SCOPE - NiMSA

Professional Exchanges (SCOPE)

The Standing Committee on Professional and Exchanges.

Standing Committee on Professional Exchanges

The Standing Committee on Professional and Exchanges unite students who strive to create an equal and peaceful world and believe in international, intercultural as well as interpersonal solidarity. We believe in everybody’s responsibility as well as the ability to contribute to creating this world, as human rights can only exist when it applies to all humans.

History of the Committee

The Professional Exchange program is a full educational program offering clerkships to medical students abroad. Since the very beginning, in 1951, it was evident that exchange of medical students would be one of the main fields of action in IFMSA. As early as 1952, a total of 463 students spent a period of practice abroad, and today, it continues to be the backbone of the Federation and constitutes its longest running project. Annually, around 13.000 students from more than 90 countries travel around the world to discover new health systems, new cultures and to enhance their global health and intercultural understanding.

The SCOPE exchange program is a quality educational and cultural experience organized entirely by medical students with the help of their medical faculties.

Vision

SCOPE has a vision of a peaceful world where all individuals are entitled to full and equal access to their human rights, where no one is left behind, where priority is given to people in greatest need and where the entire society, including medical students and health workers, unite to support vulnerable groups.

Mission

The aim of SCOPE is to promote cultural understanding and co-operation amongst medical students and all health professionals, through the facilitation of international student exchanges. SCOPE aims to give all students the opportunity to learn about global health, and attains this partly by having its exchanges accredited by medical faculties across the world.

Objectives

To increase the mobility and to widen the horizon of medical students worldwide;
To provide equal chances to medical students to participate in a professional exchange, regardless of subjective, geographical, political, financial, sexual, cultural or religious backgrounds;
To provide medical students with the possibility to experience healthcare in another culture with different health and education systems, and to learn how differences in culture and believes are of influence;
To create possibilities for medical students to learn about global health issues, primary health concerns and basic epidemiology of the host country, and how it differs from their home country;
To contribute to the education of future health professionals with a global vision and to contribute to medical students’ personal development, self-reliance, and openness in becoming future health professionals;
To provide students with the chance to improve their medical knowledge, their vision on medical issues and their practical knowledge depending on the regulations of the host country;
To facilitate the connection between medical students and other health professionals and to provide a platform for future cooperation amongst medical students with each other and with health professionals across the globe;
To maintain affordable professional exchange tuition through its governing body to ensure that medical students within the National Member Organizations can participate in the exchanges with a minimal financial burden;
To make sure students are aware of the ethical aspects regarding their exchange to assure the burden on society, patients, the resources and the healthcare system is as limited as possible;
To promote tolerance towards differences and similarities within health and towards patients regardless of their sex, religion, or beliefs.

Professional exchanges

International Exchange : This may be a bilateral exchange or a unilateral exchange.

A bilateral exchange involves two National Medical Organizations (NMOs). Both NMOs exchange their correspondent students over the period of four weeks for this exchange to occur.

A unilateral exchange involves only one NMO sending her student to another NMO over the period of four weeks for an exchange program.

Internal Exchange : This exchange occurs within an NMO, it involves one Medical Student Association (MSA) sending her students to another MSA over a period of four weeks for an exchange program within the same NMO.

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