AMSA

The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) is the peak representative body for medical students in Australia. Each of the 21 medical schools in Australia elects an AMSA Representative to represent them at AMSA National Council, which is the primary decision-making body of the Association. The key mandate of AMSA is to connect, inform and represent Australia’s 17,000 medical students.
AMSA is a member of the International Federation of Medical Students' Association.
==History==
In 1960, medical students from around Australia met in Brisbane for their first national conference. Never before had Australian medical students come together as one body to discuss ideas, share information and voice their opinions and concerns. Since then, AMSA has grown and evolved into one of Australia's largest student representative bodies.
==What does AMSA do?==
Connect. Inform. Represent. 
The activities of AMSA are all based around these key objectives and range from large, formal activities such as our annual National Convention, through to informal and unstructured activities such as providing guidance and assistance to local medical societies when asked. 
AMSA's core activities are advocacy, students, events, projects and publications.
==Advocacy==
AMSA provides a voice for medical students, ensuring their concerns are heard by all levels of government and other relevant stakeholders in the medical education arena. Any medical student is welcome to contact their local AMSA Representative or the AMSA Executive if they wish to discuss an issue related to their medical education. Any Australian medical student is able to participate in AMSA advocacy campaigns. 
AMSA's stance on various issues is documented in AMSA Policy. 
====National advocacy priorities====
At the meeting of the third National Council each year, the AMSA Representatives of each Australian medical school vote upon the advocacy priorities for the following year. 
The following 2018 national advocacy priorities have been chosen: 
:Primary priorities
::* Preventing increases in student numbers and the establishment of new medical schools
::* Improving student mental health and wellbeing
::* Guaranteeing the availability of quality internships to all Australian medical graduates
::* Action on sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination in Medicine
:Secondary priorities
::* Improving the quality of clinical schools and placements
::* Opposing the creation of full-fee places in public universities
::* Improving the health of Australia’s Indigenous people (including recruitment and support of Indigenous students)
::* Increasing intake into specialty training programs to align with workforce demand, with a particular focus on expanding vocational training in regional and rural areas.
====Past advocacy activities====
AMSA has independently or in partnership pursued a wide range of advocacy issues, such as:
# Supporting and campaigning for marriage equality in Australiahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/05/19/doctors-call-on-australia-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage_a_22100034/
# Establishing and continuing funding for the Commonwealth Medical Internships initiative
# Blocking medical schools from enrolling domestic full-fee-paying students in Doctor of Medicine degreeshttps://ama.com.au/ausmed/ama-amsa-win-victory-block-md-cash-cow
# Campaigning for asylum seeker access to healthcare
==Students==
AMSA provides a wide range of member benefits to prospective, current and graduating medical students, which include access to learning materials and discounts on popular products and services. Some of these benefits are only available to AMSA members, with AMSA membership available for purchase on the website for $10 per year.https://www.amsa.org.au/join 
However, AMSA's greatest member benefit is the advocacy work it does to enable Australian medical students to have a positive and safe experience of medical school.
==Events==
AMSA holds many national events each year, connecting Australian medical students and providing educational and leadership opportunities. Some key events include the National Convention, Global Health Conference, National Leadership Development Seminar, Life in the Real World, National Rural Leadership Development Workshop, Training New Trainers and Think Global Workshop.
====AMSA National Convention====
The AMSA National Convention ('Convention') is an annual conference gathering over 1,000 medical students from every corner of Australia as well as students from New Zealand. Since its inception in 1960, Convention has grown and evolved to be the highlight of the medical student calendar. Since the 2013 Convention on the Gold Coast, AMSA Convention is the largest student run conference in the world. The Convention program consists of four academic day sessions, one sports day including the annual Emergency Medical Challenge, and seven social evenings culminating a Gala Ball to close Convention. 
In 2018 Convention will be held in Perth, Western Australia. 
====AMSA Global Health Conference====
Established in 2005 by AMSA members, and originally known as the Developing World Conference, the Global Health Conference (GHC) is a meeting of medical students from around Australia that aims to fulfill the desire of medical students to discuss broader issues relevant to global health.The inaugural conference hosted 200 delegates in Sydney, whilst the 2006 conference in Perth saw more than 250 students attend. In 2007, Adelaide took the conference to new heights, hosting over 300 delegates at an event that sold out nationwide in less than 12 hours.
GHC aims to educate and empower medical students with knowledge about global health. The academic programme is filled with speakers from many disciplines, including workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres, Health Advisors to Non-for-profit organisations, politicians and many many more; while the social programme allows students to meet like-minded individuals from around the country.
In 2018 GHC will be held in Melbourne for the first time in ten years, with the theme 'See the Spectrum.' 
====AMSA National Leadership Development Seminar====
AMSA's National Leadership Development Seminar (NLDS) is held each year in the nation's capital, Canberra. Running over three days, the seminar is an exclusive conference on the medical student calendar with 80-100 students selected to attend. The seminar aims to bring together some of the brightest minds and challenge and develop their leadership and opinions.
In 2018 NLDS will be held in Canberra as usual.https://www.facebook.com/NLDSAustralia/
==Projects==
===Global and Rural & Indigenous Health===
AMSA advocates strongly on global, rural and Indigenous issues, and maintains strong relationships with affiliate organisations with similar aims. 
===Vampire Cup===
The Vampire Cup is AMSA's national blood drive run in association with the Australian Red Cross. The drive is run over the months of July-September each year. The 21 Australian medical societies compete for the prestigious cup with the society with the highest number of donations per capita being awarded victory. 
In 2015, there were 1797 donations nationally with Deakin University Medical Society (MeDUSA) winning the Vampire Cup with 249 donations, the highest number of donations in the history of Vampire Cup. This is the fifth year in a row that Deakin has claimed the Cup.
In 2017, the University of Queensland had the highest number of total donations and the Australian National University had the highest number of donations per medical student. Western Sydney University was the most improved from last year.
===Publications===
AMSA produces many publications which are distributed in electronic and hard-copy. These publications form a key conduit by which the Association informs and connects Australian medical students. 
Some examples of the publications include: Panacea, Intern and Residents' Guide, Medical Schools Guide, Embolus, Orange Guide, Wellbeing Booklet and Guide to Working Overseas.
==Who runs AMSA?==
The AMSA Executive is responsible for the internal and external management of AMSA and its volunteers on a day-to-day basis. They are a team composed of 11-14 medical students who are concurrently completing their studies, although the AMSA President may defer their full-time studies for one year. 
A new AMSA Executive team is elected every year at the Second National Council, and any Australian medical students may form a team and bid for AMSA Executive. 
At Second National Council in 2017, the New South Wales bidding team led by Alex Farrell ran unopposed and was elected unanimously to become the 2018 Executive team. 
===2018 Executive team===
* President: Alex Farrell, The University of New South Wales
* Vice President (External): Victoria Cook, The University of Newcastle
* Vice President (Internal): Jessica Redmond, The University of Sydney
* Treasurer: Jack Mackenzie, The University of Newcastle
The broader team is currently being finalised.
===Organisational structure===
AMSA is a large student organisation that advocates on a national scale, coordinates world class events and runs many broad and niche programs. Thus the organisational structure is complex and is often difficult to understand for new members. This diagram represents the main branches of AMSA, however if further detail is required, please look into that section's wiki. 
==See also==
* Australian Medical Association
* International Federation of Medical Students' Associations
==References==
==External links==
* amsa.org.au - the website of the Australian Medical Students' Association