STUDENT CHAPTER OF RAMA

[martyshka]

To all students:
there has been an idea put forth by Boris to organize a student chapter of the organization. I think it's an excellent idea although, I'm not sure what direction to send it off in as of right now. Is anyone interested? Does anyone have ideas? I also want to see more medical students involved in RAMA. If you'd like to help me out in recruiting more of us for the organization contact me soon.
Thanks,
Alla

[martyshka]

I can't do this alone!!! Especially not in the midst of midterms!!!! Do we really not have ANY interested med students?! [:(]

[Roman]

I would be interested if I was a student :)

[martyshka]

LOL thanks!!!!! :lol:

[Boris]

Alla,

1. You are not alone.
2. There are students and there will be more.
3. It may take months. It took R-AMA 2 years to get to this size.

Things will happen. If you build it, they will come...
We will talk when you are done with your mid-terms.

[martyshka]

I just want someone to help me contact other schools.. I saw the book w/the list of schools, and it's massive. It would probably take me 10 years to go through all of it! It'll just have to wait until summer.

[Roman]

I know one russian girl in UCLA. I'll contact her.

[Nick]

I think we need to involve more students from Russian medical schools also :!: Once we are going to establish the Scholarship for them we need them to participate in R-AMA projects more active. I would suggest to communicate with Students' Research Groups (kruzhki). We can find information on the web. Also every R-AMA member was graduated from some Alma Mater and have or had connections with his or her med. school. For example, I still have connections with some surgical Groups in Moscow med. schools. Together we'll do it :D

[AnnaG]

Alla, I think a student chapter is a great idea. So I would be interested in helping you out to organize this. I know a few people here at OSU and 2 more at OU, That might be a start. Let me know what else I can do to help. Anna

[martyshka]

Anna, check your pm.
-Alla

[BobAEPi]

Are you guys interested in going to Russia to do an elective? Because I definitely want to do that during my 4th year, and I think that could be one of the biggest things for the student chapter to do. We could develop contacts w/ russian med students, and maybe facilitate exchanges. Although, I am not sure how easy or difficult it would be for a russian medical student to do a rotation at a US medical school - unless they have passed USMLEs, they will only be allowed to observe. But they could do research or something.

[martyshka]

I'm all for it. I'm sure it would be easy to find out what regulations were in place for med students who were interested in coming here from Russia.. this would be before the USMLEs so maybe they would be given something more than just observership priveleges. I think as long as we could get visas or whatever travel documents they'd need, we'd be ok. For us to go over there would probably be even easier. I was told that all you need to do an elective in any country is an MD who will be your mentor/advisor/sponsor whatever and that this person signs the necessary paperwork.

Igor, check your email.

[erudman]

Hi,
Another med student here. How can I help?

Eric

[martyshka]

Welcome! Meet us online on sunday on aim if you'd like to share some ideas and just talk :) my aim is martyshka82

[martyshka]

I just realized you don't have aim... do you use any other messenger? if not we can meet in the forum's chat room :) just contact me and let me know

[erudman]

I do have aim, just didnt enter it into registration. It's ericrudman.

[Roman]

What is aim, guys?

[Lenochka]

AOL Instant Messenger ???

[martyshka]

yes

[Roman]

BTW guys, in case if you need any contacts in Moscow for your electives I can provide you with some connections.
It will be my contributions.

[martyshka]

That would be awesome... I'll let you know when we figure out exactly what kind of contacts we need. Thanks!

[AnnaG]

Its actually not that hard to get an international elective during your 4th year. Many schools have programs in place with contact information, you just need to know where exactly you want to go and when.
Also a lot of med schools have funding for an international month. Our school pays about $4100/student. So thats plenty to cover all expenses.
So checking with individual schools would be a place to start looking for these.
Anna

[Boris]

I think that this exchange electives will GREATLY enrich both sides - you guys and Russian students. It will be incredible, trust me. If we can pull it through, it would be awsome.
You can count on R-AMA's full support.

[martyshka]

I think once we are up and running and find out the specific requirements for exchanges we should put together a list of contacts (I'm thinking specifically Russian MDs) in other countries for the purpose of exchange programs, or if not exchange at least us going over there (like if it wasn't w/a Russian hospital) for 4th year electives.

[Nick]

Hi guys,
What is it - electives? :? I know about electives in Russian med.schools but looks like this is something different.

[Roman]

Same stuff. They are rotations that sudents can pick up according to their personal interests.
Am I right, gyus? Correct me if I am wrong. I've never been a student here.

[BobAEPi]

In US medical schools, the first 2 years are spent in classes, and the last 2 years are spent in the hospitals doing rotations on different specialties (clerkships). A certain number of clerkships are required - usually medicine, surgery, pediatrics, etc. But the required clerkships only take about a year to complete. So in effect, most of our last year in medical school is spent doing rotations in specialties that we choose - hence, electives.

The typical elective is one month long. Many students will do some of their electives at other medical schools - this is helpful for applying to residencies, because doing an elective at the hospital where you want to do your residency can be helpful, both to learn about the program, but also to show your skills.

Doing electives in other countries is also common - it is a good excuse to travel, and also may be a chance to see diseases that simply don't exist in the United States.

[Boris]

It also helps to understand how lucky we are here in the States, and why it is important to do what we do in R-AMA.

[Nick]

Thanks for explanation :D
It also helps to understand how lucky we are here in the States, and why it is important to do what we do in R-AMA.
100% agree :D :D :D

[Roman]

It also helps to understand how lucky we are here in the States, and why it is important to do what we do in R-AMA.
Exactly, In russia we had several USA students in our hospital. They were highly astonished with everything they saw. You should see their faces and how they were making fotos in OR! But overall they were extremely happy and lucky about their experience.

[BobAEPi]

Exactly, In russia we had several USA students in our hospital. They were highly astonished with everything they saw. You should see their faces and how they were making fotos in OR! But overall they were extremely happy and lucky about their experience.

I apologize for this stupid-sounding question, but what exactly were they astonished with?

Also, my mother (she was a radiologist in Russia) doesn't think that it would be beneficial to me to do a rotation there, because whatever medicine I would see would be too outdated compared to the level of care in the US. What do you think?

Sincerely, Igor

[Roman]

Unfortunately, your mother is not completely wrong. But anyway, I think it is a great experience and can give an advantage over other students who didn't see that.

[LG]

I am thinking about electives in Russia on my second year of residency. The rotation is rural family medicine and you can go to do it in your home country. Is Vladivostok a rural area, what do you think, guys? 8)
I know for sure that I won’t be astonished by anything because I have spent 15 years in that outdated medicine. :wink:

[martyshka]

I think it would give us an interesting perspective to pt. care. Obviously a lot of the technology is outdated, but I would love to see how they get around it. And they treat their patients differently.. what is it they do that the patients respect and trust their docs there despite the lack of medicines, etc. There's other things, too like how if you have cancer they wont tell you and a million other approaches that we don't know about. I've read books about medicine here vs Eastern Europe, and I've heard it from my mom, BUT not all of us have parents who are doctors, and it's better first hand. They may know things about the dr pt relationship that they don't teach here in our med schools.

[martyshka]

one more point. I don't know what specialty I'll be in, but it helps if you know a little about the system there so that you can treat the Russian pt as well b/c knowledge of the language alone isn't going to be enough.

[Roman]

treat the Russian pt as well

Good move, but just to mention - Russian pts are the hardest pts in the world. They never follow your advice and compliance is very low.

Classical Russian joke about the pts
Pt comes to the Dr and says
- Doc, I know that previously I've been on a placebo, but now I am on the real, working drug
- How come, wonders doc. They look the same, they smell the same, they taste the same?
- Easy, doc. Previously, when I was throwing them into a toilet, they floated on, but now they go directly to the bottom.
:)

[martyshka]

lol I have grandparents, I KNOW.. they're awful!!! It's like it's their job to disagree w/every word an MD says!

[Roman]

Same stuff with my mom. But she definetely has complicated hystory - having a husband and a son as physicians... It definitely rises your cross-tolerance to any MDs.

[AnnaG]

treat the Russian pt as well

Russian pts are the hardest pts in the world. They never follow your advice and compliance is very low.



Absolutely true, but they also listen to what their friends say more than to what you say and try out the weirdest stuff. And then they call you to find out why it didn't work :!: :lol:

[Roman]

Absolutely true, but they also listen to what their friends say more than to what you say and try out the weirdest stuff. And then they call you to find out why it didn't work :!: :lol:

Not only that. Furthermore they tend to blame you in this failure. :)
I am wohdering is it inherited or acquired?

[martyshka]

I think it's acquired... they only start acting like that when they get here and sigh about how good the doctors used to be back at "home"

[AnnaG]

I think there is a misspelling on the student page. The goal should be to "meeT" not to "meed. " I donno who we should ask to correct this.

[Surgeon]

admin, I guess

[Boris]

I think that the Student Chapter is really a big deal and would like to welcome all American medical students of Russian origin to join in. There is so much work to do, you will not beleive...

[AnnaG]

Hi all, where did everybody go. Seems like as soon as the student chapter was formed people dissapeared. Is everyone on vocation or just too busy. Now is the perfect time to grow. So maybe we should start again by creating a list of current student members and continue on the recruitment.
Anna

[Boris]

Another two students just joined - Dennis Obukhoff and Vadim Gordin - you guys have to decide what you want to do. We will support you.

[martyshka]

I would like to welcome them as well! I'm glad to see our chapter is growing.

Boris, the email list is going to be done soon.

[Boris]

I think Vadim is coming to Boston Conference, so you will be able to meet and talk.

[martyshka]

Great :)[/url]

[AnnaG]

Welcome to the new members
Alla, which email list are you talking about? should we start creating a list of members? or is has that been done.

[martyshka]

Anna, what I meant was the email list of medschools so that we can get the flier out. It should be ready soon (couple of days). Are you going to the conference?
btw how is your summer going?
Alla

[Den]

Chem narod v Klivlende letom zanimaetsya? :) Pomimo raboty.

Horoshii site. Ya popytaus' privlech znakomyh is LA, NY na etot site. I see those places need more representation.

Denis

[martyshka]

sorry guys I was out of town. I would really like to get together a little meeting of the student chapter for those of us who are in the area. Just for dinner, cofee, etc so we can get to know each other a little bit ... anyone up for it?

[Den]

Good idea. I'm up for it.

[Surgeon]

How many Russian medical students are there in the whole United States?

[martyshka]

Oy a mozhno chto nibud' polegche?!

[AnnaG]

I think getting together is a great idea. i am assuming will meet in Cleveland, so lets make it on the weekend. How many of us are there by now?
Anna