Medical Students Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR) Celebrated its 25 Years of Youth Engagement in Health Activities.

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Medical Students Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR) Celebrated its 25 Years of Youth Engagement in Health Activities.

Medical Students’ Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR) is an independent, non-governmental and non-political organization of medical students of Rwanda. It was founded in 1997 and is running for and by medical students on a non-for-profit basis. 

On March 26, 2022, the Medical Students' Association of Rwanda celebrated its 25th anniversary of youth involvement in health activities, an event that co-occurred with a Scientific Conference 2022 that took place at Lemigo Hotel, Kigali. The conference gathered 300 participants, including medical students, healthcare students, youth delegates, government institutions, United Nations Agencies, health-related Non-Governmental Organizations, academics, and researchers.

In his welcoming speech, Eric NIYONGIRA, MEDSAR President, highlighted the journey of medical students in health promotion and MEDSAR's role in empowering members to become health leaders, advocates, and researchers since 1997.

The representative of the Ministry of Health was Dr. Patrick NDIMUBANZI the executive secretary of the Human Resources for Health. He appreciated the work of MEDSAR in training medical students to become the desired Rwandan healthcare providers. “MEDSAR members as future physicians you give confidence that the future of health is promising; Make sure that compassion, empathy, passion for excellence be your pillars so that your brain and heart should always be in the right place” Dr. Patrick said. He also reminded healthcare students that being a healthcare provider necessitates dedication to excellence in order to assist, serve, and pursue research for new information and technology participation.

Discussions during the Scientific Conference 2022 focused on the significance of research in the health sector, the early involvement of students in research activities, and the role of researchers and other institutions in research promotion.

Prof RULISA, a researcher and Specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics, underlined that research trains healthcare students for evidence-based medicine and it is critical to the future of medicine since it helps to bridge the gap between science and practice.

The Scientific Conference concluded different activities that marked the MEDSAR 25th anniversary in January 2022.  Other activities include MEDSAR capacity building camp in January 2022 that provided training of health leadership to 200 medical students; community outreach under NCDs open clinic that provided screening of eye& dental diseases and general NCDs screening to over 980 residents of KAYONZA District in February 2022 and Health promotion campaign through NYARUGENGE Community Outreach that provided services to 3468 residents on NCDs screening, Mental health and sexual and reproductive health awareness coupled with basic service delivery. 

Throughout the entire course of activities of the MEDSAR 25th anniversary, MEDSAR appreciates the role of the Rwanda NCD Alliance which has not only provided sponsorship for the anniversary activities but also been a key partner to MEDSAR over the last couple of years. The Collaboration and partnership yielded positive results in promoting the healthier lives of Rwandans.