The Department of Public and Sexual Health (DSPS) of the Students’ Association of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon (AEFML) aims to involve FMUL Medical Students in the community they are part of. Accordingly, it is possible to develop beneficial relational skills for the career of future health professionals and to create an impact on the population, increasing their health literacy. The main objectives of this involvement are health promotion and disease prevention.

The Medicine Closer to You: Islands (MMP: Ilhas) is the largest DSPS project, as such, it requires more dedication and planning. The first contacts with the Regional Government of Madeira, namely, the Regional Health Secretariat and the Regional Education Secretariat were held in August 2019, only 2 months after the governing bodies of the AEFML for the 2019/2020 term took office.

This preparation began with the creation of a cohesive and motivated team of seven people that includes the four members of the DSPS, a member of the AEFML, and two participants from the previous edition.

It all started with the study of the fieldwork map and the selection of regions with the highest population density on the island to enable us to reach as many people as possible. Subsequently, an interim planning of our work was carried out and contacts with each municipality/school were initiated to raise awareness of the activities.

Unfortunately, for budgetary reasons, it is only possible for us to take four of the seven people involved in the project planning so that we can take more volunteer students (sixteen), which makes a total of twenty persons in the team. The formation of this team goes through two phases. An initial ranking based on previous experience in various public health topics and a second phase consisting of an interview where various components are evaluated, namely, motivation and problem situations. All elements of the project participate in a mandatory training weekend where they acquire and consolidate skills essential to the execution of the work.

We contact the Portuguese Air Force every year, an exceptional help in carrying out the project over the past few years. This year we counted on its assistance regarding the return to Lisbon on 11 March 2020.

As medical students, we believe that we must take an active part in the change and evolution of society, so we try to reach the maximum number of people we can, with the greatest possible geographical coverage. Our projects allow activities to be carried out in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, inland Portugal and also in the two Portuguese Archipelagos. In the case of this edition, the Madeira Archipelago.

As we believe that education is the true engine of the world and that the behaviour of young people is largely influenced by the example of their peers, we consider it essential to take advantage of the skills of young medical students for the scientific and social training of young people and the world that surrounds them. As such, a large part of our fieldwork schedule involves school training, covering students in years 5-12 of schooling.

In addition, we also carry out Cardiovascular Screenings to detect cardiovascular risk factors and awareness raising as to the importance of controlling them, as well as adopting a healthy lifestyle. Some of the measurements we make are: smoking load, body mass index, blood pressure, capillary blood glucose, abdominal perimeter, and eating habits. Those who are tracked receive a card with the registered values that can be shown to their family doctor in future appointments.

In addition to the daily challenges of raising a team of twenty people at the same time, having breakfast, going out in small groups to various parts of the island and fulfilling the agenda, unforeseen events arise that are impossible to control and which are part of the adventure we experience every year. This year was no exception. We left on 3 March 2020, when there were no cases of COVID 19 in Portugal. During this busy week, we witnessed, at a distance, the evolution of the situation – the implemented contingency measures and the diagnosed cases. In addition to this scenario, there was also an earthquake on 7 March. We were in the youth centre, our accommodation, when everything started to shake and we went to the street. The biggest fear was that there would be a tsunami, but everything turned out well. Both situations described above reinforced the team's unity and proved to be great team-building opportunities.

To conclude, I would like to stress that these projects exist and work so well because FMUL has many people who care about people and who do not miss an opportunity to make a difference!

These are the projects currently carried out by the Department of Public and Sexual Health:

Bonsai Project – Peer education project that brings tools to young people from the most deprived areas of Lisbon to help them create a future with better prospects.

Boomerang Project – Peer education project at national level that fosters the relationship between medical students and students from different schools, preferably those the training students previously attended. There has been a partnership with the FMUL Student Support Office (GAE) since last year with the project - Mentoring Ambassadors - which allows the dissemination of FMUL and the Mentoring Project among the schools targeted by this training.

Zoom Project – As its name implies, this project seeks to bring students closer to populations which, due to different circumstances, are in more distant realities they are not used to dealing with (for example, shelters).

Medicine Closer to You: Islands – A project that promotes the direct interaction of medical students with the community with the objective of promoting health and preventing diseases in the Portuguese archipelagos.

Med on Tour: AEFML screening – Cardiovascular screening, awareness raising actions for young people, adults and the elderly in the areas of sexuality, mental health, behaviours, bullying, first aid, and healthy ageing.

Safe&Fest – EluSIDA-te – The EluSIDA-te Project involves training FMUL students in Sexual and Reproductive Health and providing night-time awareness to clarify young people regarding the transmission and evolution of some sexually transmitted infections, with special emphasis on the HIV-AIDS virus.

Christmas Party with the Homeless – The Christmas Party with the Homeless is the largest annual project of the Vida e Paz Community and aims to bring, for three days, a little Christmas spirit to hundreds of homeless people and needy families. The AEFML is associated with this project in several ways.

Marco Tomaz

Medicine Closer to You General Coordinator: Islands 2020