Young doctors leading through education and engagement

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Guilherme Rezende, first-year medical student at the Universidade Federal de Tocantins, Brazil. He is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writers and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

To take care is an active action: it takes to be attentive and interested in helping. Thus, is essential that medical students care about being active in education system, as leaders. For this, the will to lead doesn’t born from the need for a good curriculum or other petty desires, but when are problems to be solved and space for everyone to do this.

   By this way new education systems are made: the Problem Based Learning (PBL) and the Team Based Learning (TBL), for example. The first one makes the young physician as the main character in learning process by the resolution of health question in real medical experiences, while the teacher is a helper. Then, the seconds creates teams of students, to ensure the opportunity for everyone to take action. So, active learning is a way to development of leadership.

  However, these innovative teaching methodologies still have difficulty: deficient physical and bureaucratic resources, especially in intern year. The physical and bureaucratic resources refers to the infrastructure of hospital and universities, from the building to the reception of students at medical experiences. Then this fact, the students must actively discuss about new solutions and adaptations as leaders of Health and of Health Education. For example, the creation of support tools and of forums. 

   For this, the local representations and the social network are the “habitat” to develop leaders, because these tools work as a “habitat” to debate and to make new leaderships. The natural environment of the medical student must be active work at medical schools and at society. Medical students can lead the medical education by three ways: through the local student bodies develops critical view about the teaching methodology of their universities. Also, the medical students leaders need to motivate others students and to share information for the society on social networks. And, finally, by the production of evidence-based papers submitted to journals and by the organization of seminars and meetings about medical education.

About the author

Guilherme Rezende, first-year medical student at the Universidade Federal de Tocantins, Brazil. He is class president of his student body class and guide researches and educational plans at Students League of Gerontology and Geriatric and at Student League of Orthopedics and Trauma: to help people and to make Health and Medicine for everyone.