• Foundation and principles
• Evolution of IFMSA structure
• The General Secretariat
• Standing Committees
• IFMSA activities
• Foundation of regional organizations
• IFMSA and other international student organizations
• IFMSA and other international bodies
• Obstacles
• Publications and Communications
• AFTER 50 YEARS...

During the past 50 years the structure and functions of IFMSA have been changed several times. From the original European group, the association has grown to include members from all over the world. IFMSA principles have been further defined in the present IFMSA Constitution( which was last adopted in March 2000),which states that:

• The federation pursues its aims without political, religious, social, racial, national, sexual or any other discrimination
• The federation promotes humanitarian ideals among medical students and so seeks to contribute to the creation of responsible future physicians
• The federation respects the autonomy of its members.

New Constitution and Bylaws were adopted in the extraordinary GA held in Kuopio, Finland in March 2000, after two years of hard work IFMSA had new regulations, more suitable for its current structure and way of working. The organization was officially re-registered at the Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands in July 2000.

The General Secretariat was originally located in Copenhagen (Denmark) from 1951, but was temporarily transferred to Canada in 1962 before returning to Copenhagen (Denmark) in 1963. It was moved to London (GB) in 1970, Helsinki (Finland) in 1971 and then Vienna (Austria) in 1978. Due to financial and organizational constraints the General Secretariat had to be temporarily changed to L'Aquila (Italy) in 1987 and was eventually settled at the Academisch Medisch Centrum in Amsterdam ( the Netherlands) in 1989. In 1999, an agreement with the World Medical Association was reached and the General Secretariat was moved to Ferney-Voltaire (France) where it stays at the moment. Nowadays, One Executive Board Member is partly supported by WMA to stay there with a fellowship as a part of the framework collaboration agreement.

SCOPE

A student exchange scheme was set up in 1951 by the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE), although the now-familiar common Application Form was not introduced until 1968. 
 

In 1958 the Committee On Transatlantic Exchange (COTE) was established to arrange exchanges between European and American students, and in 1959 detailed regulations of these exchanges were set up. Later on, This committee was incorporated into SCOPE.

In 1956, 11 countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges. At that year there were 906 exchangees.
In 1957, 18 countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges.
In 1966, 35 countries participated in the SCOPE exchanges. 
In 1980, more than 3000 students went on SCOPE exchanges.
In 1990, more than 4000 students went on SCOPE exchanges in 39 different countries.

SCORE

At the same time "Electives" were added to the normal range of clinical clerkships organized by SCOPE.
 

In 1986 SCOEE (Standing Committee on Electives Exchange) was founded, and this was a productive approach to the European Community student mobility projects (later promoted by AIEME (currently named IFMSA-Spain) and NeMSIC (currently called IFMSA-The Netherlands) within the ERASMUS/INSERT-MED programme).
 

During the meeting in Hurghada, Egypt in August 1998, SCOEE changed its name into the currently SCORE (Standing Committee on Research Exchange) to have a better definition of their exchanges.

SCOME

The Standing Committee on Medical Education was created in order to compare the various medical education systems of the world. It participated in the first world conference on Medical Education in 1952, and in 1954 the World Medical Association (WMA) published a report on Medical Education by IFMSA. 

The first SCOME workshop organized by IFMSA with the assistance of WHO was entitled "Fitting medical education to the needs of whom?" (1982), followed by "Evaluation in medical education: Roulette or valid assessment?" (1983), "PHC in undergraduate ME", "Is European medical education in crisis?" (1984), and "Programme evaluation: working towards an efficient ME system relevant to community health needs" (1985). The policy on medical education was drafted in Medithalia (Denmark) and a close relationship between IFMSA and the Network of Community-Oriented Health Institutions started in 1984. SCOME was invited to a planning session in October 1984 for a future Network meeting in Milanomedicina (Italy) concerning strategies for change in medical schools, in order to bring them into line with current ME theory. 

In the 90's two valuable SCOME projects were in the pipeline: firstly MESTBHIRD (" Medical Students Teaching Basic Health in Rural Districts"), a pilot project aiming to promote health education to children at primary and secondary schools in the third world, by teaching basic hygiene and health care with special emphasis on AIDS prevention. Students were encouraged to volunteer and take an active parf in projects helping the local society. The project was developed in collaboration with several governmental and non-governmental organizations such as WHO, UNICEF, the Thai Medical Students Organization and the Asian Medical Students Organization (AMSA).

The second new SCOME Project is the questionnaire about medical curricula. Through it IFMSA intends to compare the different courses in the world in order to facilitate the mobility of students between different countries. In 1971 SCOME organized such a comparison for the first time and the information they collected was recorded in a booklet. At the Exchange Officers' Meeting in Sarajevo in 1991 the Working Committee on Medical Education decided to start a new comparison. A new questionnaire for the survey has been drawn up and sent to all NMOs, and was distributed to all faculties of IFMSA member countries. A new booklet was published with all the information collected.

SCOME is still working in this project and currently an online database has been developed to ease the collection of the information.

SCOPH

In that post-war atmosphere, health conditions were a matter of concern for everybody, and students' health was especially interesting for medical students. The Standing Committee on Students' Health (SCOSH) was born, and in 1954, in co-operation with the World University Service (WUS), carried out a survey on the condition of students' health. During the sixties SCOSH organized annual drug appeals for developing countries and planned medical students' emergency groups. In 1965 the acronym SCOSH was changed to SCOH (SC on Health), with a wider orientation towards the promotion of effective health policies in general.

The interest in the health and social conditions of different populations in the world was also increasing, so in 1957 the SC on Population (SCOP) was created. Which later on merged with SCOH. In the 60s, SCOSH organised a yearly collections of medical drugs "Drug Appeals" for the developing countries and crisis groups made up of students were planned. Eventually the name of this standing committee changed to become SCOPH ( standing committee on public health) which is one of our current SCs. Following the recommendations of the meeting in Lagos, the so-called SCOPA (SC on Population Activities) was established in 1976.

During the eighties the demand for redefinition of its aims became increasingly pressing, not because population issues were of no concern anymore, but because the state of affairs in health matters called for a broader prospective when tackling pending problems, as described in the frequently-cited declaration of Alma Ata. Eventually this standing committee was incorporate into SCOPH as well.

SCORP

The problem of refugees' health and social conditions led to the creation of SCOR (Standing Committee of Refugees), the SCOR Refugees' Week (March 1984) and subsequent KuMSA Refugees' Aid Projects in Sudan. SCOR was later named SCORP (SC on Refugees and Peace) after including in its activities issues such as war prevention, anti-personal mines campaigns etc... In August 2005 the committee's name was changed to SC on human Rights and Peace.

SCORA

Driven by a strong will to actively take part in prevention activities concerning HIV and sexually transmitted infections, medical students in 1992 formed the youngest working group in IFMSA: the Standing Committee on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (SCOAS).

The activities in SCOAS later developed from HIV/STD advocacy and awareness campaigns to encompass a wider range of reproductive health and related issues.
To mark this change of focus, the name was in 1998 changed to the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS (SCORA).

Over the last couple of years, more emphasis has been put on women's health and rights and the importance of gender equality policies in IFMSA.

International workshops organised by SCORA also mirror this development:

• HIV and Cultural Issues (1997)
• Refugees and Reproductive Health (1998)
• Maternal and Child Health (1999).

SCOMF

In 1957 the Standing Committee on Medical Films (SCOMF) was established. It aimed to promote the educational importance of medical films in normal medical training. But This committee didn't exist for long, and ended its work in 1961.

In the fifties various Student International Clinical Conferences (SICC) were organized by IFMSA in different countries.

In 1963, the first IFMSA summer schools were organized in Scandinavia, United Kingdom (in tropical medicine) and Denmark (preclinical students). In the same year IFMSA promoted a Blood Donation Week and a Book Appeal for students from developing countries (organized by FRG). later on many summer schools were organized, the most inportant of which were the series of international summer schools on stop AIDS which started in 1995.

The seventies witnessed the worldwide broadening of IFMSA, the promotion of many conferences on all aspects of regional and international items, but also the raising of a number of organizational problems like communication, financial constraints, and politicization of IFMSA policies. Conferences on items such as selection methods for admission to medical schools, practical clinical training in medical education and the problem of drugs (experimentation, production and use) took place.

In 1970, the Drug Appeal becomes an official IFMSA project. Along with this runs the Equipment Appeal that started 1967. Leftovers from the industrial countries are sent to developing countries that lack these products.

In 1972, Medical Student's Exchange in Developing Countries (MESTUDEC) becomes a primary health project, and is recognised in Ghanzi, Botswana. Also health Education was promoted in Nabobi, Ghana.

In 1973, the GA in Singapore marked the start of the upsurge of interest by IFMSA in third world problems and the Primary Health Care (PHC) orientation of medical studies.

In1975, the GA in Philadelphia (USA) was another important step (with the impressive International Educational Symposium on Physician Migration), as well as the 1976 GA in Hong Kong with its satellite seminar on Environment and Population in Japan.

In 1978, a new category of members is accepted so called Corresponding Members. These are later to be called Associate Members and are part of a prepatory phase before full membership is achieved.

From 1979 to 1985, IFMSA gave special emphasis to Declarations and Resolutions that could apply to medical students internationally. Thus declarations were adopted in Kiljava (Finland) and Cairo (Egypt) on PHC and ME, in Wartensee and L'Aquila on Prevention of Nuclear War, and in L'Aquila (Italy) and Solbacka (Sweden) on ME and many other more.

In 1986, an international seminar on "Health Needs and Students' Action in Developing Countries" was held. A new system of primary health care projects was set up - Village Concept Projects.

In 1988, the first Village Concept Project was set up in Ghana. The GA in Lagos, Nigeria was chaotic. No new board was elected; instead concentration was put on the building of a new structure and better laws of the constitution. Many people doubted the sustainability of IFMSA at that time.

In the early seventies the need for decentralization was felt, in order to be more involved in world medical students' affairs and to reflect the thoughts and inspirations not just of medical students in a certain continent but of students from all parts of the world.

In 1968 IFMSA greatly contributed to the foundation of FAMSA, the Federation of African Medical student Associations. In 1966 ARMSA (the Asian Regional Medical Student Association), had been established. Although ARMSA existed only for some 7 years this regional body promoted activities in medical students' affairs with some outstanding results.

Following this new tendency IFMSA was reorganized into 4 (and subsequently 5 and 6) regions. Each region was co-ordinated by a Regional Vice-President. This Vice-Presidents do not exist at the moment, although these days there is a growing need to go back to these regionalized support teams again due to the enormous growth of IFMSA in the last years.

From the need for intersectorial solutions to health problems arose the realization of " Intersectorial Meetings of International Student Organizations" from 1986 onwards, and IMISO was officially founded, consisting of IPSF, EPSA, EMSA, AIESEC, IAAS, IFSA, ELSA and IFMSA.

The "Intersectoral Action for Health" which was held in Geneva, April 1986, was the first joint theme meeting of international student organisations (IMISO), organised by IFMSA. This was the result of the first Training Programme "Leadership Training for Health for All", that was organized jointly by IFMSA and WHO.

The following year (1987) the Village Project became a reality, in Ojobi, Ghana. IMISO was the umbrella under which many other Village Concept Projects were born but this intersectorial organization faced several financial and management problems and the member organisations (IFMSA among them) decided to dissolve it and work in a more unofficial and informal way. The dissolution proccess was started in early 2001 but the old IMISO members keep on collaborating in several current and future initiatives such as Village Concepts, Bioethical Symposiums and Disaster Preparedness Workshops.

In May 1983, IFMSA had the first contact with the Network of Community Oriented Health Institutions.

In 1969, IFMSA was admitted to an official relationship with the WHO, and this collaboration resulted in the organization of a symposium on "Programmed Learning in Medical Education", as well as immunology and tropical medicine programmes.

WHO continued to support IFMSA, mostly in the field of Medical Education through the organization of a Health Leadership Training in Geneva and a number of international student workshops. These were on "Evaluation" in Belgrade in 1987, on "A Comprehensive Health Intervention Plan at Community Level" in Lagos in 1988, and on " Rational Use of Drugs" in Cesme (Turkey) in 1990. Currently we have good collaborations with the Child and Adolescent health, Non communicable diseases along with many other departments.

IFMSA workshops on Refugees health, Mother and Child health and Ageing and health were a good example of this cooperation.

In 1971, a symposium on pollution and overpopulation was organized in Edinburgh (GB) by IFMSA in conjunction with WHO, UNESCO and the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. It was then considered that population overgrowth was a major problem which needed to be tackled with all possible resources to avoid serious ill effects.

IFMSA's contribution towards this problem was sporadic, but nevertheless constructive during the early seventies. The Asian Regional Seminar on Population Overgrowth was organized in Japan in 1973, and an international interdisciplinary students' seminar on Population Dynamics and Family Planning in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1974.

In 1983, A co-operation with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) began.

In the middle eighties IFMSA suffered a major crisis of confidence. Member countries could not get actively involved in IFMSA work and policy-making because they were given no chance to understand and follow what was going on. The Federation had become so untouchable to the average national representative that it was difficult for anyone undertaking medical studies to become fully committed. This had led to an unfortunate centralization of power to the senior officers of the Federation, such that not even the average executive board members had a reasonable opportunity to follow IFMSA's central affairs.

This uncertainty concerning the policy-making, finances, membership formalities, official correspondence, and dissemination (or lack of dissemination) of information led to confusion, paralysis and split, even within the Executive Board. Having dogged the organization for almost 5 years. Discussion of the Constitution had become a major issue at meetings. Arguments over petty technical points wasted much valuable time when more important topics needed to be discussed.

In spite of all this, many valuable initiatives were promoted: in 1986 IFMSA organized an international seminar on "Health Needs and Students' Action in Developing Countries", and the "Village Concept", a totally new approach in third world aid projects, was designed.

With the founding of an international medical student journal, Medical Students International (MSI), IFMSA aimed to produce a regular informative magazine, containing articles from national and international medical students' organizations. Up until now several MSIs have been published, the last ones on "Adolescents and reproductive health" and "The Child", and two more are in preparation, on "Ageing and Health" and "Exchanges".

IFMSA Newsletter, VAGUS, is being issued 5 times a year and distributed to all our member organisations. The Internet facilities have allowed as well to put it as electronic version in our Website.

Communication and dissemination of information to our members has been improved with the use of the new technologies. Internet has allowed an "electronic version" of IFMSA to be made widely available. The www.ifmsa.org website is in a constant change and electronic-exchange facilities for SCORE and SCOPE are deployed.