Dear IFMSA family,
Today marks the end of our journey as the representatives of IFMSA and Team of Officials for the term 2019/2020.
We started this journey, what seems like a long time ago right now, back in our universities as early year medical students, mostly unaware of the special family we were about to discover. Every new activity we took part in and every new friendship we made gave us the opportunity to grow in every way. They were the unique push to continually explore the space we stepped into and made us stay around, even as our academic obligations grew bigger by day.
We heard many stories from older and more experienced members about this amazing community outside of our NMOs and this larger family they are a part of. Our curiosity peaked as we took part in our first international experiences. Exchanges, campaigns, small working groups, workshops, trainings, regional meetings and general assemblies, all represented our first steps on the international stage. We were excited to be there and to start our own stories. After working for countless hours, conducting numerous activities, and overcoming difficult challenges, we took our first steps to the stage of the August Meeting of Taiwan as the Team of Officials for the first time ever. Suddenly, we went from listening to the most passionate, committed and knowledgeable TO members of IFMSA when they took that very stage, to being in that same position, the one representative of all the values and members of our beloved Federation. Once again, we were excited for what is to come and for the moments that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
As the clock struck midnight Greenwich time on October 1st 2019, we took the knowledge, skills and values we gained from IFMSA and worked towards sharing them with future generations of health professionals. We promised our members our absolute dedication and commitment to furthering the work of IFMSA to the best of our abilities and according to the values we all hold dear, and we did that the best way we could. With the tremendous support of our international teams, task forces’ members, small working groups’ members, program coordinators, and support persons in IFMSA meetings, we worked through the best and worst times of the term. A tremendously heartfelt thank you from the Team of Officials is the least we can say to all of them.
Little did we know back when we started the term about all the events that would transpire. Every generation has their own challenges, and every once in a while, one of them makes a drastic change and walks off the beaten path. This is what everything we do in IFMSA prepares us for, and we only realize it when we are faced with a new challenge in front of us and do the things that were never done before. For us, it was adapting to a sudden global health emergency. Together, we adapted to the new reality of our term and helped IFMSA through this unimaginable and difficult time. Our most important work will be outlined in the Annual Impact Report, which is currently going through a few design changes to clearly highlight the exceptional impact we made together this term.
Today, as the clock strikes midnight Greenwich time on October 1st 2020, most of us will have finished our journey as final year medical students, recent graduates and doctors in office. Words can’t describe how life-changing this experience was for us – to have the opportunity to step into the shoes of the ones that not long ago were an inspiration for us and to explore this amazing space IFMSA provided us with, and the opportunity and responsibility to share the voice of health students in IFMSA all across the globe.
We end our term today with lessons anchored in our minds and lives, lessons to be remembered and shared with you all. We learned that IFMSA unity and cause is more resilient and lasting than whatever situations, disasters, or unexpected circumstances; that working together we can surpass it all and step up our work and impact to the next level; that taking the first step towards change and new initiatives is indeed a tough road, yet the fruits it can yield can be revolutionary. We realized the true value of one’s mental health and self care, and the precious effects that friends, colleagues and surroundings can have on it when offering appropriate support. We witnessed how global change starts from small individual ideas gathered and worked together within a large network and that is what IFMSA provides us.
This organization brought an indescribable change in all of us, opened our views to what was once deemed impossible and shaped us to become the people we never knew we had the potential to be. The memories we made and the values that we have will stay with us forever, as with all other IFMSA Alumni across the world.
A new team will carry on our work and lead IFMSA to many more success stories. We wish all the best to them and you in your future work. Wherever the road takes IFMSA, we will look at it with pride and be there for you whenever you need us, as IFMSA was there to guide us in our path.
Yours,
IFMSA Team of Officials 2019/20
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