MM2017: Day 3

The GA continues. It is now apparent that the organizing committee has done an amazing job with this event. Sessions have enough room to operate, the food is abundant and the schedule is closely monitored. Heck, there even is a grocery store across the street! Perfect. They have set the bar high for upcoming GAs. I hope we get the chance to meet the OC to discuss the difficulties they were confronted to so we can be prepared for AM2018!

Yesterday I had SCORP sessions in the morning, followed by policy statement discussions. I attended the one for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). I was happy to see that most people within IFMSA are on the same page concerning UHC in general. The role of the private sector in achieving UHC is where opinions start to differ.

Plenaries started in the afternoon. Boy, what a roller-coaster! Procedural motions, voting results, questions, points of information, points of order, statements, speakers… everything has to be included in the minutes! It was hard to keep up, especially during the election speeches. The chair is so efficient that we were done by 22:30, which never happens in GAs.

Today, after correcting yesterday’s minutes, I went to the exchange fair, which basically consisted of listening to a few presentations, then going to every kiosk and gathering as many stickers as possible all the while giving everyone a « Montreal AM2018 » sticker — people go crazy for those! It is incredible to see so many people from different cultures under the same roof. During the afternoon, we set off into the rain for a short hike to get a glimpse of Budva from a distance. Then, it was back to the plenary  for the voting of by-laws. Again, the chair was so efficient that we were out by 22:30.

I was just thinking, I’d like to meet the program coordinator for communicable diseases to discuss our project at Université Laval on Neglected Tropical Diseases. We’ll see if I can find him!