 | |
| Location | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Established | 1972 |
| Members | c. 3,000 |
| Website | www.nzmsa.org.nz |
The New Zealand Medical Students' Association Incorporated (NZMSA) is the peak representative body for all medical students in New Zealand. The NZMSA executive is composed of representatives that are elected from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin medical schools. NZMSA represents medical students on many levels, from universities to government representation. [1]
Membership is open to students who are enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree at either the University of Otago or the University of Auckland in New Zealand.[ citation needed ]
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The president is elected annually by the NZMSA Executive and holds the position for one year. [2] Any member is eligible to run for the position of president.
Source: [3]
| | This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2021) |
NZMSA issues two awards per year to a nominated member of the association. The awards are the NZMSA President's Award for Individual Excellence and the NZMSA Award for Best New Student Initiative.
This is awarded to "a student who makes an outstanding contribution to the medical student body, recognised for creative problem solving; inspiring their peers and others around them; and their energy and enthusiasm for medicine, education and their community". [4]
This is awarded to "an individual or group of students who have started the most innovative and successful project for that preceding academic year". [4]
Each year, the New Zealand Medical Students' Association holds a conference which brings together medical students from all around the country.[ citation needed ]
The location of the conference varies from year to year. In 2011, the conference was held in Auckland.[ citation needed ]
The annual NZMSA Sports Exchange was established in 2010. Teams from each of the four medical schools in New Zealand compete in a variety of sports.[ citation needed ]
The New Zealand Medical Student Journal (NZMSJ), Te Hautaka o nga Akonga Rongoa, was initiated by a group of students at the Otago Medical School, publishing its first issue in 2004. [5] The journal was launched by then Health Minister Annette King in March 2004, and the first editor was Ayesha Verrall. [6] [5] Later editors include John Scotter, Brian Grainger, Benson Chen, and Mariam Parwaiz. [7] From 2010 the journal is published by the NZ Medical Student Journal Society, a registered charity. [7] In 2011 the journal was awarded the NZMSA Award for Best New Student Initiative. [5] The journal published its twentieth anniversary issue (issue number 38) in December 2024, in which editor Lorna Pairman described it as "one of the longest-running medical student journals internationally". [5]
The NZMSJ is an open access journal, with no publication charges, which is published by medical students. The journal's aims are to assist students to learn how to write for academic journals, to be a forum for medical student discussion at national and international levels, and to promote student research and academia. [8] It is indexed by Google Scholar. [9]
A matched-cohort study reported in the NZMSJ showed that students who published in the NZMSJ were more likely to go on to earn a PhD, to publish in other peer-reviewed journals and to obtain academic positions. [9] [10]