Our MSIC2012 Brochure is here!

May 15, 2012

We are currently studying for our final exams for the year so everything is super busy right now!

We had a meeting with Dr. Lu from West China Hospital regarding our stay there during the summer. In order to get approval to conduct our clinical observerships in West China Hospital, we need to submit a formal application. On top of helping us with the application process, Dr. Lu has also graciously offered to help us find residences to stay in and suggested Chinese medical student groups we can interact with. We are very grateful for a local physician to facilitate liaison with China.

Today we also had a meeting with Dr. Arya who is in charge of Global Health Initiative here at Schulich. He is greatly supportive of our trip and made some helpful suggestions to improve MSIC. To enhance the continuity of MSIC team for the future years, we are considering making West China Hospital and a designated charity our "homebase" for the upcoming teams.

Only one month left before we start our journey in China!

April 19,2012

It has been a while since our last update but we have been working hard towards our summer trip during last month.

Another Chinese lunch sale has been successfully done and we raised more money towards the charities we are visiting in China. Thank you very much for everyone who ordered delicious food from us and we will relay your gift of love to Bethel Orphanage in Beijing. In addition, we just packed two full cases of much needed medical supplies that we will bring to Bethel Orphanage. Here we would like to acknowledge the generous help from Operation Green, a student-run initiative in Schulich that saves surplus medical supplies for developing countries.

Meanwhile, we are working on the ethics review approval for our research project. As many of you may know, any research must undergo review by the ethics committee in Western University and we are currently assembling all documents and writing up an application. We hope to pass through in expedited process in a few weeks.

Last but not least, we have been approved Global Health Initiative funding from Schulich. We are very grateful for all the donors to Global Health Initiative and we are proud that MSIC has been recognized as a valuable cultural exchange experience for medical students.

Mar 15, 2012

It is wonderful to have a March break to decompress and feel fresh for the second half of the semester!

The past month has been very busy but we managed to get quite a lot of work done. We have just submitted our grant applications to Global Health Initiative for both the trip and the research. Our promotional brochures, which give an introduction to MSIC and more specifically our trip this year, have been finalized and will be distributed soon. Meanwhile, we have contacted GuoYiTang Clinic (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and will set up some observership during their clinical hours. We will soon attend the overseas learning pre-departure training hosted by Schulich. Everyone on the team is busy working to make our summer trip successful!

Feb 14, 2012

This is the first post of the MSIC 2012! Happy Valentine's Day!

The MSIC 2012 team was formed in October last year, with the help of Audrey, Jonathan, Mary, Dan and Kenny. Throughout the past 6 months, we have been busy preparing for the trip in this coming summer. So far we have formed a tentative itinerary, investigated suitable research projects and run several fundraising events.

MSIC teams from different years had decided on different regions in China to visit based on the individual team's objectives and interests. This year, we have chosen two metropolitan centres of Beijing and Chengdu, as well as a small town of Beichuan to be our destinations. In Beijing, we would like to visit Bethel China , an orphanage for blind children. In Chengdu, West China Hospital, which has a long standing Canadian tie, will be our learning centre. In addition, we want to see the town of Beichuan and its recovery from the devastating 2008 earthquake. So far, the organizations are being contacted to iron out the details.

We are also very interested in conducting a research project on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) during our summer trip. Due to the nature of travelling in multiple medical centres, we feel that a survey-based research will be the most appropriate. We are currently talking with potential research supervisors and getting help from the faculty members.

We have just finished our Valentine's Day Bake Sale today. Our cupcakes in ice cream cones (or "ConeCakes") have been getting high ratings among the 2014 and 2015 classes! Before this event, we have also successfully run a Chinese New Year Lunch sale and another bake sale.

Overall, the past 6 months have been very busy, both for academics in medical school and preparation of the 2012 trip. Our team is working very hard to make this a rewarding experience. The website will be updated as we progress in the coming months.

** We have taken our first group photo. Check out the MSIC 2012 team in About Us page**