The Spring General Assembly will take place 28th-29th April in LEEDS. Booking for places is now open HERE.
The deadline for submission of statements of motivation is 23.59 on Saturday 21st April. We look forward to hearing from you!
It’s that time of year again – another year of Medsin has passed, and another generation of Medsinners must hand the baton on to those who will take our network on to new and greater heights! This is your chance to stand up and get involved. You don’t necessarily need bags of experience – just passion and a willingness to learn!
Voting will take place at the Spring General Assembly, which will be held on 28th-29th April in LEEDS! The SGA is a crucial meeting bringing together people from all backgrounds in Medsin, responsible for shaping the organisation for the coming year. Comprising elections, discussions, progressive changes to the network and lots of fun it’s an event not to be missed!
The positions available are listed below, along with lots more detail about what each job entails. Scroll down right to the bottom for more details of how to submit an application! If anything doesn’t make sense or you have a general query, please feel free to contact me on nationalcoordinator@medsin.org
President [Category A]
The President is responsible for chairing the committee and ensures the committee are accessible, working towards their shared vision for the year, as well as responding to any of the developments in the network and representing Medsin-UK to external organisations. The President is responsible for acting as the main link between the NC and Medsin-UK’s Board of Trustees, attending their quarterly meetings. We are working hard to secure funding for the role of President to be a sabbatical position next year, so candidates able to take a year off university are preferable (though not mandatory).
The role can be thought of in two parts:
1. The National Committee
Being President involves leading, supporting and motivating the National Committee to ensure that the team has a successful year and achieves as much for the Medsin Network as possible. The Committee are vital to ensuring that the network is well supported! It’s generally the rest of the committee that are in contact with the network more than you are so its really important to put time into making sure that the team are happy and functioning!
Along with ensuring that everyone in the team is happy, it’s important that you support the rest of the NC in their roles, ensuring that the workload isn’t too much for any one person and redistribute tasks if necessary. Organising National Committee meetings is your responsibility; there aren’t a ‘traditional’ number of meetings to have – although there is a minimum of 4. The main thing is that you have them when you need them.
2. Externals
One of the biggest parts of the job involves representing Medsin to external organisations such as the British Medical Association, Medact, the People’s Health Movement, the Royal Colleges, the Lancet and the Centre for International Health and Development, UCL to name a few, and building up Medsin’s name in the global health field.
As Medsin-UK President you have a seat on the BMA Medical Students Committee which involves attending the MSC conference, 4 MSC meetings throughout the year and inputting into consultations on the MSC list server. Furthermore, the Medsin National Coordinator usually also sits on the BMA International Committee. You’ll also have the opportunity to attend the Medact board meetings and be on the Alma Mata working group.
For more information about this role, contact Dan & Felicity on nationalcoordinator@medsin.org
Vice President for Local Affairs [Category B]
The role of VP Local is partly to deputise for the President where necessary. However, his or her main role will typically be to maintain contact and support our network of around 30 Medsin Branches in the country.
As the representative from the National Committee communicating with Branches, you will:
– Be responsible for the development of member branches
– Liaise with the National Committee and branches to maximise communication, whilst representing branches views and ideas to the National Committee
– Support member branches to enable them to continue activities of Medsin-UK
– Be responsible for annual reports from Branches, annual evaluations and assessing the needs of Branches in the network
– Encourage local groups to affiliate and participate in Medsin-UK
You will also be primarily responsible for liasing with the 5 Regional Coordinators, supporting them to develop the network within regions, arranging regional training days, conferences and joint advocacy initiatives.
As VP Local you may be expected to fill in when the President is busy or unavailable. This could mean attending meetings with externals, overseeing the management of the National Committee, or sharing other tasks and strategy planning.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Jonny on vicecoordinator@medsin.org
Vice President for International Affairs [Category B]
The role of VP Internatioal is a new position that will be proposed at the upcoming GHC12. If it is approved by the Voting Members, election for this position will be held at the SGA. This position has been created in recognition that Medsin-UK’s international work is becoming more and more demanding: work to effectively maintain our link with the IFMSA has become too much for the President to cover alone – and this will be the initial prime responsibility of the VP International. The hope is that they would have time to explore more fully Medsin’s role within the IFMSA, ensuring the network is getting the most out of being a part of IFMSA. Furthermore there are several other international organisations with whom Medsin would like to develop links if time allows – hence there is much scope for development within this role.
The IFMSA side of the VP International’s role are outlined below:
– Put out the call-outs for applicants to join the Medsin delegation to IFMSA General Assemblies (GAs)
– Organise and select the delegations for GAs
– Train the Medsin-UK delegation to each GA
– Attend the GA and be the Lead of the delegation – attending President sessions, and voting on behalf of Medsin-UK
– Conduct a thorough evaluation of each GA attended, and feed this back to the network, the National Committee, and the Board of Trustees.
– Receive all IFMSA emails (and be subscribed to all relevant IFMSA list-servs)
– Filter the relevant emails to the relevant members of the National Committee and Activity Coordinators
– Complete the National Member Organisation (NMO) reports
– Coordinate what bylaws/policy statements Medsin-UK wishes to submit/co-sign
– Input into the NMO list-server
– Liaise with Medsin and IFMSA Activities to ensure their reports are given on time etc.
– Ensure Medsin’s membership fees to the IFMSA are paid
– Ensure GA delegate fees are paid to the GA Organising Committee, and repaid to Medsin-UK by delegates
– Publicise relevant IFMSA news/opportunities, such as internships or international meetings, to the network
– Ensure publicity of what the IFMSA does and opportunities reach National, regional and branch level.
If you want to know more about the role, email Mike on ghe@medsin.org as he has been covering this work during his year of uni, alongside his role as GHED.
Secretary [Category C]
The Medsin-UK secretary’s role is primarily two-fold: supporting the National Committee in its communications and information-storing, whilst also communicating regularly with the network. Within the National Committee, the Secretary produces the minutes of National Committee meetings and ensures their availability to the network. Storing of meeting reports, documents, archives and correspondence both online and offline is achieved through the work of the Secretary.
The Medsin-UK Secretary meanwhile also maintains good communication across the network, compiling the weekly e-newsletter of updates, news and developments within and outside the Medsin network; and keeping the News & Events section of the website up to date. Updating the Constitution & By-laws of Medsin-UK and arranging invitations to and agendas for General Assembly meetings is also within the Secretary’s remit. Finally, the Secretary supports others on the National Committee to maintain an updated database of Medsin-UK members.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Ben KW on secretary@medsin.org
Treasurer [Category C]
The Treasurer is responsible for heading up the finance team, which is responsible for two main areas. The first is the financial day to day running of the network, and the second is the negotiation of sponsorship deals to lead Medsin to greater financial sustainability in the future (this is done in conjunction with the President). The Treasurer role is flexible – some applicants may prefer to concentrate on the financial management side whereas there is scope for involvement in a wide range of NC tasks if the new treasurer wants to be more involved.
In more detail, the treasurer is in charge of writing and proposing the budget at General Assembly meetings, keeping an account of all Medsin financial transactions, paying into the bank account, authorising payments on behalf of the committee through online banking and cheque payments, providing invoices for payments to Medsin-UK including Branch Affiliation Fees, making online transfers and payments including for membership to the International Federation of Medical Student Associations, and filing receipts for all payments.
As Treasurer you will be partly responsible for submitting the Charity’s annual accounts to the Charity Commission in conjunction with the charity trustees, and as mentioned above with the support of a team of fundraisers from around the network, you shall be responsible for developing and implementing a national fundraising strategy for Medsin-UK, allowing the charity to be well-financed and resourced for the work it carries out.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Shermayne at treasurer@medsin.org
Global Health Education Director [Category C]
Global health education is a cross-cutting area of work for Activities, Policy and Advocacy, and Training as we improve current opportunities and ensure education is a strong pillar of our organisation’s work.
As Director, you shall coordinate a national working group on global health education, composed of people working on toolkits for establishing global health on medical curricula, assessing medical school compliance with GMC requirements to teach global health, ensuring pre-elective training on global health, and creating academic health partnerships between UK medical schools and those in low- and middle-income countries.
Communication and promotion of Medsin’s global health education strategies at the branch-level will be a key priority: working with branches to share experiences and advice on how to improve global health education at their university will take place through workshops and further discussion.
You will be responsible for representing the working group and Medsin on a national and international level in the field of global health education, maintain the relevant webpages, and strategically plan Medsin’s work in the area.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Mike at ghe@medsin.org
Policy and Advocacy Director [Category C]
This role is a development from past years as the role of the Campaigns Director has evolved towards leading Medsin-UK’s national advocacy wing and facilitating the organisation’s contribution to health policy-making. You’ll take on the exciting role of coordinating the mainstay of our organisation’s global health advocacy, and will ensure Medsin has a strong political message for its members, politicians, and the wider public.
You will be in charge of creating, developing and making use of Medsin policy, ensuring the network has a strong position on the global health issues we work in. Using this policy for governmental or other consultation responses will allow our voice to be represented in political decision-making.
As the Director leading Medsin-UK’s advocacy wing you will coordinate a Campaigns Team of Activity Coordinators, assistants and also a variety of Regional Campaign Coordinators. This team will communicate regularly to organise campaign actions for the network and establish a smooth-running campaigning network.
With the assistance of your Regional Campaigns Coordinators you shall oversee the arrangement of grassroots campaigns training and events, facilitate national campaign actions at a local level, and be kept in touch with all campaigning developments at a Branch level through regular updates.
You will be given the chance also to lead Medsin-UK’s campaigning internationally by attending the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations conferences, at which we infuse advocacy ideas, actions and tactics into the UK delegation’s plans and encourage campaigning with our international partners.
Finally, you will be responsible for ensuring the availability of campaigning training at conferences, General Assemblies, and many other ways including the online Campaigns Toolkit.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Anya on policies@medsin.org
Activities Director [Category C]
The Activities Director is the committee representative responsible for liaising and supporting all Medsin Activities in the network. This involves e-mail contact, telephone conversations regularly throughout the year, attending activity events and representing Medsin-UK at these, attending international events including the International Federation of Medical Student Associations conferences if needed, and finally chairing the Activities Board; the representative body of all Activity coordinators which identified best practice, shares ideas and maximises cooperation amongst Medsin-UK Activities.
You will act as a contact point for people wanting to get involved in Activities and as a source of support and advice for projects needing help with particular issues. For those that wish to create a new Activity, you will be able to assist and advise through the process.
If you want to know any more about the role contact Sarah-Jane on activities@medsin.org
Communications Director [Category C]
In this exciting and expanding role you will be responsible for leading Medsin-UK’s internal and external communications. As Director of Communications you will lead a Communications team, consisting of the Webmaster, magazine editor, blogging editor and further recruits as needed. This team will arrange promotional materials to be created and circulated including posters, leaflets and merchandise to spread our branding and identity around the network. The team will also support local initiatives both offline and online, including local magazines and webpages.
You will work with Medsin-UK’s communications strategy, making use of all communications media, for instance websites, social media and networks, merchandise and further methods. In the area of media you will also work together with Policy and Advocacy Director and Press Officer to manage interactions with the press, including press releases, interviews with journalists and maximising our presence in the UK mass media particularly for campaign actions and events.
If you want to know any more about the role contact LJ on communications@medsin.org
Training Director [Category C]
Training is the absolute backbone of the Medsin network so this is a crucial role in the team. You will be responsible for coordinating the training offered on a national and regional level and facilitating training to occur at a branch level, by communicating with current Medsin trainers, and training up future ones.
Through organising Training New Trainers (TNT) courses, you will ensure the creation of further recruits and graduates from Medsin-UK’s training system to enhance the personal development, effectiveness and energy of those in the Medsin network. You will need to organise training workshops for the National Conference and Global Health Conference and liaise with the workshop co-coordinators for both of these. Training has been identified as a priority area for next year so this is an exciting role to apply for!
If you want to know any more about the role contact Sara on training@medsin.org
National Exchange Officers (x2) [Category C]
Exchanges currently operate in 6 medical schools, with 3 schools in the process of joining, overseeing 60 bilateral exchanges each year. The National Exchange Officers – both the NEO Incoming & the NEO Outgoing – are responsible for administering and developing the scheme in addition to supporting the work of the National Committee.
The two positions open for election – NEO Incoming & NEO Outgoing – are specifically responsible for signing and organising all Medsin UK exchanges within the IFMSA exchange system and as such the elected NEOs are mandated to attend two IFMSA General Assemblies within their term of office.
The position is administratively intensive involving dealing both with medical schools and the NEOs of other IFMSA member organisations, as well as the local exchange officers and committees within the Medsin network. In return, NEOs get to work with a vibrant and enthusiastic network of students who are continually working to professionalise and develop the IFMSA exchange scheme.
The elected NEOs would also be responsible for organising a National Training Weekend to be held in October, which deals with UK programme development and local exchange officer training.
NEOs normally are involved in at least one international IFMSA developmental project that could also necessitate attendance at European Sub Regional Training. The incumbent Medsin NEOs have been heavily involved in pushing forward the academic quality and global health agenda within IFMSA exchanges and as such interested applicants should be interested in doing same.
Applicants interested in the position should note that previous exchange experience is not required. A passion for international medical education, global health and for working with a diverse and active community, along with the desire to serve on Medsin National Committee are the key desired qualities and a thorough handover will be provided by the current NEOs.
If you have any enquires about the position or would like further information on what the role would entail please do not hesitate to contact the current NEOs, Leon and Francesca, via exchanges@medsin.org
Regional Coordinators (x5) [Category D]
The Medsin network is made up of its Branches at universities across the UK. While all our members come together twice a year, at the National Conference and Global Health Conference, most of the work we carry out is at a much more local level. In order to better support individual Branches, and to share the work that we’re doing, our Branches are grouped into convenient Regions (South East, South West, Midlands, Northern and Scotland – which includes Northern Ireland!). Please see the ‘Our Branches’ section under ‘Get Involved’ for more info on which branches fit into which regions.
The Regional Coordinators are primarily responsible for facilitating good communication between branches. Whilst they are not full National Committee positions, they input into the NC through the Vice President for Local Affairs, and it is hoped that they will be able to attend at least some NC weekend meetings through the year.
This year we will only be electing an overall Coordinator for each region. However, that person will be free to appoint a regional team to work with (in consultation with the VP Local) if it is deemed appropriate for that region. These postions are perfect if you want to experience national work at a more flexible and leisurely pace – and are an ideal stepping stone to gain more experience before standing for a full NC position next year!
For more information on regional coordinator positions, contact your local RC (see the regional pages within the ‘Our Branches’ section) or contact Jonny on vicecoordinator@medsin.org
How to run for a position
1. Have a read of the job descriptions. Once you’ve read them all, have a think about which you are most passionate about, and which you feel you could contribute the most to. This does not necessarily mean years of experience within Medsin – just enthusiasm and passion for global health!
2. We strongly recommend you get in touch with the person currently in that role to find out more about what the position entails – see http://www.medsin.org/about/national-committee for more details
3. As you’ll see there are various categories of position: you can apply for up to one position in each category, and if there’s more than 1 job you’re passionate about then we’d highly recommend you consider doing this to maximise your chances. During voting if, for example, you are not elected in Category A (if applicable), then your candidature will still stand for Category B. If you are not elected here then your candidature will go on to Category C, and so on. PLEASE NOTE: as you may have heard, some of the committee positions are changing (the role changes are pending official approval by the voting members). If you’re unsure of who to contact for more details about a position, please contact nationalcoordinator@medsin.org
4. Submit a statement of motivation of up to 500 words outlining your reasons for applying and your relevant past experience to nationalcoordinator@medsin.org by 23.59 on Saturday 21st April
5. Come to the SGA and be ready to make a 2 minute speech and answer 2 minutes of questions in advance of the actual voting! Keep an eye on the next couple of week’s newsletters for more info about the upcoming SGA. We look forward to receiving your statements of motivation!
OTHER POSITIONS
Please note that once the new National Committee has been voted in, they will be advertising for National Working Group members who will be recruited by appointment. Specific roles which will be available soon include:
Alumni Director
Magazine Editor
Blogging Editor
Webmaster
Press Officer
Fundraising Officer
Students for Global Health 