20 December 2018

IFMSA: not just for medical students

Going by the name, you might think that only medical students would be welcome at IFMSA: the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. But among the members of the Maastricht branch of this international organisation, there are also Biomedical sciences or Health sciences students. In fact, the four committee members explain from their crowded room between Universiteitssingel 40 and 50, any UM student who would like to work for global health is welcome. This is actually what attracted them to IFMSA themselves. ‘And the fact that you learn new things,’ says treasurer and second-year Biomedical Sciences student Frederike Vrouenraets. ‘I didn’t used to be able to do my own bookkeeping, but I can now.’

teddy bear hospital

A bit of a butt…

Another popular activity is recruiting new organ donors at the hospital. And there’s also the Carpe Diem project, in which volunteers take elderly people to the cinema, or fulfil a wish in some other way. IFMSA-NL runs many activities at a more national level, but Maastricht can also come up with its own ideas. One of them was the ‘I’m Perfect Healthy Fashion Show’, in which ‘models with a healthy weight’ present a realistic image of a healthy body under a snappy Dutch slogan which loosely translates as ‘a bit of a butt is also healthy’. At the end of the academic year, the committee produces an annual report. ‘When you see the list of everything that’s been done, it does make you feel a bit proud’, says Frederike.

 

You can spend most of your time as a student in the library with a book or in the bar with a beer, of course – both are important in your student days. But it’s great to see that there are students in Maastricht who choose to devote some of their free time to society. I firmly believe that this benefits not only society, but also the students themselves. By working together, we can all help to improve society. I’d like to compliment all the students who realise this at such a young age.  
Rianne Letschert, Rector Maastricht University
By: Femke Kools (tekst)