PreRM Wrapup

Had you told me two days ago that I was going to spend two days with random strangers from around the world and share with them more than I would share with my best friend, I would have laugh at you. I am glad I was wrong. I did not expect to learn so much about the differences in Medicine and be able to apply these differences in improving participation of IFMSA in Canada.

I found out that many of the universities in Latin America actively encourage their students to participate in IFMSA. The « mandate » comes from the university level, not from the Medical school lever, neither from the student body. At McGill, my perception was that IFMSA was more of a student level mandate. I was wondering if it is possible to get more support from our respective universities to formalize the support of IFMSA.

Before leaving the preRM, I heard rumors that IFMSA US does not actively participate in PAMSA but has a fairly good participation in IFMSA. Likewise, the participation of other Canada universities are noticeably absent in PAMSA but what about thier participation in IFMSA? Could this stem from the actual selection process of Medical students and how that affects the perception and value of participation in IFMSA?

I will try to gather some informal statistics on participation from different regions for a better comparison. Additionally, I believe this might be correlated to the cultures of each region as some regions are based on a more capitalist values while others are based on a socialist values.