-Hold IMEDSA Week September 23
As parts of preparations for its forthcoming IMEDSA Week, executives of the UNILAG Igbo Medical Students Association (IMEDSA) made a courtesy visit to the Pharmanews corporate head office, Mende, Maryland, to intimate the Pharmanews Managing Director, Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, on the programme.
Briefing Atueyi on the activities of the group, IMEDSA President, Olisa Paul Olisa, accompanied by the Financial Secretary, Tobechukwu Ibeh, said the association was established last year, and became certified by the Dean Students Affairs, as one of the official associations on campus.
The IMEDSA president further explained the objectives of the association, which is to promote Igbo culture as well as support members in critical conditions, such as fire outbreaks, illnesses, and provision of free lunch during examinations.
“We thought it necessary to establish the association because we discovered that Igbo students, being in the minority on the campus, had no cultural associations like their Yoruba counterparts. Thus, instead of forming students associations state by state, we decided to make it a coalition of Igbo students from different states among the medical sciences- Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Laboratory Science, and others”, he stated.
On their upcoming IMEDSA Week, holding from 23 to 27 September, at UNILAG, Olisa craved the pleasure of Atueyi to be a guest at the programme, which will feature several events ranging from awareness creation day, to football matches, election &manifesto day, then the grand finale will be the cultural dinner, to be held at the New Great Hall.
Aside, being present at the programme, he also requested the Pharmanews boss to become their grand patron.
In his response, Sir Atueyi expressed his delight with their initiative, in bringing together students from different healthcare disciplines, noting that the name of the association should have reflected healthcare as an umbrella body for all medically related disciplines.
Atueyi explained that this idea of interprofessional collaboration has been the focus of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm) for a while now, and there is relationship because they have one goal, which is the maximum healthcare of patients.
His words: “As the Vice- President of NAPharm., I’m very happy you are promoting interprofessional collaboration at your own level, although it is restricted to the Igbo students, but the fact is that you are working together”.
He also assured them of Pharmanews support of the programme.