BREAKING THE SILENCE, 2014 Breaking The Silence | Page 5

From The President's Desk
I
t is with gratitude to God almighty that I write this piece to commemorate
yet another landmark event in the history of our dear association. It is such
a great honor because the desire to publish a magazine/journal for the
Association of Medical Students, University of Lagos has been burning for
several years. Previous administrations have worked tirelessly for this dream to
materialize but the challenges have been daunting. Since the inception of this
administration we have worked with one goal in mind; this tenure must not end
without us putting THE AMSUL DIGEST in the hands of AMSULITES. This has
been long overdue as the last time THE AMSUL DIGEST was published was
2001. This is why we are proud to present this edition of AMSUL DIGEST, while
praying that subsequent administrations would continue in this line. Much
kudos to the EDITORIAL BOARD for doing the seemingly impossible. But for
their courage, hard work and relentless effort, this project would have failed on
arrival. We also appreciate every individual, organization and corporate body
that has supported us in one way or the other; we appreciate you for believing
in our dreams and for being part of our success story.
The past year has seen AMSUL move from being an unorganized non-proactive
body of students to taking our rightful place among not just the student bodies
in the college of medicine, but also in the nation at large. The year has seen
AMSUL emerge triumphant in every single competition or tournament it
engaged in. It has seen AMSUL excel beyond expectations; it has seen us bring
true joy and pride to the average AMSULITE. It has indeed been a great year for
not just AMSUL but all AMSULITES. We must however realize that these
success stories were born out of innovation, an uncanny passion for service,
and a dint of hard work and dedication. These have combined to produce great
results on the foundation that we have as medical students. But as it is with
every success story, getting to the top is rather easy; the real task lies in staying
at the top. So I want to implore us all to continue in this line of excellence, we
should not hesitate to give our very best to our dear association whenever such
assistance may be needed. The truth is, we will all leave at one time or the other
but the legacy must be passed on.
We have strategically repositioned the association in order to be able to face
future challenges and also meet the needs of the average AMSULITE. This has
seen us acquire new ADVISERS, PATRONS and GRAND PATRONS. Individuals
who have been proven to show exceptional love for students and are ready to
help the association or its members whenever such need may arise. We have
acquired new infrastructure and refurbished old ones, in a bid to provide a
sweeter experience for the coming generation. We believe this will further
solidify AMSUL's status as the NUMERO UNO amongst MEDILAG student
bodies.
This year's health week, themed; Health Related Millenium Development Goals:
The Journey So Far, was chosen in line with the 2015 deadline for the
attainment of the MDGs by the United Nations. We as a body of medical
students are interested in knowing how well our nation has fared in attaining
these goals and the role of medical
students in the attainment of the
MDGs. The 1st subtheme:
Undergraduate Medical Education In
Nigeria, The Past, The Present, The
Future is aimed at enlightening the
average medical student from an
historical perspective, taking account
of today's challenges and the
prospects of tomorrow. The 2nd
subtheme: Ebola Virus Disease: Facts,
Fallacies And Way Forward was
geared towards enlightening and
educating the public about the
scourge that ravaged the nation, and
how we can protect ourselves and
also prevent future recurrence. The
variety of programs executed within
the week buttress our interest in not
just having a robust health week but
also in impacting our members and
the society at large.
“We are what we repeatedly do,
excellence therefore is not an ACT but
a HABIT”- ARISTOTLE
BABARINDE ABDULRAHEEM
AMSUL PRESIDENT
2013/2014
AMSUL Digest 2014