Events
FMUL Alumni Association
The Board of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon (AAAFML) organized another cultural activity on 17 November 2011. The event was held at the Aula Magna of FMUL and was a Debate to reflect about “Living Will - Euthanasia”.
The Debate was attended by various guest and speakers who spoke about this sensitive and controversial topic and shared their own points of view and personal and professional experiences.
To this end, AAAFML carefully invited distinguished speakers representing the different sectors of the Academic, Medical and Portuguese society.
The Debate was moderated by the Chairman of the Board of AAAFML, Dr. Rui Simões Bento, and was attended by Professor Miguel Oliveira e Silva, current President of the Pedagogical Council of FMUL, by the President of the National Council of Ethics for Life Sciences, Professor António Pereira Coelho, who is the President of the Southern Regional Council of the Medical Association, by Priest and Philosophy Professor Anselmo Borges, from the Boa Nova Missionary Society, by Dr. Maria do Céu Roque Gomes, a former student of FMUL, a doctor and a lawyer, by Bloco Central MP and former director of the Joaquim Urbano Hospital, in Porto, Dr. João Semedo. Finally, the event also had the testimony of Professor Filomena Mónica, from the University of Lisbon, who presented her arguments with determination and courage, based on her own individual experience and reflection which, in this context, enabled the topic to be discussed from a wide range of perspectives and distinct perceptions.
In the same day, and also as part of the activities of AAAFML, Dr. Manuel Valente Alves, who is the Director of the Museum of Medicine of FMUL and also a member of the Advisory Board of AAAFML, presented his latest book A Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa – Um Olhar sobre a sua História, (The Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon – A Glimpse of its History), which was published by Gradiva and introduced by Professor José Pereira Miguel, Director of the Institute of Preventive Medicine of FMUL.
Finally, on 17 November 2011 there were also elections for th Governing Bodies of AAAFML when the Members for the General Assembly, Management Board and Supervisory Board of AAAFML were elected for the triennium 2011-2014.
One of the key priorities of the FMUL Alumni Association, during the 2008-2011 three-year period was to regularize legal, financial and functional matters, including its statutory legalisation. This led to the normal functioning of AAAFML as a non-profit association and enabled it to establish lasting partnerships with other national and international institutions and entities.
It created and developed an interactive webpage and made contact, via email, with all its members. It supported the publication of the first number of the Second Series of the Magazine Alumni Forum in November 2011, promoted an initial training course in computing among its members and is building its own library.
It invited and encouraged all former students of FMUL to join up and form a portfolio of founding and permanent members. It organized cultural activities to present their motivations to the academic community of FMUL and of UL, and sought the important involvement and partnership of the Student Association of the FML (AEFML), by establishing a Collaboration Protocol. In addition, it liaised with the various academic units of FMUL, of the UL and of other external institutions, such as the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, always divulging its project and inviting stakeholders to participate and join the AAAFML.
The Board of AAAFML sees the 2011-2014 triennium as a landmark for its consolidation, recognition and leverage into new horizons, thanks to the synergy of FMUL alumni and current students, which has now materialized in the newly elected permanent and substitute members of its Governing Bodies.
As I conclude this article and as a member of the secretariat of AAAFML, I cannot but stress how honoured I feel to be able to work with these men and women and to testify that, without any financial incentives, except for those of a personal and moral nature, they have carried out an outstanding job and been an example of unparalleled dedication to this Association. I must also point out the personal, social and professional worth that this experience is to me, and that I hope to be always able to meet the expectations placed on me.
And I finish by conveying my Seasons Greetings to every one.
Helena Cabeleira
Alumni Association of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon
hcabeleira@fm.ul.pt