Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) International currently holds biannual conferences, each with its own unique topic in health and medicine. The Asian Medical Students’ Conference (AMSC) in summer, and East Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) in winter, involve participations of hundreds of medical students across Asia and beyond.
The objective of conferences lies in creating a platform for a strong, global network of medical students, who as future medical practitioners, will explore and develop their academic knowledge, cultural appreciation, and interpersonal skills. This event allows medical students from AMSA Members to congregate and experience:
ACTION
FRIENDSHIP
discuss and present their projects and research which were conducted based on the theme agreed upon.
experience different traditions through the cultural events and network with future doctors across Asia and beyond.
experience different traditions through the cultural events and network with future doctors across Asia and beyond.
OUR BEGINNING WITH AMSC
In 1980, the first Asian Medical Students’ Conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Medical students from four countries – India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand gathered to discuss issues of community medicine, nutrition, water and infection. Since then, the AMSC has grown along with AMSA International, involving over 20 local chapters from the Asia Pacific region and beyond, and features different themes from different health disciplines at each annual conference.
EXPANDING THROUGH EAMSC
During the 8th AMSC 1987 in Malaysia, delegates from AMSA’s Korea and Taiwan chapters discussed the need for a specialised conference between the two countries. This conference was called the “Korea-China Medical Students’ Conference”. The first conference was held late January to early February 1988 under the theme of “The Present Status and Future of Medical Service in Asia”. The conference did not initially include delegates from other chapters. At the AMSC 1994 held in Thailand, delegates AMSA’s Hong Kong and Japan Chapters were organised to attend the conference for the first time, hence the conference was renamed to the East Asian Medical Students’ Conference. By 2002, participation was opened to all AMSA Chapters attracting delegates from all over Asia and Oceania to EAMSC 2002 in the Philippines.
