create a more powerful voice on issues requiring thought leadership
from a federal voice.
At the state, university and local level, AMSA liaises closely with university medical societies
(MedSocs) and state Medical Student Councils (MSCs) to provide support and resources
to advocate on issues relevant to your state and your university. These could include sexual
harassment, mental health support systems, internship availabilities and quality medical education
placements and clinical schools.
2019 AMSA key advocacy milestones include
» Bonded Medical Program reform with shorter returnof-service,
more flexibility and improved support
» $62.2 million in Commonwealth funding towards the
National Rural Generalist Pathway
» Advocacy on climate change: partnered with the
Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
and provided official testimony to the WA Government
Climate Change Health Inquiry
» Provided support to states and medical school
societies to halt involuntary transfer of sensitive
student records to hospital
» Formation of the inaugural Indigenous Health Team
in collaboration with the AIDA Student Director
GET
INVOLVED!
None of this advocacy
is effective without the
contribution of medical
students like you! Talk to
your University’s AMSA
Representative, watch out for
opportunities to get involved
in policy writing or get involved
with a special interest group
focusing on issues close to
your heart!
National advocacy priorities in 2019
1. Improving medical student mental health and wellbeing;
2. Preventing an increase in medical student numbers and the
establishment of new medical schools;
3. Action on sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination;
4. Increasing intake onto specialty training programs that align
with workforce demand, with a particular focus on regional and
rural areas;
5. Work collaboratively to improve the health of Australia’s
Indigenous people (including recruitment and support of
Indigenous medical students);
6. Improving the quality of clinical schools and placements for
medical students;
7. Increase the availability of quality internships for all medical
students;
8. Working collaboratively to minimise the health impacts of
climate change through mitigation and adaptation strategies.
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Policy
Policy is the beating heart of AMSA’s advocacy,
serving as a fundamental guide to how we
represent Australia’s 17,000 medical students.
Spanning a multitude of issues that affect medical
students and the communities they live in, AMSA
policies combine the latest evidence with the
views of medical students to codify our positions.
Each policy statement is written by a team of
Australian medical students and voted on by your
representatives at AMSA National Council.
Not only does AMSA policy ensure that we take
robust and representative positions to external
stakeholders, getting involved in a policy team gives
medical students a valuable opportunity to develop
their policy skills. AMSA has a proud history of
providing medical students with their first start in
policy and helping them develop the skills to be the
change-makers of the future.
In 2020, we will develop policies on diverse topics
such as vaccination, internship applications and the
rural health workforce. We will also be working hard
to provide our members more opportunity to help
shape our policy base by giving their input during
the review process and Council discussion.
GET
INVOLVED!
Policies are written, reviewed and presented at AMSA
National Council by medical students just like you!
No experience is required to be involved with AMSA
policy. Here’s how you can get involved:
Why a policy is written
e.g.
Recommendations
for key stakeholders
Keeping AMSA up to date
Survey of members
Contemporary relevance
Upcoming election opportunity
Policy submission suggestion
Policy writing and review
THInk
TANK
@
YOUR
UNIVERSITY
AMSA
National
Council
Up to date
evidence
and statistics
Have your say in our policies
• Keep tabs on the AMSA Facebook page to respond
to callouts to join a policy team in January, April or
August.
• Talk to your AMSA representative about how to
get involved in policy review and ThinkTanks at
your university.
• Head to AMSA National Council to get involved in
the policy discussion.
• Check out our policy base on the AMSA website.
• Get in touch with the National Policy Officer, Travis
Lines (travis.lines@amsa.org.au), to be added to
the policy mailing list, to suggest a new policy idea
or to ask any questions you have about AMSA
policy.
AMSA President
Jessica Yang
on ABC Radio
Policy in action!
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Projects
AMSA Projects are here to support your learning, care for your wellbeing and work on social
issues. Our projects centre on LGBTIQ+ health, refugee health, climate change and everything
in between. We also have our annual blood drive, Vampire Cup with the Red Cross, our Mental
Health Campaign and Gender Equity, which runs our female mentoring program.
AMSA Vampire Cup
Vampire Cup is AMSA’s annual national blood donation drive where for 8 weeks,
medical students across Australia make donations, which can include whole
blood, plasma and platelet donations. With the help of the Red Cross Blood
Service, the donations are tallied to determine which university contributed the
most.
Last year was the largest Vampire Cup to date with 3461 total donations and ANU winning the
grand title of Vampire Cup Winner of 2019! Bring your energy and friends along with you for
this year’s competition to try to bring those numbers up. Keep a look out on our website and
Facebook page or ask your AMSA rep and Vampire Cup rep about the dates for this year and
more details to be posted shortly!
3461
donations in 2019
So take a friend, join a uni group booking and
make the most of blood van visits to your campus
as we aim to beat last year’s recordsetting
3461 donations!
That’s not all though, Vampire Cup will
also be partnering with the Australian
Bone Marrow Donor Registry to help
increase the number of potential donors.
We will also be working with DonateLife
to encourage students to sign up to the
Australian Organ Donor Register. Again,
make sure to keep a look out for more
information on how you can get involved.
Website:
https://www.amsa.org.au/vampire-cup
2019 Vampire Cup Winners!
(Greatest % of cohort donating)
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AMSA Mental Health Campaign
The AMSA Mental Health Campaign aims to tackle the burden of mental
health within our community. We strive to educate students on mental
health, how to support those living with mental health conditions, and to
destigmatise and empower students when it comes to seeking mental
health services.
2020 AIMS
» Increase visibility of AMSA Mental Health through
the presence at AMSA events;
» Update online resources and the website to a
2020 platform;
» Collaborate with other projects such as AMSA
Queer, AMSA Rural, ISN and AMSA Indigenous
to reduce message saturation and best support
minority groups;
» Redirect efforts to initiatives with positive uptake
and engagement such as Humans of Medicine;
» Create a scorecard from the MH Scorecard data
received last year;
» Publish Keeping Your Grass Greener 2019;
» Create merchandise for AMSA Mental Health
including pins, shirts and a banner for events;
» Collaborate with University Mental Health
representatives to improve outreach and
resources.
Callouts
GET
INVOLVED!
/amsamhc
/amsamentalhealth
We are holding ongoing callouts
for Humans of Medicine 2020 from
all AMSA groups. Please submit your
Humans of Medicine stories through
the following link: https://forms.gle/
S2MMQDRVuBTva9mg9.
AMSA Mental Health has created a new initiative called “Brings Meaning to You.” What brings
meaning to you may also bring meaning to others. Please submit any quotes, images or resources
you would like to feature on AMSA Mental Health here: https://forms.gle/AueVReqtA3ArPM5fA.
In addition to these, there will be additional callouts for spotlight issues throughout the year. These
will focus on the visibility of certain groups and their mental health. AMSA Mental Health is aiming
to build our network to better support universities and improve advocacy outreach.
For more information, please invite
your university’s Mental Health/Wellbeing
Representative to contact the
AMSA Mental Health National Coordinator:
nadja.mathewson@amsa.
org.au.
We look forward to working towards
our goals with you by our side. Thank
you so much for your contribution
and support, and we hope we can
continue to improve in 2020.
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AMSA Queer
AMSA Queer is here to represent the interests of every Queer medical student
and promote Queer health education across all Australian medical schools.
Whether you are in the classroom or on the wards, we want to support you in
expressing who you are. Watch out for us during Pride month in June as well
as multiple days of awareness throughout the year.
2019’s AMSA Queer Team expanded our Queer network,
affirmed the Darlington Statement, wrote a submission during
the consultation period of the religious discrimination bill, ran
a massive pride campaign, had most of the team contribute as
authors on AMSA’s LGBTQIA+ Health policy and held Queer catch
ups at all major AMSA events.
In 2020, AMSA Queer aims to continue advocating for Queer students and promoting Queer
Health education. With an even bigger team than last year, we are also looking to increase our
presence at all major AMSA events, create useful resources for local events and workshops,
develop our own mentoring network, and strengthen our ties to local Queer medical societies. If
you would like to get involved with any of our initiatives or just looking for a place to talk it out with
fellow Queer students, join our Facebook group (/QAMSA) for our latest updates and callouts. For
any further questions, please email queer2020@amsa.org.au.
AMSA Gender Equity
AMSA Gender Equity is here to inspire, advocate and educate on all
things gender in medicine! Despite the fact that 60% of medical students
in Australia are women, we are still massively underrepresented, especially in surgery and
leadership roles, and unfortunately we continue to be subject to sexism and sexual harassment.
We also know that transgender, non-binary, intersex and gender diverse people face different
and often greater levels of discrimination, both within our community and within the medical
field. Our role in Gender Equity is to advocate for change in these areas to improve the culture of
medicine for everyone in the workforce. We aim to break down the stereotypes and barriers that
exist and acknowledge the incredible work that women and gender diverse people do as doctors
both for their colleagues, future generations following in their footsteps and for medicine itself.
2020 is going to be a huge year, with exciting new projects and old favourites returning even bigger
and better. Look out for sign ups to the AMSA Empowers Women in Leadership program early
in the year, an incredible initiative allowing female-identifying and non-binary medical students
to build mentor-mentee relationships with like-minded individuals, giving us an opportunity to
experience the power in representation, peer advice and support. Whether you sign up as a
mentor or mentee, there is so much to give and get out of this program!
Other dates to look out for include International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s Health
Week in the latter half of the year. Behind the scenes, we plan to spend this year advocating for
more teaching on transgender and intersex health, better responses to sexual harassment and
equitable representation among speakers at AMSA events.
Stay in touch on our website https://www.amsa.org.au/amsa-gender-equity or find out more by
emailing genderequity2020@amsa.org.au. Keep up to date by following our Facebook page!
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Global Health Projects
Crossing Borders
/amsacrossingborders
AMSA Crossing Borders is the Australian branch of Crossing Borders for Health, an internationally
established network of medical students who aim to help remove barriers to healthcare for
refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
Highlights from 2019 include AMSA members being present at Palm Sunday Rallies in all major
cities under the united message of “Detention Harms Health.” As well, our open letter in support of
the Medevac legislation reached more than 1,500 signatures and drew attention of the MJA and
a tweet from Dr Karen Phelps herself.
We look forward to continuing advocacy for the cessation of offshore processing practices in
Australia and engaging students at both local and national levels through education about and
advocacy for refugee and asylum seeker health. We hope you are excited to attend the Palm
Sunday Rally on April 5th in a capital city near you!
GET
INVOLVED!
Crossing Borders Subcommittee
2020 Call-outs
Being involved in the CB national subcommittee is
a great way to develop skills and meet others with
a passion in this space. Subcommittee callouts
will occur in early February, with positions in:
» Advocacy
» Education
» Engagement
» Projects
Look out on our Facebook Page (@AMSA Crossing
Borders) for more information.
Contact crossingborders@globalhealth.amsa.org.
au with any questions.
How to stay in touch
» Contact your University’s Global Health
Representative or Crossing Borders group
» Our online modules can be accessed at https://
crossingborders.amsa.org.au/educationportal/
» Sign up to our monthly newsletter here: https://
bit.ly/2F8lmbk
It starts with us.
We must be the voice for those
that are being denied theirs.
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Code Green
In the matter of less than a couple years, the
public’s perception of Climate Change has
shifted from being a cause to be mildly invested
in to one of the biggest global threats humans
will have to face in the near future. As medical
professionals of the future, we cannot ignore
the devastating impact that this could have and
already has on the health of our patients.
AMSA Code Green is an Australia-wide platform
for medical students that advocates for the
mitigation of the causes of climate change and
the adaption of our health care systems to meet
the changing health demands caused by climate
change. We see climate change not as some
impending doom, but as an actionable healthcare
priority to meaningfully improve health
outcomes for all communities.
In 2019, Code Green’s work included:
» Divestment Guide, a document detailing how
to reorganise your investments so that they
do not directly or indirectly fund fossil fuels
and/or environmentally damaging industries;
» Election Campaign, to encourage the public
to prioritise climate change and making
informed decisions when voting;
» Finalising the Sustainable Events Guide to
provide guidance as to how not to contribute
to climate change while organising events;
» Increasing engagement for the Climate
Strike and organising meet-ups for medical
students to attend.
This year we would like to focus on the
following:
» Finalise the Divestment Guide and publish it;
» Greening Hospitals, a project that will aim
to make hospitals and health care settings
more sustainable;
» Focus on Medical Education, by developing
a number of educational resources and
relevant material that is easily accessible for
those interested in learning about the health
impacts of climate change. Additionally,
this project will involve assessing the
level of climate health taught in Australian
universities and it will aim to integrate that as
part of the curriculum where possible.
/AMSACodeGreen
GET
INVOLVED!
Want to get involved?
» Look out for Code Green representative
opportunities through your Medical
Society.
» Join the Code Green Facebook page
and the Code Green Network’s mailing
list (https://amsa.co/2WoIyaH) to hear
about our exciting 2019 plans and callouts
for involvement opportunities -
we’d love to have you on board!
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Healthy Communities
Healthy Communities is the newest member of AMSA Global Health
Projects. We advocate for the reduction of unhealthy environments
within our communities to prevent non-communicable diseases
(NCDs). We are interested in the lifestyle factors that determine
NCDs and the public health strategies that can prevent these
illnesses. Healthy Communities hopes to advocate, educate and
run projects across the country to get you involved in and inspired
about preventing and managing NCDs through their environmental,
cultural and lifestyle influences.
/AMSAhc
Following the release of the EAT-Lancet report in January 2019 which called for the need for
an urgent global food systems transformation towards a ‘planetary health’ diet in order to
simultaneously address the growing epidemic of NCDs and threats posed by climate change,
we focused our work in 2019 on nutrition. We ran a highly successful sustainable cooking class
at AMSA Global Health Forum 1, partnered with a leading researcher to conduct a survey of
medical students’ perspectives surrounding nutrition education in medical school, established an
ongoing relationship with Doctors for Nutrition, delivered two inspiring, food-focused breakouts
at GHC19 and conducted a Change the Fads, Stop the Ads campaign calling for submissions of
parody ads to combat the flood of junk food advertising on our TV screens.
In 2020 we will continue to keep nutrition a strong focus. With the publication of our nutrition
in the medical curriculum early this year we are planning on conducting some strong advocacy
work surrounding the delivery of high-quality nutrition education to medical students. Following
on from our highly successful student-led cooking class in 2019 we would like to facilitate similar
sessions at 2020 AMSA events, as well as create a framework for Global Health Groups to run fun
and educational ‘culinary medicine’ sessions at their medical schools. Being a new committee
in our third year, a big focus in 2020 will be continuing to build our engagement and reach with
medical students across Australia.
We will be recruiting members for our subcommittee in February this year. If you’re frustrated by
Medicine’s reactionary approach to NCDs and you’re interested in learning more about the ways
we can prevent them, please consider applying to join Healthy Communities in 2020 - we would
love to work with you!
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/AMSAghrr
/youramsarr
Reproductive Rights
At AMSA Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), we believe
in all individuals’ right to a safe, healthy and enjoyable sexual
and reproductive health journey free from shame, stigma
and violence.
In 2019, AMSA SRH launched sexual health and consent
flyers at Global Health Conference social nights, and hopes
to expand the use of these flyers to Medcamps across the
country and other AMSA events in 2020.
2019 was also a big year with abortion becoming legalised in NSW! Our advocacy involved
regular campaign updates via our Facebook and providing materials to help students call their
local MPs on this issue. We were also very proud to become a member organisation of the NSW
Pro-Choice Alliance alongside 70+ expert legal, health and community groups from across the
state. Our SRH coordinator, Sarah Keenan spoke on Mid North Coast ABC radio about access
to abortion as an important part of women’s rights to comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
In 2020, you can catch AMSA SRH in action at the Global Health Conference and Global Health
forums. In 2019, we ran two very well-attended breakout sessions on “Womb and Gloom: the
future of women’s reproductive rights” and “Sexual Health: Myths and Truths.”
If you want us to help you organise a SRH event or would like to distribute our sexual health flyers
at your events, please contact us on mikaela.dunn@amsa.org.au or eli.cropp@amsa.org.au. For
updates, callouts and events, like us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AMSAGHRR/.
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Events
AMSA events are renowned for their unique blend of educational talks, social nights
and skills development - they provide experiences and skills that will last you beyond
your medical degree!
National Leadership Development Seminar (NLDS)
Canberra, Early May
Applications open in late Jan/early Feb
National Convention
Melbourne, June 29th to July 5th
Global Health Conference (GHC)
Gold Coast, August 21st to 25th
National Council One
Sydney, March 20th to 22nd
National Council Two
Melbourne, June 27th to 29th
National Council Three
TBA, TBA
Rural Health Summit (RHS)
Armidale, September
National Council
AMSA National Council convenes three times per year and brings together representatives
from all Australian medical schools to engage in all facets of AMSA. This year’s Councils will
provide numerous opportunities to network with like-minded medical students, be upskilled
through mentoring programs and multiple breakouts, debate on policies that will directly affect
the medical student experience and hear about all of AMSA’s advocacy, events, projects and
committees happening across Australia.
AMSA Council is open to all medical students, in addition to their representatives, and generally
lasts 3 days. It acts as a way for medical students to inform and direct the function of the Executive
and sets the advocacy agenda.
Council One for 2020 will be in Sydney, from March 20th to 22nd. Council Two will be held in
Melbourne from June 27th to 29th, immediately preceding AMSA’s National Convention and the
location of Council 3 is TBA.
Council is a great way to begin or continue your AMSA journey through exposure to all of the
wonderful opportunities AMSA has to offer. All information regarding Council and how to get
involved will be shared through the AMSA Facebook page or via your local AMSA Rep. If you are
interested in attending, simply register when registration is open (and will stay open for a month
or until capacity is reached) and have a chat with your AMSA rep if you have any questions!
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CANBERRA | MAY 2020
THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR (NLDS) IS THE
PREMIER ACADEMIC EVENT COORDINATED BY AMSA. HELD ANNUALLY IN MAY WITHIN THE
POLITICAL HEART OF THE COUNTRY, NLDS IS AN INCREDIBLE PLATFORM DESIGNED TO
BRING TOGETHER ENTHUSIASTIC AND PASSIONATE LEADERS AMONGST THE 17,000 STRONG
MEDICAL STUDENT COMMUNITY, WITH AN ENDURING LEGACY OF EMPOWERING AND
INSPIRING THEM TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS.
NLDS
IN 2020, NLDS WILL DELIVER FOUR DAYS OF AN ENVIABLE ARRAY OF
THOUGHT-PROVOKING SPEAKERS AND WORKSHOPS AND UNPARALLELED NETWORKING
OPPORTUNITIES UNDER OUR THEME, ‘LEADERSHIP BY CONNECTION’. THROUGH A
RIGOROUS APPLICATION PROCESS, APPROXIMATELY 100 DELEGATES FROM ACROSS THE
COUNTRY WILL GATHER TO EXPERIENCE THIS UNIQUE AND TRANSFORMATIVE ENCOUNTER.
WE HAVE A PROUD TRADITION OF FEATURING EXCEPTIONAL LEADERS FROM AROUND
AUSTRALIA AND WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING THE LIKES OF THE CHAIR OF THE WORLD
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA. NLDS WILL
CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A UNIQUE AND INTIMATE FORUM TO DISCUSS ISSUES INTEGRAL TO
HEALTH, EDUCATION, POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP, AND HELP SHAPE THE MEDICAL LEADERS
OF TOMORROW.
APPLICATIONS OPEN LATE JAN/EARLY FEB.
FOLLOW OUR FB PAGE AND INSTAGRAM TO STAY UPDATED.
15

How do you summarise what it’s like
to be a medical student in just one word?
...challenging
...relentless
...eye opening
easy, convention
AMSA NATIONAL CONVENTION MELBOURNE 2020
From world renowned speakers to
[biodegradable] confetti cannons at social nights to
simulated multi-trauma medical challenges at sports day
there is truly no other experience quite like it
Discover career defining moments and create lifelong friends
at AMSA’s premier event of the year
Join us in Melbourne from June 29 to July 5 to find
your
m2020.com.au
@amsaconvention
16

17

18

Publications
Each year, AMSA releases numerous publications to keep you in the loop, provide you
with plentiful resources and showcase the works of medical students like you!
Our National Publications Subcommittee, Global Health team and Rural Health Committee
work tirelessly to research, write, design, format, edit and release publications that
are not only visually engaging but also useful for our readers. See our guides, journals
and magazines below - you will surely find one that appeals to you!
19

Special Interest Groups
AMSA Global Health
Want to save the planet? Work with the WHO, UN or MSF? Passionate about refugee health or
reproductive rights? Then AMSA Global Health is the new med fam you’ve been looking for. We’re
AMSA’s largest special interest group and we engage, represent and empower medical students
to take effective action on global health.
Since 2005, we’ve been connecting like-minded students and getting them ready to be the global
health leaders of tomorrow. Our members have represented Australia at UN forums and the World
Health Assembly; organised rallies across the country; written submissions to parliamentary
inquiries; appeared in national media -- and made friends for life while doing so!
Join us in 2020 as we keep working towards solutions on the climate emergency, mass population
displacement, the global obesity epidemic, health inequity and more. We can’t wait to meet you.
How do I get involved?
GET
INVOLVED!
Whether you’re a passionate advocate, an IT whiz, a social media superstar
or an events guru -- or just really keen on saving the world -- we’d love to
welcome you to the AMSA Global Health family.
Here’s what you can do:
» Apply to join our team: 2020 subcom callouts in February and 2021
Management Team/Executive callouts in August-September;
» Join the global health group at your uni, and get in touch with your
AMSA Global Representative;
» Keep an eye on our Facebook page;
» Sign up to the Bulletin;
» Come to an AMSA Global Health Forum;
» Come find us at AMSA Global Health Conference.
Dates to watch out for (keep an eye on Facebook and our Bulletin):
» AMSA Global Health subcommittee callouts: February
» AMSA Global Health Forums: May and September
» AMSA Global Health Conference: August
» AMSA Global Health Management Team and Executive callouts:
August-September
/AMSA.global.health
Sign up for our monthly Bulletins
Website: http://globalhealth.amsa.org.au/
20

AMSA rural Health
AMSA Rural Health (AMSA RH) is the peak representative body
for rural origin students, rural clinical school students and for the
rural health interests of medical students Australia-wide. AMSA
RH supports and facilitates medical students’ engagement with
rural health and advocates for students regarding rural issues.
AMSA RH also partners with key stakeholders to advocate for
the stability and support of the future rural health workforce. A
key mission of AMSA RH is to advocate for equality in access
to healthcare and equal health outcomes for rural and remote
Australians.
In 2019, AMSA RH:
» played a vital role in shaping AMSA’s Bonded Medical
Places (BMP) policy;
» participated in work groups and task forces for the National
Rural Generalist Pathway and More Doctors for Rural
Australia Program;
» collaborated with AMSA Med Ed to produce the Rural Health
Module;
» hosted several educational breakouts across AMSA’s events;
» set up a Rural Elective Bursaries for rural elective GP
placements.
Some of AMSA RH’s key advocacy priorities for 2020 include:
» rural clinical school student support;
» rural specialist pathways;
» further support for BMP/MRBS students.
AMSA RH educates students about the unique opportunities and
challenges related to rural practice and lifestyle, equipping them
with the skills to shape Australia’s future rural health workforce.
Through events, projects and publications, AMSA RH inspires
students to consider a career in rural medicine. Keep an eye
out for AMSA RH’s soon to be bi-annual magazine FRONTIER!
and more publications in development to discover the amazing
places a rural placement can take you, and learn more about the
diverse issues affecting rural health. If you’re interested in finding
out what rural health has to offer, be sure to check out the 2020
Rural Health Summit (RHS).
To stay up to date with AMSA Rural in 2020, make sure to follow
us on Facebook, Twitter and visit our website for ways to get
involved and to see all the great opportunities when you #gorural!
Website: amsarural.com
/yourAMSArural
@yourAMSArural
Monthly Newsletter
@yourAMSArural
21

AMSA MedEd
Med Ed is the branch of AMSA that is dedicated to producing high quality, free resources that
are accessible to all medical students across Australia. Although we are a relatively new part of
AMSA, we have made a range of achievements with more planned for next year! Med Ed has two
main parts:
Resource division:
This division consists of the National Question Bank, Fact sheets and AMSA Academy. Together,
these teams create a centralised repository of resources for students to learn from and reinforce
their knowledge. In 2019, we successfully increased our National Question Bank to 400+ questions
on a wide variety of specialities, with more to come! We are also keen to create OSCE scenarios
and marking sheets for students to use commencing in 2020. We currently host up to date fact
sheets on common conditions. This year, we are shifting our fact sheets to yield a more clinical
focus.
AMSA Academy designs engaging interactive modules on a variety of topics such as global health,
mental health, sexual health and rural health. This year we focused on topics that aren’t always
covered well in the curriculum such as tropical medicine, bioethics and paediatric disability.
Sign up now to access all our free resources here: https://amsamoodle.org.au.
Research division:
Med Ed Research provides medical students with the opportunity to conduct research on a variety
of topics relating to their school curriculum. Often the research that is done can then be used to
form the basis of policy and advocacy. We are currently undertaking several projects, the results
of which will be published in 2020.
In 2019, we conducted our very first Research poster competition at AMSA Convention and
received fantastic feedback from students. We are looking forward to continuing this next year, so
don’t throw out your research posters yet!
For more information head to our website: https://amsa.org.au/mededresearch
GET
INVOLVED!
Callouts for team members will open in February and will be posted on our Facebook
page. We are always looking for students who are passionate about medical education!
/yourAMSAMedEd
Website: https://amsa.org.au/mededresearch
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AMSA International Students’ Network (ISN)
The International Students’ Network serves as a powerful advocate for matters pertaining to
international students in Australian medical schools. In Australia, 1 in 5 medical students are from
overseas, and the ISN strives to represent every one of these students as effectively as possible.
We provide a voice for international medical students at a national level. The goals that have been
set out as foundations for the ISN include:
1. To advocate for all international medical students studying in Australia;
2. To provide support for graduating international students seeking internship in Australia;
3. To develop an inclusive and engaged international student community;
4. To connect current and future international medical students and to inform them of the issues
currently facing international students in Australia.
ISN’s highlights from 2019 include:
» The successful refunding of the Commonwealth Medical
Internship programme by the Department of Health and the
increased number of spots to 115;
» We worked closely with AMSA Central, medical students’
councils in individual states and the Department of Health to
maximise internship opportunities for international medical
graduates;
» We also provided support to these graduates who didn’t receive
a round 1 job offer by keeping them informed of opportunities
all around Australia;
» A new collaboration with the law firm Rostron Carlyle Rojas,
which provided discounted legal support towards ISN members.
In 2020, ISN will continue all our advocacy efforts. Some of our
goals include a detailed Internship Guide, ISN visa review and
ongoing support for Commonwealth Medical Internship. ISN
will also collaborate with relevant organisations, to address the
mental health issues experienced by many international medical
students.
If you are interested to join our fantastic team and represent international students at a national
level, stay tuned for our recruitment announcements towards the end of the year! Join our
Facebook group to receive updates on internship situations, working visas and anything related to
international students.
/groups/ISN.AMSA
23

AMSA National Executive
Lauryn Khoo
Secretary
lauryn.khoo@amsa.org.au
Daniel Zou
President
daniel.zou@amsa.org.au
Siobhan Dillon
Treasurer
siobhan.dillon@amsa.org.au
Jelyn Thong
Vice President (Internal)
jelyn.thong@amsa.org.au
Isabelle Nehme
Vice President (External)
isabelle.nehme@amsa.org.au
Liam Virtue
Events Coordinator
liam.virtue@amsa.org.au
Henness Wong
Public Relations
Officer
henness.wong@amsa.org.au
Rhys Harris
National Coordinator
rhys.harris@amsa.org.au
Patrice Brennan
Projects Offier
patrice.brennan@amsa.org.au
Travis Lines
Policy Officer
travis.lines@amsa.org.au
Davina Daudu
Sponsorship Officer
davina.daudu@amsa.org.au
Jasmine Jansen
Sponsorship Officer
jasmine.jansen@amsa.org.au
Michele Fu
Publications and
Design Officer
michele.fu@amsa.org.au
Tianchi Ren
Information Technology Officer
tianchi.ren@amsa.org.au
Sophie Keen
Student Engagement Officer
sophie.keen@amsa.org.au
24

AMSA Representatives
Australian National University
Kiran Soni
amsa@anumss.org
Bond University
Stephanie Lee
amsarepresentative@mssbu.
org
Curtin University
Kiera Sanders
kiera.sanders@amsa.org.au
Deakin University
Ellie Damianos
amsa.clinical@medusa.org.
au
Griffith University
Kiera Stanmore
kiera.stanmore@amsa.org.au
Flinders University
Jayda Jung
amsa@fmss.org.au
James Cook University
Hugh McMahon
liaisonofficer@jcumsa.org.au
Macquarie University
Terence Wong
terence.wong@amsa.org.au
Monash University
Jasmine Elliott
jasmine.elliott@amsa.org.au
University of Adelaide
Ines Portella
amsa@amss.org.au
Universirty of Melbourne
Jacqui Jiang
amsa@ummss.org.au
University of Newcastle
Prachi Sahai
amsa@unms.org.au
University of New England
Keeththana Thaya
amsa@unemsa.org
University of New South
Wales
Fergus Stafford
amsa@medsoc.org.au
University of Notre Dame
(Fremantle)
Jade Dixon
amsa@msand.org.au
University of Notre Dame
(Sydney)
Archit Vora
amsa-clinical@mandus.org.
au
University of Queensland
Katt Farrow
amsa@uqms.org
University of Sydney
Illie Hewitt
amsa@sydneymedsoc.org.au
University of Tasmania
Erik Lui
amsa@tumss.org.au
University of Western
Australia
Ayeesha Thevar
amsa@wamss.org.au
Western Sydney University
Jessica Phan
amsa@wsms.org.au
University of Wollongong
TBA
amsa@wumss.org.au
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