ZMSSA-BLOG

1- OVERVIEW of EMSA & ZMSSA

EMSA, Egyptian Medical Students' Association is a full member in the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA).
EMSA was established in 1968, and joined IFMSA in 1972.
ZMSSA, Zagazig Medical Scientific Students' Association, a member of EMSA which is a part of IFMSA - International Federation of Medical Students' Associations- ZMSSA is an association uniting active medical students allover Zagazig.In the case of us as Egyptians, that rush was inherited along the genes from our ancestors the great pharos, our mission was started here in Zagazig by the year 1979 to establish an Association that can help the medical students and it will continue with great success as we think.

we have five internationally active Committees , they are:
1-The Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE)
2- The Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE)
3- The Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH)
4- The Standing Committee on Reproductive Health and Aids (SCORA)
5- The Standing Committee on Medical Education (SCOME)

In addition to two local committees :
1- Summer School.

2- Conferences' organizing committee.



2- WELCOME NOTE

Zagazig will never see mass-tourism, at least not until its only main attraction, Bubastis "Tanis" has been put together. It is a place where people work and live. But unappealing it is not. The river walk is long and at points quite beautiful, especially in the afternoons when the low sun creates long shadows.Another thing are the Zagazigians, who rarely see foreigners, But they are sweet, and they seem to be really concerned that the odd foreign visitor should leave with the best image of their city in mind , famous within all Egyptians by being the most generous. And if you ever wondered what a bag of chips, a bottle of water, a sandwich of kofta or a bus ride really cost, come to Zagazig!

So , welcome to our private world to get the ultimate fun and science you wish.

3- HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Public health services is being offered by two main sectors:

1. University institutes :

formed of highly qualified personnel in the field of medicine and working through a group of specialized medical centers allover the Egyptian universities.

2. Ministry of health & population:

And it offers its services through:
- Public hospitals and primary health care units
- Health insurance hospitals for Government employee.
- Specialized institutes


Private health services in Egypt play a very important role in offering health for population, since mainly poor people go for public hospitals.
The private clinics and hospitals are widespread allover Egypt and being run by Doctors who spend their day time in the public services and at night go for their private clinics.
Private Service compared to public one, is more better specially that patients go for the famous known doctors, however it's expensive and the fees are being increased so much.
Meanwhile, public services offered through specialized institutes are being run by the most experienced specialists and consultants and considered to be the best !

General strategy of Health care System:-

A) Preventive Aspects:
1- Control population growth.
2- Focus on health promotion: physical fitness, nutrition....
3- Applying preventive measures: vaccines, surveillance.....
4- Expanding the application of family health model.

B) Upgrade health services:
1- Improve information system.
2- Universal insurance coverage.
3- Application quality program.
4- Upgrade emergency care system.
5- Human resources development.



4- THE HOSPITAL

The hospital contains many clinical departments and is divided into two separate branches ,the first branch is inside the faculty and the second one is located beside the Hostel.

Clinical Departments :

1. Community, Environmental & Occupational Medicine
2. Anesthesiology
3. Internal medicine
4. Pediatrics
5. Ophthalmology
6. Radiology
7. Clinical Pathology
8. E.N.T.
9. Tropical Medicine
10. Dermatology
11. Orthopedics
12. Neurology
13. Neurosurgery
14. Psychiatry
15. Cardio-Thoracic surgery
16. Cardiology
17. Rheumatology
18. Chest
19. Gynecology
20. Surgery
21. Urology

It also contains many other special units like:

-Microscopic Surgery Center

-The Diagnostic Of Hereditary Disease Center

-Laser Unit Of Dermatologist Department

-The Developed Center Of Liver Disease Unit

-Allergy And Immunity Disease Unit

-The Premature Diagnostic Of Tumors Unit

-Institute of Productivity Efficiency

Libraries:

-Scientific Department library - Each scientific department has its own library and an ADSL internet connection.
-Students Library: The student- Undergraduate-medical library was present at the faculty campus which contains more than 2000 text books . The library has a reading hall , photocopy services, and other facilities for the students.
-Postgraduate Library: The postgraduate library contains the scientific periodicals, theses, indexes etc. The library has a reading hall , photocopy services, and other facilities for the students.
-Digital Library: The digital library is separate place where the online searching facilities were provided through high speed internet connection lines ASDL. The library provide a full text and abstracts downloading services through subscribed and free services.

5- OUR MEDICAL EDUCATION

In Egypt, medical school is a faculty in the university. Admission depends on the score of the General Secondary Examination taken at the end of high school. Alternatively, students who have taken either the IGCSE or SAT can also apply. There are no specific entrance examinations.
Medical education lasts for 6 years, at the end of which, there is an additional 12 months dedicated to full-time training as a house officer at one of the University or Government Teaching hospitals.

The first 3 years of medical school cover the basic medical sciences, which are:
· Anatomy

· Histology

· Physiology

· Biochemistry

· Pathology

· Pharmacology

· Microbiology

· Parasitology
· Psychiatry


while the last 3 years are focused on clinical sciences, which are :
· Internal medicine
· Pediatrics
· Ophthalmology
· E.N.T.
· Tropical Medicine
· Dermatology
· Orthopedics
· Cardiology
· Gynecology
· Surgery

in addition to :

· community Medicine · Forensic Medicine

After graduation, medical students are conferred the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery MBBCh. Medical licensure as a General Practitioner (GP) is obtained after completion of the year of full time training and registering with both the Ministry of Health & Population ( MOHP) and the Egyptian Medical Syndicate.

The Certified Quality Assurance System:
The unique project allover Egypt , The Development of a Certified Quality Assurance Management System For Medical Education in The Faculty of Medicine- Zagazig University(DCQAMSME), is one of the Quality Assurance accreditation Projects that granted by The Higher Education Enhancement Project fund (HEEPF) to support and improve the quality and efficiency of medical education in the Faculty of Medicine – Zagazig University.

The university also supports the E-Learning system.

6- CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Egyptian culture boasts five millennia of recorded history. Ancient Egypt was among the earliest and greatest civilizations during which the Egyptians maintained a strikingly complex and stable culture that influenced later cultures of Europe, the Near East and Africa. After the Pharaonic era, the Egyptians themselves came under the influence of Hellenism, Christianity and Islamic culture. Today, many aspects of ancient Egyptian culture exist in interaction with newer elements, including the influence of modern Western culture, itself with roots in Ancient Egypt.

Egyptians are mainly descended from ancient Egyptian society, and the vast majority live in Egypt where they constitute the primary ethnic group at 97-98% (about 76.4 million) of the total population. Zagazig people-like all Egyptians- have spoken only languages from the Afro-Asiatic family throughout their history from Old Egyptian to modern Egyptian Arabic (Masri). Approximately 90% of the population is Muslim and 10% is Christian (9% Coptic, 1% other Christian).

You may find different traditions and morals than your home country like Hejab "covering hair of women" and some religious habits but you must respect them.

Another thing are the Zagazigians, who rarely see foreigners, But they are sweet, and they seem to be really concerned that the odd foreign visitor should leave with the best image of their city in mind , famous within all Egyptians by being the most generous. And if you ever wondered what a bag of chips, a bottle of water, a sandwich of kofta or a bus ride really cost, come to Zagazig!

Zagazig's cuisine consists of local culinary traditions such as Ful medames (beans) , Kushari and Molokhia. It also shares similarities with food found throughout the eastern Mediterranean like kebab and falafel.

7- ACCOMMODATION AND BOARDING

Zagazig University is located in Sharkia Governorate,Zagazig City is the Capital. It holds Zagazig University.The buildings of the university are divided into two main partitions through the city. The first one holds the majority of colleges and institutes and the second one holds 2 colleges and 2 institutes.

The university staff members' host where you will spend your lovely time is located in the first part of the university and it is about 2 km far from the hospital .

Accommodation is free on bilateral agreement except days spent outside Zagazig during the social program.

Lodging is in the university staff members' host.Boarding from the university restaurant (2 meals /day) .In the other hand, There are two hotels in town in which visitors will feel comfortable with. And they are fine concerning safety and price..

8- SOCIAL PROGRAM

To a large extent, Egyptian tours are not so complicated, but it can seem that way because of the great number of places that you have to see to tell your lovely friends that you spent one month in our dear Egypt " specially in Zagazig " .

We always divide the tour – geographically – into 4 separate partitions:

The 1st : in Cairo and usually includes:
# The citadel
# Military museum
# Fatimic (Old Islamic) Area
# Azhr Park
# Oriental music concert
# Egyptian national museum
# Cairo tower
# The Nile
# Khan el Khalili &and Azhr area
# The pyramids & pyramids area (Sun ship museum – camel tour – Sphinx- Pyramids area
temple)
# Downtown
# Modern Cairo .

The 2nd : in South Egypt and usually includes:
# Karnak Temples
# Luxor temple
# Luxor Museum
# Sound and light show
# West side (Hatshipsut temple- ancient royal tombs )
# Aswan Museums.

The 3rd : in Sinai ,Eastern coast and usually includes:

# Glass Boat
# Safari trip
# Whole day journey in red sea
# East coast resorts.

Traditionally, Sinai and Sharm el-Sheikh specifically was for wealthier vacationers, while
the Red Sea Coast and Hurghada provided the low-end resorts.

The 4th : to our lovely Alexandria and usually includes:

# Alex Citadel
# Med. Sea museum
# The Bibliothèque
# Jewellery museum
# Romanian Museum
# North coast resorts.

Also you will have a daily tour in our city visiting clubs, playing football, tennis or swimming.
In addition to this ,there is the rural life which you will try, ridding horses and donkies and wearing our traditional clothes.

Actually, people come to Egypt for many different reasons and for many different types of vacations. And vacations to Egypt do not have to fall under a specific type of travel, as many visitors mix and match various types of travel.

Smile..!!! we will try to do our best to make you learn and enjoy the maximum with us in Zagazig.

9- LOCAL and NATIONAL TRANSPORT

National transport:
Transport facilities in Egypt are centered in Cairo and largely follow the pattern of settlement along the Nile. The main line of the nation's 4,800-kilometer (2,800-mi.) railway network runs from Alexandria to Aswan and operated by Egyptian National Railways. The well-maintained road network has expanded rapidly to over 21,000 miles, covering the Nile Valley and Nile Delta, Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, the Sinai, and the Western oases.
Egypt Air provides reliable domestic air service to major tourist destinations from its Cairo hub, in addition to overseas routes. The Nile River system (about 1,600 km. or 1,000 mi.) and the principal canals (1,600 km.) are important locally for transport.

Local transport:
Zagazig has 4 ways of getting there or getting out; train, bus, microbus and shared taxi.
It is easy to find the connection you need, just ask anyone you meet, they will either know or ask somebody for you. The 2nd class train ticket to/from Cairo costs 8 L.E. while the bus is 5 L.E., taxi in town 2 L.E.

10- WEATHER

Throughout Egypt, days are commonly warm or hot, and nights are cool. Egypt has only two seasons: a mild winter from November to April and a hot summer from May to October. The only differences between the seasons are variations in daytime temperatures and changes in prevailing winds.

In Zagazig, temperatures range between an average minimum of 14° C (57° F) in winter and an average maximum of 37° C (99° F) in summer.

During the summertime, sun protection is the most important single consideration for an Egypt trip, especially for the fair-skinned. Wearing a sunhat is essential. Cheap, and pure cotton, sunhats are made locally and available everywhere. Travel clothing should be light and comfortable, 100% cotton clothing is the best and robust shoes are a must! The climate of Egypt is characterized by a hot season from May to October and a cool season from October to May. Extreme temperatures during both seasons are moderated by the prevailing northern winds.

A phenomenon of Egypt's climate is the hot spring wind that blows across the country. The winds, known to Europeans as the sirocco and to Egyptians as the khamsin, usually arrive in April but occasionally occur in March and May.

11- SOCIAL LIFE in ZAGAZIG

ENTERTAINMENT:
There are 4 clubs in Zagazig: Sharkia club with a big hokey stadium(the team won Africa's champion 9 successive times) , police club (not allowed for public) , Ahmed Orabi club , Masria plaza which is a nice place with cafés and cinema.There are cinemas, many small cafés, Restaurants and a shopping malls.

EATING:
Zagazig has no many posh restaurants, but there are enough small take-away restaurants or fast food-like places to keep your stomach happy. Prices are simply cheap, There are many places that serve traditional Egyptian foods like (beans & falafel), koshari, hawawshi.

EVENTS:
Annually , a great festival for Arabian horses is held in "Belbies" 30 Km away from Zagazig , attended by many of Arabian horses' lovers ,many competitions are held , and that is why a strong white horse is put on the flag of Sharkia governorate with a green background referring to the main activity for the people of the region which is agriculture.

HISTORICAL SITES:
There are the ruins of Bubastis located 3 km southeast of town. Bubastis was the ancient capital of Egypt and is home to the feast celebrating the cat-goddess Bastet. Bubastis is the Greek name of the Egyptian Per-Bastet. Bubastis became the capital of Egypt in the 22nd and 23rd Dynasties. There are remains of the temples built by Osorkon II and Nectanebo II. Catacombs where the sacred cats were buried are located behind an Old Kingdom chapel remains that are from the period of Pepii.
The main temple area of Bubastis, with the modern city of Zagazig in the background.

PLACES TO VISIT:
There is a museum in "herrya" 8 Km away from zagazig , that was the place where the leader Ahmed Orabi born , in the museum you can see many of his traces .



12- FEEDBACK