Meliat Abu-Idris was inaugurated on the 27th of April, 2024 to serve as the Vice President of UIMSA for the 2023/2024 session. In line with the duty of the Press to hold executives accountable, this late-tenure review evaluates her performance in fulfilling her constitutional duties and promises to the association.
Community Health Awareness Programmes
Meliat pledged to enhance CHAP celebrations with innovative initiatives such as Inter-class competitions, and online and social media campaigns. There were also plans to form partnerships with medical, pharmaceutical companies, and NGOs. While she remains tight-lipped on specific details, Meliat plans to organise around five physical outreaches in collaboration with various organisations. As of the time of publication, two have been executed; the Alzheimer’s awareness Walk2Remember Initiative on August 24th at Oje Market and the Diabetes and Well-Being outreach at the Akinkungbe Kidney Center, UCH, on November 15th, 2024, in partnership with the UCH Diabetes Care Team. Despite challenges in securing funds, solutions are being explored, and her optimism remains high. She assures us that more physical outreaches will be held as World-Day Outreaches unfold. When asked about the infrequent class challenges, Miss Vice President explained that there haven’t been major days to garner interest from classes, but promises more events are on the way.
Central Health Week Planning Committee
The Health Week kicked off officially with the Ulympics on the 16th of November, and there’s a lot to look forward to. Meliat, who’s the chairperson of the Central Planning Committee, informed us that plans are well underway with committees already organised and working. The events proper are to take place next year, and proposals are being worked on in the bid to search for sponsors.
Operation Evolve with AIM
The Vice President proposed an elaborate plan to promote and sustain positive behaviours and mindsets among committee members for this and future tenures. She aimed to revise recruitment parameters, create better monitoring and evaluation systems for committees, and organise a fundraising workshop. The latter was held on 8th June 2024, virtually, and was relatively successful. Although Meliat introduced the idea, the workshop was not executed under her office. Reflecting on the first workshop, she believes it was a valuable experience and helped her gain skills that have supported her in fundraising efforts. So far, she believes that most committee members have adhered to rules and contributed significantly. However, she acknowledges that the selection process needs further refinement to better assess commitment levels, though she has no specific recommendations yet.
A UIMSA Podcast
To better reach, educate, and inform UIMSAites, Meliat initiated plans for the UIMSA podcast. It kicked off on the 31st of August, with 444 views, so far, on the 2 released episodes on Spotify, Amazon Echo, and Apple Podcasts. It has also been streamed on Youtube, Audiomack and Deezer and is hosted by the vice President, with a co-host joined by special guests.
In terms of challenges, Meliat noted that ensuring the podcast remains relatable to a broader audience beyond medical students has been a significant task. However, she is confident in the creativity of her committee members and encourages UIMSAites to remain excited.
Meliat has kept us in suspense with several of her plans still in the works, showing that she has more in store for UIMSAites. So far, she has successfully initiated various programs and overcome challenges. As we move well into the latter half of her tenure, we eagerly anticipate the realization of her remaining initiatives and look forward to seeing how she brings her efforts to a close.
Rodiyah Khidir
