Short introduction on SISM

Dear Friends,

the Italian Secretariate of Medical Students (SISM) was founded officially in 1970 but it was present in some Italian universities already since 1944. It is a member of IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students' Association) that is an international forum of medical students officially in connection with World Health Organization.

Currently there are 2500 members of SISM, it is present in 29 Italian universities homogeneously distributed across the national territory, this makes it the largest Italian category association.

By statute we are "no profit, non-confessional, non-party" Association, legally registered as a no-profit Association since 2000.

The objectives of our Association are also expressed in Art.2 of the Statute:
"SISM intends to provide a qualifying contribution to the academic formation of the students, to the increasing of their awareness of ethical and social aspects of the medical profession, to the intellectual, professional and deontological growth of the new medical class; this all to be achieved encouraging active relations between Italian universities, between national and foreign universities, between medical students of all nationalities, between students and the civil society; furthermore it carries out activities in the fields of general and specialist medical instruction, of social and medical formation and scientific research of particular interest…".

We like to think ourselves as a group of students that works towards becoming better future doctors, both from the human and professional point of view.

We believe experiences of intercultural interactions are an instrument for growth since differences are for us not an obstacle but an added value. The world beyond the walls of our university is the stage where we will take our first hesitating steps as doctors. In order to make these steps more determined we work today towards providing medical students with growth opportunities that are different from those included in ordinary curricula.

Since 30 years ago we offer to medical students starting from their second year a possibility to follow a hospital ward or a research laboratory in a foreign country. Today more than 600 students leave thanks to Clerkship and Research Exchange Projects. Our role is to offer advantageous conditions in order to consent to a largest possible number of students to travel and get acquainted with different health care systems and realities, in addition to an educational human experience.

We work with Medical Pedagogy and all the technical problems connected with tabular reforms and the specialization courses in Medicine.

Furthermore we work with international cooperation in Africa and India for the promotion of Peace and the increasing of awareness of the problems of wars across the world, with the improvement of health with peer education programs and we tackle new realities in the field of health such as the medicine of the migrations.

Our members recognize the value of SISM. They know that it can help to find a valid reason to believe that our universities can change and to believe that there are people of their age and future colleagues that wish to cooperate to the building of a different vision of medicine and the role of the doctors. Work within SISM is carried out on a voluntary basis and many of us are involved just because they believe in the cause, only to be able to say they have tried to understand more of the world we live in, without any material advantage.

You all can do something in SISM, you can take part to some activities or simply use our services. Whoever recognizes himself in these principles can find room and possibilities for personal growth within our Association.

We wait to hear from you.