During the last Malaysian International Medical Students’ Conference (MIMSC), the new Executive Board Members ofthe Society of MMA Medical Students (SMMAMS) has been officially installed by the SMMAMS advisor, Dato Dr Datuk Dr N. Athimulam. The grand event was held in conjunction with the Gala Dinner of the three-day conference at the Legacy Hotel, Melaka. The new Executive Board Members installed were as follows:
President : Mr. Lutfi Fadil Lokman (UKM)
Vice President of Internal Affairs : Mr. Deenish Muniandy (PMC)
Vice President of External Affairs : Ms. Carol Lee Pei Shin (MMMC)
Honorary Secretary General : Ms. Izza Arsyika Abd. Rahim (MMMC)
Honorary Treasurer : Ms. Yeap Hsiao Hui (UTAR)
Standing Committee Directors (SCD)
SCD on Public Health : Ms. Priya Darshene Raj (Monash)
SCD on Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS : Ms. Nur Izzaty Abu Bakar (UKM)
SCD on Medical Education : Ms. Jayanthi Selvam (UPM)
Regional Directors in charge of Medical Schools
Region 1 : Mr. Mohd. Yuhairi Jamaludin (UiTM)
Region 2 : Ms. Tan Qing Yu (UM)
Region 3 : Mr. Adrian Low Sheng Kian (IMU)
The organizational structure of SMMAMS Executive Board for this session (2011/2012) is different from the previous years where we have decided to do away with the traditional structure consisting of portfolio holders on Public Relations, Webmaster, Academics, Social Events and Non-Specific Portfolios and replace them as above. This is because SMMAMS has realized that with the increasing number of medical students graduating each year from local and foreign universities, it will take more than academic achievements to guarantee a successful career as a doctor. The restructuring of SMMAMS hopes to enhance medical students’ qualities such as communication skills, leadership skills and teamwork ability by focusing on events and campaigns organization which will require medical students to interact and work together not just among medical students themselves but also with the people in the community they live in.
To make this a reality, for the first time SMMAMS elects two Vice Presidents (VP): VP for Internal Affairs and VP for External Affairs. The VP of External Affairs will be in charge of 3 Standing Committees, namely the Standing Committee on Public Health, Reproductive Health and Medical Education. For this session, SMMAMS plans to organize three event/campaigns each based on the 3 mentioned standing committees. SMMAMS hopes that through the organization of these events and campaigns, those involved will benefit themselves by developing leadership, managerial and teamwork skills and highly impact the society they are targeting. The VP of External Affairs will also be in liaison with the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA) which SMMAMS has become a part of last year. The IFMSA is in turn in liaison with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations.
Not forgetting SMMAMS’s core purpose to represent the medical students of Malaysia, the VP of Internal Affairs will be in charge of the betterment of Malaysian medical students and maintaining the spirit of goodwill and friendship among Malaysian medical students from various medical schools. Each medical school has been assigned a region that they are under in, and each region has been assigned a SMMAMS Regional Coordinator (RC). Each RC will be in charge of the welfare of SMMAMS members in the region they are in, be in contact with the SMMAMS representative from each medical school and organize membership drives to increase the strength of SMMAMS by the numbers. One of the activities that SMMAMS has planned to strengthen the bonds of between medical students from different medical schools is by organizing the annual Inter-Varsity Sports Event in collaboration with Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA) Malaysia, which will be held by the end of the year.
SMMAMS hope that the restructuring would prove to be a groundwork for future success. However, SMMAMS as a society under MMA couldn’t stand without the help of MMA itself. We believe that SMMAMS together with the help and support of MMA will be more than just a medical student society, but a society that becomes a platform to shape future leaders in the ever challenging medical field.
Prepared by,
Lutfi Fadil Lokman
President, Society of MMA Medical Students (SMMAMS) 2011/2012
