If we haven’t crossed paths before, it’s lovely to meet you! I’m Britney from year 3, previously your Preclinical Vice President and going into year 4. So far, MUMUS has had an exciting year packed full of events, improvements to advocacy and equity, and celebrations of med student life. This is why I am excited to be running for Academic Vice President and Secretary in 2024, with a focus on improving your student experience.
I have worked with MUMUS from an academic and social perspective, and am passionate about making this a committee that supports your needs. The ABCDE of values I hope to bring to MUMUS include:
Adaptability - to be flexible with the year ahead, given the many changes we have encountered following COVID years and curriculum changes.
Balance - working closely with the different subcommittees allocated to the Academic or Secretary portfolios to support specialty interests.
Communication - (1) as Academic VP, having a closer connection with Year Level Academic, International and Rural Representatives, as well as Faculty, to ensure that suggestions and improvements are accurately and efficiently discussed, (2) as Secretary, creating a stronger link between the Full and Executive Committee to better support the overall med cohort.
Decision-making - using my experience in administration and advocacy to prioritise transparency and accessibility to MUMUS policies, so that students have the opportunity to contribute to open forums and general feedback.
Equity - organising individualised and shared resources for different cohorts within Monash med and working closely with Year Level Academic, Social and C&W Reps to create an inclusive and approachable team for any concerns and/or queries.
Over the past couple years, I have gained experience as Preclinical Vice President and Year 1 Academic Representative, and have worked very closely with the MUMUS Executive to confer with Faculty, organise events, support cohort representatives and promote subcommittees. The skills that I have developed are placed to give me a strong understanding of common academic queries and the nature of curriculum changes that occur through Faculty, as well as inter-cohort communication.
I have truly enjoyed spending more time with MUMUS subcommittees this year, as Treasurer and Sponsorship Officer of C&W, Treasurer of Ignite Opsmile and Treasurer of MRSS. This has given me insight into the deeper workings of MUMUS and its committee structure, and the fine balance and coordination between all of these different interest groups. My experience extends externally as well, as President of the Monash Association of Debaters, Podcast host of AYHC and Sponsorship Officer of ASSC.
In recent years, I have had the unique opportunity to learn from our older members and represent the preclinical cohort. I am a strong believer in the need for representatives who actually reflect the students they are serving, and as a student who will be entering placement next year, I have a strong investment in both preclinical and clinical students.
Both Academic Vice President and Secretary are roles requiring a strong admin background, to support you with all the nitty gritty Faculty, clubs and societies, and curriculum committee details. Beyond this, I am greatly passionate about supporting everyone to find a balance in medicine - there is no doubt that our course is known to be pressured by burnout, impostor syndrome and a generally maddening amount of content. It is my goal to pass on any of your concerns to the relevant people to make the journey through med school more supportive, motivating and inclusive.
There is so much to look forward to in the year ahead, and I hope a glance at the goals tab of this page will give you a quick snapshot into some of my ideas for Academic Vice President and Secretary.
It would be an honour to have the opportunity to represent you once again,
Britney :))
Academic Vice President
Improve communication with Faculty to deliver higher quality content and use student suggestions.
Push for more efficient allocation of placements and for Faculty to distribute information regarding rotations, clinical sites, curriculum changes and assessments asap.
Universalise med submission times and assessment details across the range of Faculty information platforms.
Optimise in-person and online teaching resources and facilities so that students have a clearer idea of the internal and external material that is available.
Work closely with the SSAF Officer to ensure that there is equitable distribution of funding and resources to each cohort.
Create a stronger collaboration between Academic cohorts.
eg. OSCE revision nights for Years 1/2/A within the Preclinical portfolio.
eg. Specialty information sessions run by subcommittees within the Academic portfolio for Clinical year students.
eg. Joint information and content events for complementing cohorts, such as between undergraduate and postgraduate, metro and rural, domestic and international/offshore.
Focus on communication with incoming C&W Reps and VP to prioritise student health and wellbeing, such as running information and support nights/events about finding a balance in med school.
Secretary
Organise and host open forums for students to raise concerns and queries, and to hear directly from cohort Reps
Focus on policy transparency and accountability to make clear the aims, goals and overall actions taken by MUMUS over the forthcoming year
Work on MUMUS Full and Exec committee governance to make constitutional/regulatory documents more accessible and easy to understand
Address student suggestions from a range of platforms, whether formally submitted through a feedback form, or informally collected from confession pages.
Promote collaboration of Reps between different cohorts (preclin and clin, domestic and international/offshore, metro and rural, undergraduate and postgraduate) and sharing of materials/resources through administrative support.
Liaise with separate portfolios to set goals for the year to increase C&S involvement, bolster SSAF funding and run polls/surveys to seek student suggestions for each of these portfolios.
Advocate for Faculty transparency and pathways for student input to be directly discussed and implemented.
Preclinical Vice President 2022
Advocated for a set study area for med students and worked with Faculty to ensure clinical skills rooms were made available throughout the year.
Created the sumMD up notion site as a revision and summary resource for each subject and system covered in Preclin Years 1 & 2, with further developments in place to expand into Year A (and clinical next year!)
Formalised a structured PSP system with the Y2 Ac Rep to avoid content overlap and to provide a better range of material (eg. quizzes, summaries, lessons, etc.)
Managed prevision and revision lecture events for Years 1&2 during the mid and end of semester
Recorded comprehensive minutes for Exec and Full Committee meetings
Worked closely with subcommittees to organise events
Year 1 Academic Representative 2021
Worked with Faculty to develop a cleaner Moodle layout for lectures and workshops
Assembled the first ever learning objectives spreadsheet
Introduced a new system of weekly content quizzes which is now used by incoming cohorts & Ac Reps
Opened a Rep calendar for events, assessments, etc.
Introduced a 24/7 zoom and discord link for student collaboration
Organised longer tutorial breaks and worked with Faculty to devise a schedule that was more student wellbeing-conscious
Created the 'Accountability Partner' system for general student wellbeing and OSCE/exam revision
Medcamp leader 2022
Assisted the Medcamp Convenors with organisational tasks
100% the most sober soldier
Supported the most stellar group at camp
Additional subcommittee roles
Community & Wellbeing (C&W) Treasurer and Sponsorship Officer 2023
Ignite Operation Smile Treasurer 2023
Medical Research Students Society (MRSS) Treasurer 2023
Australasian Surgical Students Conference Sponsorship Officer 2023
MUSIG Communications Team 2022
Teddy Bear Hospital Volunteer 2022
Conversation in Isolation Outreach Officer 2021
I am always more than happy to hear from you, so feel free to dm me on fb messenger, or send me an email at bpha0014@student.monash.edu!