EAMSC 2011

Happy New Year!

I can’t be happier that my 2011 started with a loud bang! I just got back home from attending the East Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. EAMSC is one of AMSA International’s two conferences and it is held annually in the beginning of each year.

P1010799 The theme of the 5-days conference was Adolescent Health: Embrace the Future, Better the World. Like previous AMSA conferences, there was the perfect mix of academic, social, and cultural activities – sleeping is so not in the agenda.

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I was put into Group 15 with Ju and Peace from Thailand as our group moderators (GMs). There had been only 9 out of 18 group members in the opening ceremony, but everybody finally got together in the opening dinner. And that was the birth of our friendship :)

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I, with my team from Indonesia, represented the country in the scientific paper competition. It was definitely a first for me, and as terrified as I was back then, I am looking forward to doing it again. We placed in the Top 10, but did not get into the Top 3. Congratulations to the Malaysian team, who won the paper competition.

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Besides the competitions, the academic program also included PBL-style discussions, site visits, group presentations, and community service. The community service program took me by surprise. After learning many issues on adolescent health, delegates to the EAMSC paraded with banners and flyers around MBK Center and Siam Paragon to raise awareness. We certainly turned many heads that day, although some looked more confused than aware. Nevertheless, I think we did a pretty good job for an exhausted bunch of random Asians.

AMSA conferences end with a cultural night, in which each country performs their bits of traditional and modern culture. Indonesia certainly rocked the night with our noisy combination of acting, dancing, and singing. Do I have to say sorry for introducing the dreaded dangdut in EAMSC? LOL.

 

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The last picture is the full member of Group 15, with only one person missing :(

Stay tuned to this blog because there will be more of EAMSC, and me!