As the next generation of health professionals, IPPNW medical students are already playing an active role in safeguarding the planet’s health.
Working with IPPNW affiliated organizations throughout the world, medical students show by example and are changing how social responsibility is imagined, developed and deployed. IPPNW medical students work on many projects to promote peace, disarmament, and human rights.
Interested in being part of this global network? Contact Molly McGinty for more information and/or learn how to start an IPPNW student chapter here.
Work to Prevent Nuclear War: Because nuclear weapons remain the greatest immediate threat to human survival, IPPNW students help educate fellow students and the public about nuclear weapons and the consequences of nuclear warfare. Learn more about the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons here and the nuclear chain here. Exhibitions and lectures are the most common tools used by IPPNW students, but street actions have also proven effective.
Network and Communication: In order to maintain communication, medical students hold annual regional meetings where students from the same part of the world meet and evaluate projects, exchange experiences, and make plans for the future. IPPNW student chapters from around the world gather at the IPPNW World Congresses every 2-3 years. The Congress is not only an opportunity for students to meet each other, but also a chance to meet fellow socially responsible doctors.
For more information about IPPNW’s Medical Student Movement, contact our International Medical Student Representatives, Dominic Yusuf, Ulfat Pardesi, and Victor Chelashow. To stay up-to-date with our student chapters, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and visit our events page to join global and regional activities.
Continuous projects
Medical Peace Work (MPW): IPPNW student chapters actively participate in MPW to learn how war and human rights violations affect health. The MPW project offers a wide range of educational material and online courses, co-authored by several IPPNW affiliates. The MPW courses are an introduction in violence prevention and peace building for doctors, nurses, public health workers, mental health practitioners, other health professionals, as well as students in these fields. They introduce to some of the key concepts, opportunities and dilemmas in the peace health field. Learn more about the project here.
Practice & Engage: P&E is an exchange program for our medical students organized by IPPNW Germany. With the help of IPPNW affiliates, the program offers students a unique exchange program which encompasses both clinical electives and global learning experience. IPPNW Germany sends up to 14 students to 13 different countries around the world and hosts up to seven international students in Germany per year, between July and October. Learn more about the program here.
Global Health Summer School: The annual one-week long, full-time course is organised by the Charité Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, the German Platform for Global Health and IPPNW Germany. The aim of the Summer School is to have an interdisciplinary and critical discussion on current themes in health. Through a participatory learning approach, we hope to provide an international cohort of students and young professionals with the opportunity to immerse themselves in this topic. The programme will include relevant theoretical and practical perspectives in the form of collaborative seminars, case studies, skills workshops, presentations, group work and excursions. Learn more here.
ReCaP: Refugee Camp Project (ReCaP) is a collaborative project run by IPPNW Germany and IFMSA Palestine for medical students from around the world to spend a month in Palestine learning about the lives and healthcare needs of refugees affected by the ongoing conflict. ReCap aims to educate Medical Students about the healthcare of Palestinian refugees in the context of the occupation more broadly. Learn more here
Student World Congress
IPPNW’s World Congress is a once in a life-time opportunity to meet the people forming our international network, of which medical students form a valuable part. Our contribution to the World Congress consists of two main events:
Bike Tours: IPPNW students and young doctors from all around the world come together before the start of the Congress to bicycle through the host country leading up to the venue of the Congress. On our way we meet local communities, conduct activities, and speak to decision-makers, politicians, and the press. The Bike Tour enables the to get an insight into the host community and creates enthusiasm about the IPPNW World Congress.
The next IPPNW Bike Tour will take place in Kenya, titled,”Healthy Energy for Sustainable Development”. We want to use cycling to rouse people’s minds and to create a source of alternative thinking: What is meant by sustainable lifestyle? How does climate change affect peoples’ health? Which role does nuclear energy play in this context? How do climate protection and peace-work interlink? Unfortunately, the Congress and the Bike tour – originally planned for May 2020 – had to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Follow our social media to stay updated on developments for the next Bike Tour. See you there!
IPPNW Student Congress: During the first day of the IPPNW Congress, IPPNW Students organize a one-day conference for students. This gives as a unique chance to discuss our position in the federation, brief one another on updates from different regions, exchange experiences, and jointly find solutions for regional and global challenges. At the end of the Congress the new International Student Representatives (ISR) will be elected; the ISRs represent the international Medical Students Movement internally to IPPNW’s Executive Council and Board and externally to our partners.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the IPPNW Medical Student Movement re-imagined the student Congress to meet the needs of the moment. On 30 January and 13 February 2021, more than 60 students from 20 countries, including Brazil, Mongolia, Australia, and Nigeria, gathered to discuss nuclear disarmament, medical student activism, and how the country chapters can support one another. Learn more and watch portions of the Virtual Student Congress here.
Campaigner Kits
Target X: IPPNW students created Project Target X to raise awareness of the direct threat posed by nuclear weapons in cities around the world. With thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert and increased tensions around the world, the threat of nuclear war is higher now than ever before, including at the height of the Cold War. From Southern Australia to Northern Canada, from the Amazon to the Himalayas, this project has been able to reach tens of thousands of people so far. Learn more about Target X here.
Collaborations
International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA): IPPNW is in official partnership fostered by a Memorandum of Understanding with IFMSA, a sister organization working in common cause to mobilize the energy and influence of medical students worldwide. IFMSA represents thousands of medical students from around the world that are actively engaged in a variety of dynamic programs on disarmament, peace and human rights.
Youth Empowerment to Prevent Extinction (YEPE): IPPNW’s International Medical Student Representatives work closely with our growing youth engagement project, YEPE. As YEPE continues to grow, there will be more collaboration between it’s projects and IPPNW’s medical student chapters.