Scientific Medical Events Map

Name of the activity: Scientific Medical Events Map

Country/NMO: Romania (FASMR)

Program: Medical Education Systems

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Education. Education on health issues for specific societal groups, either in the form of projects (set of tasks for a certain group over a fixed period of time), events (something notable that happens) or conferences (form meeting about ideas related to a particular topic, usually over several days).

General description:

Scientific Medical Events Map is an activity directly coordinated by the SCOME Romania Team, meant to expose the existence of multiple opportunities for medical students’ professional development. By gathering multiple congresses/conferences etc. in a single organized document, helps the target group keep track of them better. Through each monthly map we aim to encourage students’ participation in the events which best suit their interest. To stimulate this, we organize giveaways for every partnership that we have, so we ensure a qualitative participation from our side. According to the agreement, the students beneficiate of either a free of spot registration or a discount price, depending on the partner’s financial possibilities. Networking is one of the main pillars of our project, as, by attending a medical event, students have the chance to meet healthcare workers from around the world or peers from other countries, with whom they can exchange ideas and scientific information.

Focus area:

Open science

Problem statement:

Scientific Medical Events Map offers the opportunity for medical students to discover opportunities for their professional growth and gain practical information, through a network with like-minded people. Enhancing knowledge and education is essential not only to keep them at the forefront of their career, but also to constant motivate them to seek continuous development. When they attend an event, they are able to exchange ideas with the speakers and students worldwide and discuss their work.

Target groups:

General population, Medical students, Healthcare Students, Doctors, Other health professionals

Beneficiaries:

General population, Medical students, Healthcare Students, Doctors, Other health professionals

Objectives and indicators of success:

S- Increase promotion of scientific medical events so students can be aware of this kind of opportunities.

M- Scientific Medical Events Map became a national activity in January 2018. Since then, 13 monthly national editions appeared, with an average of 27 events/map and >6500 people reached/edition.

A- The entire activity is coordinated by SCOME Romania team, under the supervision of the SCOME Assistant on Educational Resources, in collaboration with LOMEs and the Romanian Students’ Society of Surgery.

R- Our map has gained constant popularity, both nationally and internationally, which helped us close, so far, 4 partnerships with international medical events

T- The map is scheduled to be posted between the 15th and 25th of each month on our Federation Facebook page. In the meantime, the involved members update the database.

Indicators:

a. At least 20% of the promoted events will be newly-approached ones.

b.The total number of events promoted and reached people increases with at least 10%.

c. Each LC will be involved in the creation of the database.

d. We aim to close at least 1 partnership/month.

All of these indicators are to be followed by the end of the year.

Methodology:

Preparation period: A Google Form is shared on our SCOME national groups to engage members in contributing to the database creation. In the final one, they are ordered chronologically, according to the deadlines, for a period of 3 months. Each event category has its own code of colors: Students & young doctors conferences- Red; Medical conferences, with the possibility of participation for students- Blue; Summer/Winter schools- Yellow; Medical trainings/ exhibitions- Green. Each month, the Assistant on Educational Resources seeks for new partners.

Posting period: Beginning with February 2019, each monthly edition is posted on our Federation Facebook page (in the previous year, they were posted on the SCOME Romania one). From there, it is shared on local, national and international groups, in order to reach as many students as possible.

I add here our last map and database, so you can have a visual support:

Plans for evaluation:

1. At the end of this year, we will create a statistical report comprising of:

– the events which have been promoted in these 2 years, alphabetically ordered + the year(s) in which they have been added to the map

– the number of reached persons, number of shares and likes per each map. Given the fact that we’ll soon start a collaboration with the Romanian Students’ Society of Surgery, students’ main interests will be tackled globally and the impact of our maps will increase.

– the actual LCs which contributed to the database and in what way. They are represented through their LOMEs, whose activity ­will be monthly monitored by the NOME and the Assistant on Educational Resources.

2. Regarding the media partners, we assure the wellbeing of our partnerships by the bilateral promotion on the social media pages. We’ll evaluate the academic medical events collaborations with the help of the representative students (the ones who are the direct beneficiaries of the partnerships).