FPL 218-JDN Report-Oct2021

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THE WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
Document no: FPL 218/JDN Report/Oct2021 Original:
English
Title: Report of the Junior Doctors Network
(JDN) (May 2021 – October 2021)
Destination: Finance and Planning Committee
218th
Council Session
WMA General Assembly, London 2021
Online Meeting
7-15 October 2021
Action(s)
required:
To be
received
The 2020/2021 JDN Management team took office in October 2020 and that team is now ending their
term. The 2020/2021 JDN term was the first one where all activities took place virtually. While the
JDN already had strong in-person and virtual engagement with members, this is the first year where
we operated only in a virtual environment. This has meant that we have had to adapt many of our
working methods and that many of the new JDN members have had a very different exposure to the
JDN and the WMA. Despite the challenges and adaptations, the JDN counts many new members and
has managed to maintain strong member engagement during these unusual times. Furthermore, for
the first time, this year, the JDN Management Team presented a joint JDN Management Team
Strategy to members, which aimed to clarify priorities for the respective term.
1. Membership
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the JDN membership continues to increase
in size. It has maintained virtual activities and has seen continued membership requests from junior
doctors from diverse backgrounds globally. WMA-JDN welcomed 181 new and renewed associate
members in the past year. The JDN has worked on streamlining the membership onboarding process
and we are looking forward to rolling out the new system as soon as the IT changes take place. The
JDN has held fully virtual bi-annual meetings since October 2020, which has allowed a greater
number of JDN members to participate than usual.
The JDN Membership meetings are scheduled in rotating time schedules to facilitate participation
from members across different time zones. These meetings have now also been coupled with thematic
sessions which follow the administrative portion of the meeting and touch upon themes relevant to
members.
A new virtual Newcomer session was created and has been delivered twice in an attempt to rapidly
deliver critical information to new members and get them acquainted with our activities. Two such
sessions took place: in February and August, and they will be repeated regularly from now on.
The JDN created a sharing space for members involved in national Junior Doctor Associations to
offer additional support in the establishment of such organizations or with challenges related to
national level activities.
2. Participation in WMA internal and external activities
Our network has provided comments on MEC & SMAC policies. We are also delighted to have
served as the rapporteur on the WMA Statement on Access to Surgery and Anesthesia Care which
was adopted in April 2021. We are still serving as the rapporteurs for the revision of the Council
October 2021 FPL 218/JDN Report/Oct2021
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Resolution on Trade Agreements and Public Health and for the revision of the Statement on the
Professional and Ethical use of Social Media.
The JDN members have contributed to the work of the WMA Medical Technology working group
through the Associate Member eHealth and Medical Technology Task Force. The JDN has
contributed to the preparation and submission of an Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness
and Response.
The JDN took part in the WMA work related to the 148th
WHO Executive Board Meeting as well as
the 73rd
World Health Assembly.
Multiple JDN Management Team members have contributed to the work of the Associate Members’
Steering Committee.
3. Internal organization of the management team
For the first time, the JDN Management Team worked with a joint JDN Management Team Strategy
that listed priorities for the term and presented that document to the JDN membership.
The JDN Management Team has improved the prioritisation of issues in order to ensure the timely
discussion of pressing issues at its monthly meetings.
A mid-term management team meeting was organized on the side of the bi-annual membership
meeting in order to assess progress towards the objectives set at the onset of the year. A handover
meeting will be organised to ensure smooth transition with the incoming management team for the
term 2021/2022.
The JDN revised its Terms of Reference which were adopted in April 2021.
4. Working groups
The JDN has three active working groups: the Working Group on Medical Exchange, Education, and
International Mobility, the Working Group on Primary Health Coverage (PHC), and the Working
Group on Medical Ethics. Furthermore, the JDN has working groups which conduct ad-hoc work on
specific topics, such as Global Surgery, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and Climate Change. The
JDN is planned to create a working group on activities related to the WHO to assist the management
team with activities surrounding the organization of educational and advocacy activities around WHO
activities and governing body meetings.
The JDN has organised numerous high quality educational and interactive sessions with its members
including a webinar on Doctors’ Wellbeing, a webinar on Primary health care during the COVID
pandemic, a webinar on Vaccine Equity in time of Covid-19 with Doctors Without Borders, and a
webinar on Racism and Discrimination in Healthcare.
5. Medical Education
The JDN contributes to the work of the WFME Executive Council and has contributed to
consultations on the post-graduate medical education standards. The JDN has collaborated with the
WHO and organised 2 consultations on the WHO Learning Strategy.
The JDN published a Special Edition of the JDN Newsletter on the topic of Doctors’ Well-being.
6. Publications
In January 2021, the new JDN Publications Team (2020-2021) was formed with 12 editors, the largest
editorial team to date. This year, the JDN Publications Team has supported the development of two
biannual JDN Newsletters (April and October 2021) as well as two Special Edition JDN Newsletters
(Doctors’ Well-being in June 2021 and Medical Ethics in August 2021)
(https://www.wma.net/junior-doctors/news/).
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The JDN Newsletters are high-quality resources that offer an international platform for junior doctors
across the globe to share their medical and public health leadership activities in local and national
health initiatives. These articles include updates on JDN activities, scientific perspectives on pressing
global health issues, and reflections on community experiences. Ultimately, these articles have the
potential to foster international collaboration on issues important to junior doctors.
Notably, the JDN Publications Team has supported the revision of the JDN Author Guide and JDN
Editor Guide for October 2021. The original JDN Author Guide and JDN Editor Guide were
developed by the JDN Publications Team (2018-2019) and disseminated in October 2019. These
guides aim to streamline the editorial process for future JDN Publications Teams and JDN members
as well as encourage JDN members in their academic writing. Furthermore, the revision of these
guides offers additional leadership opportunities for editors, where they can lead and manage small
teams to complete this specific task.
7. Communications
The JDN has posted regularly about WMA and JDN activities on its social media platforms and relays
WMA social media messages. This has allowed JDN members to continue to amplify the WMA
social media presence.
The JDN has started work to update its section of the WMA website.
The Medical Ethics Working Group has contributed to media promoting the JDN on social media
and during our meetings.
8. Collaboration with other health professionals’ groups
The JDN works on maintaining strong links with other health professionals’ associations, including
the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), the WONCA Young
Doctor Representative, and the European Junior Doctors Association (EJD), and the WHO Global
Health Workforce Network (GHWN) Youth hub. The JDN is currently working with other youth
organizations and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the establishment of a WHO Youth
Council to advise the Director General.
The JDN has established contact with the Trainee Association of the European Society of Clinical
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and the Student Network of the International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
Dr. Yassen Tcholakov, Chairperson of the Junior Doctors Network (Canada)
And the JDN Management Team:
Dr. Julie Bacqué, Deputy Chairperson (France)
Dr. Wunna Tun, Secretary (Myanmar)
Dr. Lwando Maki, Medical Ethics Officer (South Africa)
Dr. Manon Pigeolet, Socio-Medical Affairs Officer (Belgium)
Dr. Uchechukwu Chukwunwike Arum, Education Director (Nigeria)
Dr. Lyndah Kemunto, Membership Director (Kenya)
Dr. Helena Chapman, Publications Director (Dominican Republic)
Dr. Maki Okamoto, Communications Director (Japan)
Dr. Chukwuma Oraegbunam, Immediate Past Chair (Nigeria)
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20.09.2021