Medsin Autumn Weekend 2016

With a potential affiliation in the pipeline, Medsin were kind enough to invite AVS to their Autumn weekend at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Medsin is a student run charity tackling global and health inequalities. They have over 30 branches across the UK which hold events and debates on issues such as, but by no means limited to, climate change, antimicrobial resistance and gender equality.

The weekend was not only a great chance to explore Brighton (who knew the seaside could be so hilly?) but also a wonderful introduction to the work that Medsin do around the country.
We started with a voting session - on the agenda were proposed changes to Medsin’s constitution and byelaws. Each branch has a vote and it was interesting to see the competitiveness of each branch to second a motion and ensure that their voice was heard. In the afternoon Dr Arianne Shahvisi gave a fascinating talk on gender and gender bias in medicine and science in 2016. This was a thought provoking introduction to the student run afternoon workshops: one discussed the role that gender played in homelessness and the other discussed stereotypes and how to confront them. During each workshop our ideas on gender perception were challenged and everyone learnt something both about themselves and the concept of gender as a whole.

That evening we were all given a flavour of Brighton’s social side starting with a delicious supper in a slightly spooky church catered for by the amazing Real Junk Food Project (who take waste food from supermarkets and create meals from it) before heading onto the beach dry, but leaving slightly soggy! We then beat a hasty retreat to a nearby bar to try and warm up!

On the Sunday, there was more voting and the election of the next hosts of the Medsin global health conference. In the afternoon there were some interesting student-led training sessions on leadership and team work skills. Not only was the Medsin autumn weekend inspiring, it was also a brilliant opportunity to meet other students from across the United Kingdom and to see how passionate they are about making the future a better place.