The AMA is the peak representative and advocacy body for all registered medical practitioners and medical students in Australia.

AMA membership ensures that your professional interests are effectively represented to governments, the broader profession, the public, and the media by the most influential, credible, and independent voice in the health sector at both the Federal and State levels.

AMA membership provides Federal and State/Territory political representation, political and professional lobbying, media commentary, public health advocacy, workplace representation and advice, industrial relations expertise, and craft group representation.

AMA membership provides you with a professional network that will support you and stay with you for your career and your life.

Click on the links below to find out more information about both the Federal and State AMAs, including intern receptions and other events near you!

Federal AMA

State AMAs:

AMA-ACT
AMA-NSW
AMA-NT
AMA-QLD
AMA-SA
AMA-TAS
AMA-VIC
AMA-WA

This annual one day course provides advice and resources for SET Trainees, early career academics and younger Fellows who want to develop their research and teaching competencies. Provided by outstanding hand-picked academic surgeon role models, this course has been opened up to interested pre-vocational doctors and medical students, with 15 complimentary places provided annually for the latter by competitive selection through application. With the DCAS course scheduled the day before the Annual Scientific Congress, students staying overnight to attend the opening day of the Congress are also offered a concessional one day registration for that day.

In 2013 the course will be held on Monday 6 May at the Skycity Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.  2013 Provisional Program.

Please download the DCAS 2013 Medical Student Application form here.For more information on the 2013 DCAS Course, which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, please contact academic.surgery@surgeons.org.

AMSA is pleased to announce that Saion Chatterjee and Stefanie Pender, both of Monash University, have been selected as editors for the second edition of KYGG.

A large number of high quality applications were received for the two positions available to Australian medical students and a huge congratulations to Saion and Stefanie for their success. They will join the 2013 Community and Wellbeing Officer, Martin Seneviratne, in producing the second version of the guide, due to be released at the start of the 2014 academic year. Based on their diverse experience and skills, and the high quality of their applications, we are sure they will do a fantastic job.

AMSA is also pleased to welcome 3 Adelaide University students, Katherine Watson, Susanne Nicholson, Michelle Chua to the KYGG team. These three students submitted an outstanding joint application and will be involved in the development of the guide as Key Contributors.

AMSA will again be partnering with the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA) to produce this guide and we look forward to welcoming an New Zealand medical student the KYGG team in the near future.

KYGG is booklet which aims to increase medical students’ awareness of their wellbeing and provide practical tips for surviving and thriving at medical school. Click here for more information and to download the guide.

AMSA is pleased to announce that five students have been awarded one of the five AMSA-American Express Global Health bursaries worth a total of $3000 each, $1500 for travel expenses and $1500 for the community. We received over 30 high quality applications but ultimately selected applicants based on criteria such as the student’s understanding of the issues facing the community they will visit as well as how they plan on spending the $1500 donation component of the grant.

Alyce Churchill, of University of Notre Dame Fremantle, will travel to the Dominican Republic with a medical aid team that provides care to displaced Haitians who now live in the Dominican Republic. She hopes to use the grant to purchase water filters for these makeshift communities, as well as seek donations from pharmacies for medical supplies.

Tim Beckman, of Griffith University, will travel to Khayelitsha, South Africa, and will contribute the funds towards the Ubuntu Through Health Nutritional Support Initiative, which provides TB and HIV patients with a well-balanced vitamin-rich meal each day to be taken with their medication, in order to improve overall health outcomes and medication compliance.

Tanya Duke, of the University of Adelaide, will complete her elective at the Kompian Rural Hosptial in Papua New Guinea. She plans to put her grant towards the purchase of an anaesthetic monitor for the hospital, so more surgical procedures can be performed.

Nicole Weber, of Deakin University, will travel to Koraput in India this January to carry out an immunisation program she has established for children in this community and the surrounding villages, where medical care is non-existent and immunisation is not routine.

Gayathiri Mathanasenarajah, of Monash University, will travel to Sri Lanka this summer with the Australia-Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team.  As well as running health clinics in remote communities, the focus is on preventative health and screening combined with patient education.

Congratulations to the five lucky winners of the AMSA-American Express Global Health Elective Bursary.

Congratulations to the successful grant application winners for the collaborative student research initiative with the Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD).

AMSA and MSOD partnered to further develop the research interests of current medical students through the establishment of a student grant initiative related to the MSOD Project. Grants of up to $2,500 were available to medical students to undertake a supervised research project using data from the MSOD Project according to the Grant Guidlines.

The Selection Panel, a sub-group of the Research and Scientific Advisory Committee, were impressed with the high quality and calibre of the research proposed. With a total of $20, 000 on offer, it was decided to spread these funds equally across eight applications to allow as many students as possible the chance to undertake their research projects.

For more information, visit the MSOD website.

Successful Applications

The AMSA National Leadership Development Seminar (NLDS) is an exciting annual event which brings together over 80 medical student leaders from across the nation for 4 days to inspire, network and develop their leadership skills.

The Event involves 3 days of inspirational speakers and useful workshops run by leaders in politics, non-governmental organisations and from within the medical profession.  AMSA is looking for two enthusiastic medical students who are passionate and creative in organising an amazing event along with the AMSA Events Coordinator.

General requirements:

• A positive, creative and fun team member
• Previous experience in project management and event coordination
• Organized and able to work independently
• Be available for regular meetings in Sydney or by teleconference from December 2012 – May 2013
• Available to attend NLDS in May 12-15^th
• Be enrolled as a medical student in 2013

Role description:  

• Reports to the AMSA Events Coordinator who oversees the running of NLDS
• Academic Coordinator:
  • Plans with the AMSA Events Coordinator an exciting and inspiring day program for 3 days of NLDS in Canberra
  • Liases with potential speakers such as politicians and inspiring leaders in a variety of fields
  • Coordinates facilitators for workshops, debates and other academic activities
  • Liases with venues for the academic program
• Logistics Coordinator:
  • Organises the evening social program for three nights of NLDS including a Gala Dinner
  • Assists with organizing the accommodation and transport between venues
  • Organises catering for the 4 days of the program

Applications:
Interested students are encouraged to write a 300 word expression of interest including why you would like to be involved and detailing relevant experience, along with a 1-2 page CV to events@amsa.org.au.

Closing Date: November 30th 2012 AEST 5pm.
Students will be notified of the outcome of their application by December 2nd 2012.

Download 2013 AMSA NLDS Logistics Coordinator and Academic Coordinator – Call for Applications

The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) is pleased to announce that applications are now open to join the Australian delegation that will attend the 62nd March General Assembly (GA) of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association (IFMSA). The Meeting will be held in Baltimore/Washington DC, United States and will run from 9-15 March, 2013.

There will also be the opportunity to attend the:

• Pre-GA (an extra series of intensive workshops on Global Health issues) – 5-9 March
• Post-GA (the American Medical Students’ Association National Convention) – 14-17 March

The IFMSA represents over 1.2 million medical students worldwide, and stands as the world’s largest student-run organisation. The federation is dedicated to the development of doctors who are prepared to live and work in an increasingly globalised world. Its core mandate is centred on global health and health equity.

The theme for this meeting will be “Advocacy and the Physician-in-training”, where the IFMSA will explore this theme through its standing committees on Public Health, Medical Education, Human Rights and Peace, Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS, and Exchanges. Alongside the academic stream, students will be exposed to the IFMSA’s various projects, campaigns and initiatives.

Applications close 7 December 2012. More information can also be found on the IFMSA March Meeting 2013 website.

Download Callout for Applications – IFMSA March Meeting

forSmart is a young non-profit publishing house with a focus on social projects, established in Vilnius, Lithuania. Currently we are working on a project which is related to cancer. The promising book, named “77 Stories About Triumph Against Cancer” will contain medical information about oncological diseases as well as real stories of people who tried to win the battle against it. The main goal of the project is to help people suffering from diseases by telling them inspiring stories about heroic struggling with cancer. The book will be published in Lithuanian language and later translated into English and Russian.

We are looking for medical students who is able to write high quality plain texts on cancer. For them, it is great opportunity to be published in an international book as well as to help the cancer patients by providing those with significant information. Articles may be written either in English or Russian.

For more information, please contact us by electronic mail: pol@forsmart.com

The Centre for Research and Action in Public Health at the University of Canberra is offering up to 6 PhD scholarships to commence in 2013.

The research focuses on developing healthy and sustainable communities in the context of
• Growing and ageing populations
• Increasingly sedentary lifestyles
• Climate change
• Global financial pressures
• Demands for ever higher standards of living

For more information contact Helen Berry Helen.Berry@canberra.edu.au

PhD scholarship flier