OVERCOMING ADVERSITY: EXPERIENCE REPORT, FIRST INCOMING

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY: EXPERIENCE REPORT, FIRST INCOMING

Ridson Guilherme Parente de Aguiar¹; Carlos Arthur Fernandes Sobreira²;

First Author¹, Co-Author²; 

Faculty: Christus University Center (UNICHRISTUS)

Journal Session: Standing Committee, Permanent Committee on International Surgical and Clinical Interchanges (SCOPE).

KEYWORDS: Culture; International Educational Exchange

INTRODUCTION

Student exchange is of paramount importance to the medical student, as evidenced in some reports of previous editions of Brazilian Medical Students (BMS) ¹. In addition to the exchange, the student also welcomes a foreign exchange student, according to the exchange regulations², thus broadening the experience of the graduating student with several languages. The present experience report demonstrates how an exchange committee of the International Federation of Medical Student Associations (IFMSA) overcame the adversities of previous years and received an Incoming even without having sent an Outgoing, being considered an extra lodging.

EXPERIENCE REPORT

About a year ago, I joined IFMSA Brazil, serving as Local Exchange Officer (LEO) of the local committee of Christus University Center (UNICHRISTUS). The committee faced problems of structuring, losing members, and for approximately a year and a half it did not receive or send exchanges.

 With the arduous task of restructuring the committee and being able to keep it to its fullest, I watched several training videos, attended meetings with members of the National Exchange Team (NET), in order to achieve the necessary level to fill the position. After this period, the committee opened new members’ places, held meetings with the faculty coordination and obtained our Incoming, the first of the current committee. He was an Italian student who graduated during the month of March 2019 at the Surgery Department of the “Santa Casa de Misericórdia” Hospital in Fortaleza. It is worth mentioning that, for approximately four years, the committee had only one Outgoing, which would make it an extra lodging, since we did not have Outgoings to comply with the IFMSA regulation, which was not a hindrance.

Upon arrival, we picked him up at the airport, taught basic principles so that he could have autonomy (as a means of transportation, places to eat and the like). We have been able to put you in touch with other Incomings who arrived in the city of Fortaleza-CE, coming from other schools linked to the IFMSA besides carrying out diverse cultural activities with him.

DISCUSSION

Our greatest accomplishment was at the end of the exchange, having the feeling of satisfaction, the exchange student returning to his country and coming to thank our committee for the unique experience of having fulfilled its dream of knowing Brazil and being able to realize that, in the end, the whole effort was rewarding.

CONCLUSION

In this way, the message remains that, despite the difficulties, it is always possible to overcome them. The opportunity to receive an exchange student, even if the Brazilian students have not yet exchanged, is extremely enriching for the improvement of the graduate to share culture and to make new friends.

REFERENCES

1 – Dupont E. Exchange, an indispensable and thrilling experience. Braz. Med. Stud. 2017;may v.1(issue 2): 165-167. Disponível em: https://issuu.com/bmsifmsabrazil/docs/bms_ii__ifmsa_brazil_.

2 – IFMSA Brazil, [homepage na internet]. Programa de Intercâmbio Internacional. [acesso em 12 maio 2019]. Disponível em: http://ifmsabrazil.org/programa-de-intercambio-internacional/