European Medical Students‘ Association

Twinning Project Handbook

2

A handbook to organizers of the Twinning Project, an exchange to experience the life of Medical students in a different town in Europe, lasting for approximately one week in each town.

3

Introduction 5Organizing Committee 6 Amount of People: 6 Setting up the OC: 6 OC Meetings 7Tasks and division of labour 7Time Line 8Enquire 8Money 8Sponsoring/funding 9 Writing a project proposal: 9 Budget 9 Funds 11 Sponsors 11Transport (train, flights, bus) 11Promotion 12How to find a Twinning Partner 12 EMSA Meetings 12 Emsa Europe mailinglists 13 TP database 13 EUROMEDS 13Participants 14Program 15 Overall tips 15 Educational part 16 Social part 17 Free time 17Important 18 VISA 18 Legal Aspects 18 Identification papers 18 Insurance 19Evaluation 19Other 20Final word 20Examples: 21 Contract between cities 22 Participants’ Contract 23 Matching Form 25 Program 27

Content

4

©2010European Medical Students’ Associationc/o CPME Standing Committee of European DoctorsRue Guimard 15,1040 BrusselsBelgium

compilationNaomi Begemanns

Luis MachadoAlexander AddaPaul-Henry Mackeprang

Picture Credit

2,3 Markus Hille4 Michal Wronowski3, 16 Juan Santiago / Stock.xchng3, 18 Sheffield No Borders3, 24 WenRoo / Istockphoto.com

6 Julia Freeman-Woolpert / Stock.xchng8 Maike Scharp9 credit of the portraied persons

EMSA Twinning Project

5

Introduction

The Twinning Project is one of EMSA’s main events, organized all over Europe at almost every EMSA Faculty Member Organization (FMO). The aim of the Twinning Project is to couple two European Faculty Member Organizations as twins and exchange a group of students among each other in a cultural, social and educational level. The students should contact each other in order to arrange two exchange periods and the “twins” organize the actual program in their own country to take place during the exchange period.

The students must provide accommodation and three meals in their own countries and will then have to pay for their travel expenses when going abroad. The program can contain visits and tours of the Faculty(s), Hospital(s) and other facilities, so as to illustrate to the twin how the country’s health system functions, whilst also showing important cultural and historical highlights of the respective country and of course not forgetting the social aspect of the program between the two groups.

The duration of the Twinning Project can vary from a minimum duration of five days to the maximum of ten days. In 2003, the Twinning Project Task Force created a TP Booklet, which is a 2-pages guideline about how to set up a Twinning Project without losing yourself in it.

The Twinning Project Handbook you are reading right now is a more extended follow-up version of the booklet that was created before. However, this handbook is not a guide that will guarantee your project being successful - you have to find out for yourself which way is best for you to set up a Twinning Project. This handbook describes a couple of very important points you have to keep in mind while organizing a Twinning Project. The TP Handbook has been created by some members of the Twinning Project Task Force. Hereby I would like to express my special thanks to: Fiona Horneff, Sybrich Tiemersma and Kamil Wojciechowicz, who made the publication of this handbook possible. I also would like to thank Emon Farrah Malik, Paul-Henry Macheprang and Patricia Stappers for editing this handbook.

Of course this handbook is never fully complete. We hope people who gained experience about the Twinning Project will keep updating it and come up with new ideas for the handbook. For any questions about the Twinning Project you can always contact the Twinning Project Task Force at Twinningproject@yahoogroups.com or at europeanintegration@yahoogroups.com Finally, I hope you will enjoy reading this handbook, and I would like to wish you all the with the organization of your Twinning Project!

Naomi BegemannEuropean Integration Director 2009 / 2010

Sofia RibeiroEuropean Integration Director 2010 / 2011

6

To organize a Twinning Project you need two Organizing Committees (OCs), namely one in each FMO.

Amount of People:Usually it is enough to have an OC of two to four people to organize a Twinning Project. Keep in mind that the OC will also participate in the Twinning Project.

Setting up the OC:Therefore, chose the members of your local EMSA group, or announce the project with for example a short description of what the TP is about, the dates you are planning to twin at, and the FMO you want to twin with through the website, mailing lists and announcement boards at your faculty.

The call should be made as soon as possible. Please be clear about the tasks and the responsibilities.

Example 1:Subject: Call for applicants

This email is to ask for 2 or 3 reliable and fun-loving students who want to organize the EMSA Twinning Project between our faculty and Faculty X in March and May this year.The tasks involve setting a programme with social and educational activities, planning a budget, fundraising, and a lot of fun.

Interested? Contact us and tell us your motivations.

Example 2:Subject: Call for OC

This email is to ask for an OC to organize a TP. They can still decide the dates and country they want to twin with. Options to get in contact: europeanintegration@yahoogroups.com, European Integration director and NCM or GA.

OC MeetingsThe OC should ideally meet once every week, or at least be in constant contact through devices such as email, phone, Internet chat etc. In the last weeks before the guests arrive, those meetings might be more frequent.This way it is ensured, that all members of the OC know what the others are doing, what has been achieved

Organizing Committee

7

Task Divisionso far and what still needs to be done. Also, even though tasks can be divided, sometimes it is easier to think of solutions together, or work on things together (e.g. the final planning or the creative aspect of thinking of things to do). It might be easier or less intimidating to go for a talk with a potential sponsor together. It is also much more fun, when you notice that you are not doing all the work yourself, and when your work is seen and recognized by others.

Those meetings do not have to be formal at all, but you should keep your local EMSA group updated regularly on the stage of preparations, as they certainly have a profound interest in this, and also to double check if everything that ought to be done is getting done, as sometimes one or two people forget things. Those who are not directly involved can look at the whole process from the outside and can point these out.Do not forget to have regular gatherings during which there is not (too much) TP work involved, to focus on teambuilding and knowing each other. People often tend to forget that involvement on personal level, keeps people involved and motivated to work for a common greater goal.

Tasks and division of labourEven though the OC is a team of 2-4 people working closely together, it is advisable to divide the tasks, as this reduces the amount of work per individual.It is also recommended to choose one person who is corresponding with the partner FMO, if there has not been established an Internet working group such as for example a “yahoogroup”. This way, there will be less confusion, and it is avoided that messages will be sent twice, or worse, not at all.There are many different ways how the tasks can be divided, which of course greatly depend on the individual and the local facts and realities. Therefore we give you a few examples of how it could be divided. Please keep in mind that this is simply a suggestion, merely showing some possibilities. It is of course entirely up to the OC which division of tasks, if any, suits them best.

Examples:Person one is responsible for organising the social programme, whereas person two is organising the workshops. Then, person one will find twinning participants at their own FMO, while the other is taking care of the restaurants and transportation to the TP partner city.Another option would be, that each person is organising half of the workshops and half of the social programme. Then, finding participants, organising venues and transportation as well as taking care of fund-raising and legal aspects can be done together, or divided as well.

As can be seen, there are many different ways of dividing the tasks, and it does not really matter that much how or if they are divided, but it’s important that it’s made clear at the very first OC meeting who is doing what. In this way the chance is smaller that aspects are being forgotten or not done at all, because everybody thinks the other person is taking care of it. And with regular meetings in which both OCs update each other and the local EMSA group, the probability of this occurring is diminishing even more.

8

Before starting to write a project proposal, gather participants or set up the program, make a time scheme. In the time scheme you make deadlines when certain things in the preparation have to be finished, e.g. when the project proposal should be ready, when to start with funding, when to start with the promotion of the Twinning Project, when do you want to have participants, in what order are you taking care of different aspects of the Project and who will be in charge for this part.

Example

April: gather OCMay: get in contact with another OC or send out questionnaire to studentsJune: start gathering sponsors and fundsSeptember/October: promotion towards students Octobre: book tickets & do teambuilding with participantsNovember: have program readyDecember: Twins visit your cityJanuary: you visit TwinsFebruari: send report to sponsors/funds/EMSA and last teambuilding with participants

EnquireA few months before the dates you’re considering for TP, send an online enquire to all the students in you FMO asking which country/city they would prefer for Twinning. To limit the choices, you must have already selected some cities having the following criteria in mind:Note: If you don’t have a mailinglist with all the students in you FMO, consider creating one.

Don’t consider signing a contract or going for a TP market without having an overview of the exam calendar for all the years in you faculty. Although not all the years have the same calendar, try to make it suitable for the largest amount of students possible.

MoneyA huge factor of what your programme will look like depends on money. The good thing about TP is that it can be very fancy and expensive, but it can also be very cheap. This doesn’t mean that the cheap version is no fun. It can be as much or even more fun. People make up some great things when they improvise. Our suggestion is to make a programme that is pretty expensive and a very cheap one. You’ll probably end up somewhere in the middle of those two.

Remember to tell your twins about the price of everything, and consider a “plan B” if they find your programme too expensive. So you might end up getting wonderful solutions from one of your participants. Also they are more involved in the program and will be more likely to participate with enthusiasm!Don’t forget to contact your Dean, Town Hall, and each and every institution that might help you in reducing the costs.

Time Line

9

Sponsoring / FundingSponsoring/fundingMaybe funding is not the most exciting part of your project, but that doesn’t make it less important. After all, it will help you to cover most of the expenses! And make your program fun and interesting!

Writing a project proposal:The project proposal is a very important part of the project. Maybe some people at your faculty have already organised a TP. In this case, you could perhaps use their project proposal as a guideline for your Twinning Project as well. The project proposal helps you to get a better view of what your project will actually look like. It can include a general description about EMSA and the Twinning Project, a description of your faculty where the TP will take place, a more specific description of your TP, the programme (see chapter 4), your time scheme and budget (see next paragraph).

Depending on the rules of your faculty you may first have to present the project proposal to your local committee or national committee to vote on it before you can proceed. You can also send your project proposal to potential sponsors. A good project proposal will give them trust in your project.

Budget1. Make a budget (have an unexpected expenses section)2. Make deals with companies/museum/restaurant3. Think of applying for a grant (Youth in Action)4. Sponsors (theme related week)

A project starts with making a budget. In the example you can see the budget used by the OC from the Faculty of Groningen for the Twinning Project Groningen – Jena, in October 2004. There are two separate budgets, one for the project in Groningen, and one for visiting Jena. For the project in Groningen they collected money from local funds. They especially give money for activities that are organised at the faculty of Groningen (You can look at your faculty if they have these kinds of funds as well). As an income for the travel to Jena they had the participation fees.

The example is based on around 25 participants (German and Dutch) who were in Groningen for a 4 night, 5 day visit. You also have to consider that the prices are based on the costs in the Netherlands; maybe it is in your country much cheaper to have dinner!

Afterwards there is a possibility that you didn’t collect enough money to cover the expenses. In Groningen they unfortunately had a small car accident so they lost their security money of 300 euros. The participants were so kind to pay some extra fees, but that still didn’t cover the whole budget. Finally the local group from IFMSA Groningen* decided to donate money to fill up the gap. In this way they had a good solution, but it was an exception! Therefore it is better to include an “Unexpected Expenses” section in your budget, beforehand. This post could be 5-10% of your total expenses.

10

When you are composing your budget you should try to make the costs for foods as cheap as possible. It is most likely that these are your biggest expenses. Maybe you can make a deal with a local restaurant, supermarket or bakery. Be creative!

The idea of the Twinning Project is that the foreign students sleep at the houses of their “twin”, so you don’t have any costs for lodging. Maybe you can even ask the participants to buy breakfast for their guests. In Groningen they made this deal with the students and nobody found this unacceptable.

It is very cheap to cook the dinners yourself and it is also a lot of fun to do, because while cooking you can spend a lot of time chatting with the foreign students (especially when done as a Running dinner or with several twinning pairs together!). Another tip to decrease your expenses is by arranging free (college) rooms. Maybe you can ask your faculty to help you.

Another major expense is the trips during the social program. Also in this case it is a very good option to make deals with your local museum or tourist office.

It is always hard to get money for your project. Unfortunately you will need it to cover your expenses.Therefore you can contact two main financiers - funds and sponsors.

Budget

11

SponsorsFunds Different funds have different demands for handing in an application. You have to find this out before sending in anything. You can look for example on their website. Also find out before if their goals strike with your own. If so, you can contact them. If not, don’t send in an application, as it will be registered when you receive a grant from a particular fund and it will be harder to get money from other funds that do strike with your goals. Also keep in mind that most funds only meet 2 - 4 times a year. When you want to send in an application to a fund, be on time! You can search for funds in your country on the Internet. There is a manual about how to use the YiA grant for Twinning project on the website – check it out!

Sponsors The big difference between sponsors and funds is that sponsors want something in return for giving you money. This could be for example putting their logo in your program booklet, on promotional posters, on your website, on t-shirts for the OC or all participants, or maybe in a promotional presentation etc. You can also promote your sponsors in the monthly newsletter of EMSA – EUROMEDS – in which case, please contact the EUROMEDS editor first at secretary@emsa-europe.org to ask permission. Some sponsors don’t want to give money, but can pay in kind. You can ask a café to give you free drinks, or ask a tourist office for free maps etc. If sponsors don’t want to give you anything for free, maybe they can give you a discount. Don’t give up at the first “no”.

It’s also wise to make a list of potential sponsors (Think big!) with their contact information. In this way you can use it for a next project as well. It’s wise to make a phone call first to see if a sponsor is interested. If so, you can send them your project proposal together with a letter in which you describe why you think this sponsor should sponsor your particular project. After 1-2 weeks you can call them again to ask if they have received your letter and if they want to consider sponsoring your project. When they decided to sponsor your project you have to make a contract. Make sure it includes the amount of money the sponsor has promised you, decisions you made about what to give them in return, and which materials the sponsor will provide you for the promotion. Both parties have to sign the contract and should receive an original copy of the document. After the project don’t forget to send the final budget to all of your sponsors and funds-that is called “friendraising”! They may also ask for your receipts, so make sure you don’t throw these away!

Funds need a final report before they will transfer the money to you. Maybe people still need to get reimbursed after the project is finished. You may have to pay travel expenses for the speakers. Of course you have to make a final financial report to present to your local and/or national committee.

Transport (train, flights, bus)

That’s a very important topic. When you make a list of cities/countries, please search on the internet for the cost of flights, trains and other means of transport for the dates you are considering. Please keep in mind that budget is often the main problem in TP, and you mustn’t choose a city that would be too expensive for you students. Also advertise TP at least three months in advance, if you are flying, to reduce the costs.

12

PromotionHow can you promote your Twinning Project and when is the right time to start with the promotion of your TP? These are also questions that depend on what you think is best for your project. The two most important reasons of promoting your project are to first get participants for your TP, and second to find a Twinning Partner. Promotion is also attractive to sponsors, as they can put their logo on your promotional material as well.

Some people first want to find a Twinning Partner before they start organizing a TP. Others first startorganizing and will look for a TP partner later on. It just depends on what you, as the OC, think is best.

How to find a Twinning PartnerTo find a Twinning Partner can actually be one of the hardest, but also one of the most fun parts of the Twinning Project. First you have to decide with which EMSA Faculty Member Organisation you would like to set up a Twinning Project. I would suggest making at least a top 3, in case you can’t get in contact with the first FMO, you can still try some others. The easiest way to get the contact details of the Local Co-ordinators (LCs) of the FMO you would like to Twin with is to contact the EMSA European Board at: eeb@emsa-europe.eu /integration@emsa-europe.eu. Therefore it is very imported that all LCs keep the information updated (contact vice-president@emsa-europe.eu) in order to make it easy for other countries to contact you for a Twinning Project.

EMSA MeetingsThe most effective way to establish contacts for a Twinning Project is during an EMSA Meeting. During the National Coordinators’ & Enthusiasts’ Meeting (NCM) and the General Assembly (GA), there are always workshops given about the Twinning Project. If you attend these workshops you can meet other people who are interested in setting up a TP and exchange contact details. If you are taking part on a TP market, consider preparing some promotional material that you will give to interested FMOs. Those may include:

- Maps and touristic guides of your city- Academic information on you city- Contact cards with all your institutional and personal contacts, that look professional and it is less unlikely to be lost as a paper with an email is- Small promotional material of your city/faculty- Some traditional food- A laptop with a video of your Faculty/city. It would be nice if you could make an original one, but a touristic video would also be suitable- A list of previous TP (if it is not your first time) and articles on Euromeds, photos, and anything else you want.

Note: How to get these materials? Ask the city hall, touristic offices in you city and you faculty.Send a few slides with some information about your city, university, program, students, etc to integration@emsa-europe.eu, whether you are coming or not, as this will be constantly played durng the TP-market and might raise interest by OC’s.

Promotion

13

How to find a TP partnerDuring TP market, try to have at least two delegates on the space of your country. If you have already some FMOs in mind, be sure that one of the delegates goes there and expresses your FMO’s interest on TP. Don’t miss this opportunity, because after a meeting is much harder to contact that partner again. It is wise to also sign a contract (you can download an example at the www.emsa-europe.eu website under the Twinning Project section) with your Twinning Partner to prevent any misconceptions or misunderstandings. When you leave the EMSA meeting, make sure you have at least two names (with email addresses and telephone numbers) of the people you want to Twin with. It is also wise to already make a time scheme with your Twinning Partner, so you all know what to do in the next couple of months.And set down some common rules about providing accommodation, food and the program (see section …)

Emsa Europe mailinglistsYou can also use the emsa-europe mailing list (integration@yahoogroups.com or Twinningproject@yahoogroups.com) to promote your project. Just send a short email that you are looking for a Twinning Partner and write down how people can contact you when they are interested.

TP databaseThis database is still under construction. You can help by sending in details about the TP you have and will organize.

EUROMEDSYou can also give your TP more publicity by writing an article for EMSA’s monthly newsletter: EUROMEDS by writing to: secretary@emsa-europe.org. You can for example write an article afterwards about how everything went. This is also nice to show your sponsors, as you can include their logo in the article, which will give them even more publicity, but you can also write an article or short note while you are still organizing the event. If you are still looking for a TP partner you can include it in your article or note as well. You can also just announce your TP in the Euromeds “upcoming EMSA events” section.

When you have found a Twinning Partner it’s very important to have regular contact. In this way you will not only motivate, but also keep each other updated on the progress both FMOs are making, so you won’t experience any unpleasant surprises at the end.

14

ParticipantsSo you’re there. You got a partner, you got sponsors, you have some ideas for the program, you got ideas for transportation and you are ready to start the TP. Suddenly a feeling takes a hold of you. A feeling that you forgot something….”Damn, I don’t have any participants!”This is not a very realistic scenario, but still it illustrates very well that the selection of participants shouldn’t be neglected.

Before starting the project, it is always advisable to send an email to your mailinglist explaining the Twinning Project and asking your students which FMOs they might be interested in. That may be a good start. Their interest is already raised and they will remember more of your promotion of the actual TP.

Then, you have to make a judgment about how easy or how difficult it is at your faculty to get students to be enthusiastic about your project. This judgment can be based on earlier experiences, experiences from other project coordinators, how attractive the city is where you’re going, how many students you want to participate (10 to 15 students per FMO would be advisable) and of course the costs.

If you think that it will be hard to find students, start very early with promotion and make it a responsibility of everybody in the OC, but appoint one promotion coordinator. If you think that it will be very easy to find students then let only 1 person work on promotion. It is important that he/she will report all his/her actions to the rest of the OC. How the promotion should be done is very hard to standardise. Anyway, promoting the TP is the first step towards getting participants. You can use the following means of promotion:

- Poster (that should be fun but also serious, and include the most important information – cities, dates of receiving and going out, inscription deadline, and costs involved. Include the EMSA and TP logo if possible, and remember it is a great opportunity for putting the logo of your sponsors.- Leaflets (generally expensive, but effective)- Mailinglist (with same information of poster)- Session: if it is the first time you’re doing TP, or if you feel that it will be hard to get participants, why not making an informative session where you explain the project and show some pictures and promotional material of your FMO?- If you have the opportunity, give a short talk before/after/in between lectures. Or even show a short movie (around 3 minutes)

A luxury problem can occur when more students want to participate then there are places. The simplest way to solve this is to randomly choose students or to choose students on a first come first serve basis. However, a different approach is preferable, since students should be motivated and must have enough time when they join this project. They not only participate for fun but it will be their task to host foreign students for a couple of days. A good way to find motivated students is to interview everybody. A combination of both strategies would be to first randomly choose students and interview them. Another option would be to let them send a short motivational letter when sending in their application (half A4). If you think that some of them are not motivated nor will not have enough time then replace them choose another randomly chosen student. If you choose for the last strategy, you have to be aware that students can be

Participants

15

Programmeoffended, if you do not pick them. If your twins speak a different language, you may consider also the knowledge in English as a criterion. Imagine how bad it will be if someone receives a twin and can’t speak with him…All in all, find a strategy that suits you best.

The last issue that you have to think of is coupling the twins. There are two possibilities. First you can choose to randomly couple the twins. The other possibility is to couple them through the interviews or questionnaires, you could even use Facebook. You could for example look at hobbies. Both have their advantages and disadvantages so it comes down to a simple choice that you make with the other country.

Before leaving to the other country you it’s nice to organise an “information night”, e.g. a talk, for all participants, so everybody knows what is going to happen and what will be expected from them. This is also a great opportunity to let them get to know each other. The better they know each other, the more they will enjoy the week.

Don’t forget to make appointments with your Twinning Partner and decide who will arrange for sleeping bags, towels etc.

ProgrammeOne of the most fun parts of organising a TP is to compose a programme. A simple rule to work by is: “the sky is the limit.” Think what you would like to do and see, during each of the visits. If you think of certain things, try to arrange it. It is often just as simple as that. Off course from EMSA’s point of view, the Twinning Projects should have a certain character. As ground rule you could say that the visit should be split up into an educational part and a social part, including both groups. Thinking about this character and reading these following guidelines, always keep in mind that these are just guidelines. Don’t do what everybody tells you to do, but instead what you think is right and makes the TP original. Improvise!

Overall tipsBelow you can find some areas to explore when planning your TP programme. Nevertheless, you should consider the following things:- Agree on some common guidelines with your twins: suitable time to get up, amount of social/educational/ cultural parts, accommodation and food, and expectations of the participants.- Ask your twins if they have something they would particularly like to see/do/visit. They may not say anything (after all they don’t know your city and faculty), but if they suggest something that seems fine to you, it is nice to include it.- Send a programme to the twin OC and ask how they feel about it.- It is always better to include a weekend in your programme- If you’re planning a night out, allow a free morning the next day.- For courtesy, it is always advisable to pick your twins at the airport/bus station/train station-include that in the programme!- Consider preparing a welcome kit, with maps, gifts, contact cards (with the address of the twin’s house, it can be very helpful if they get lost), useful information.

16

Educational partThis is often the most difficult part of making a program. A good start is to talk about the project to those professors whom you know well or are known to help students. In this way, you not only collect some great ideas but you are also establishing good connections. If you have foreign professors, it is also nice to contact them.

A standard TP workshop is a lecture about how the medical school in your city is organised. If your medical school receives Erasmus students, then you can also invite some of them to talk about their experiences, about the good things in your faculty and why it is so good to study there. Is it good to add their input because they are less biased, and furthermore they can encourage some of your twins to join you next year – how good is that? - Generally, there is an office that has the emails of all the Erasmus students, you can go there and ask for permission to send an email asking for their collaboration, like this one.

Further you have to find out (again by talking to a lot of professors) what your hospital is famous for. Some twins may want to hear about how to specialize in your country/hospital for foreign people, so a seminar on that may also be an idea. If there is good research being done at your medical school, then you may invite some researchers to talk about their work and also about the post-graduate opportunities available. Remember that many students are interested in research and this is a great occasion to promote your faculty.

Try not to organise only lectures but make some real workshops. Aside from the famous things, you can organise workshops about simple medical handling, such as a CPR course, suture course etc. Make it interactive! Or an interesting ethical question.

Educational Programme

17

Social ProgrammeSocial partOrganising the social part can be very easy. One of the aspects of a TP is that the students that you host want to see how students in your city live. So you could organise some fancy things but then the students wouldn’t have an idea of what the social life of the students in your city is like. You could also just stick with the stuff you would do anyway, but I guess that you don’t party every night. Best thing to do could be to make a mix. Provide a programme for every day but don’t make it too fancy. You could think of the following suggestions:

- Sightseeing tour- Visits to museums and monuments (please plan this in advance and ask for discounts or free entry)- A dinner with all twins (with national food and drinks)- Pub-crawl- Typical students’ party- An old fashion student’s house party for the participants- Visiting special events (for example: a Christmas market in Germany)

Free timeDon’t forget the free time. It sounds obvious but once you start organising, you get so enthusiastic that you will plan every minute for the students. Be aware of this and when it happens pull the hand brake. It is this free time that students appreciate very much.

Some students read about the cities before coming and may want to visit places that you haven’t included in your original plan-we all have different tastes, and it is hard to please everyone. They may also want to shop for something typical or visit someone. That’s why it is so important to give them free time.

If they ask, have some advice ready what they could do but let them make the decisions. You can already hand this to your participants beforehand.

18

VISAIt may be possible that the participants of your Twinning Project need a VISA to visit your country or that you need a visa to go to the other country. In this case, the OC in the country for which a visa is needed can write an invitation letter. When writing an invitation letter, you have to pay attention to a couple of things.Always write down clearly the name of the participant plus passport number and date of birth, the date the event takes place, and who is responsible for what. It is very important to write down everything very clearly, as there is a lot of fraud happening with visas. Sometimes people just subscribe as a participant to get a visa to get into the European Union. If these people are caught, the organisation could possibly be held eligible.Just be aware of this!

Here is an example of an Invitation Letter (print in official paper, let them sign and stamp):

Subject: Declaration of Acceptance of Foreign Student for Visa purposes

The Lisbon Faculty of Medicine hereby attests its wilingness to receive the student (name of student) from the Medical School of (name of medical school) for a short term exchange (Twinning project) during the days he

will be spending in Lisbon (insert dates).We will provide him with opportunities to experience the ways and methods of the Portuguese healthcare

system.Lodging and boarding will be provided by the local student committee.

Signature and Stamp

Legal AspectsThis is a very important aspect of your project that you should not underestimate. What are your responsibilities? What should you do in the event of an emergency?

Identification papersOf course every participant must have correct identification papers. Be sure that everyone checks the validation before leaving! One other thing you should consider are the travel permits for foreign students.Just in case, have the address of the embassy of your twins with you. You may need it if they loose their ID.

Important

19

EvaluationInsuranceFirst of all, the participants need good travel insurance. This is something they have to take care of themselves, but as organising committee you have to indicate that this is very important. Of course this is only relevant when you visit the foreign city.When the students of this city visit your town you have to be prepared that it’s possible that they break expensive furniture like a TV or a radio. Although the chance is very small, the participant may want an indemnity. When the insurance of the participant himself or the foreign student doesn’t cover the damage, you could consider giving him or her money from your own budget. This is something you have to discuss with your local EMSA committee.

Furthermore, when you are visiting the foreign country, you have to think about insurance for your transportation, in particular when travelling by car or (rented) bus. During preparation you have to discuss with your students who is going to pay the fines and possible damage to the cars (if you travel by car). These two things are not unlikely to happen. You should prepare the students that the organising committee is probably not capable of paying all these unpleasant extras and that there is a possibility that they have to pay some additional fees afterwards.

EvaluationAt the end of the meeting you can ask the participants to evaluate the project, especially if you or your faculty is planning to organise another TP later on. The quickest way to do this is by letting people fill in an evaluation form or ask them to write a short report. On the evaluation form you can include every aspect of your TP, like meeting programme, social programme, food, lodging, did people like their twins, how was the organisation etc. You can ask people to give a number from 1-5 of which for example 5 is best to show how much they liked everything. You can also ask them to give some comments on the different aspects of the Twinning Project as well (most of the time these are a lot of fun to read). All in all, it is just to give you an impression what went really well and what could be improved next time.

It is wise to also evaluate the project with the Organising Committee. How did the project go? How was the co-operation within the other OC? What can be improved next time? Write down everything, so other OCs can learn from your project. Write an article about your event for EUROMEDS (why not a joint one?), so people all over Europe can read about and learn from your event!

Certificates You should give certificates to all the students that participated on TP. It is a nice idea, and it will be even more unforgettable! Let both OC’s sign them, the Local coordinator or president of the FMO’s, maybe even a dean.

20

OtherDon’t forget to thank your sponsors and speakers. You can send them a letter or an email about how everything went and with, for example, the results of the evaluation (if they are positive - if not, write down something else!). Also always ask if you can contact them again next time.

If you made a Programme Booklet for the participants, it is very nice to send one to your sponsors as well.

TIP: make a portfolio in which you keep all information you gained about the project. Include the list of spon-sors you contacted for your project with their contact details. It will make things a lot easier for the next OC who would like to organise a TP at your FMO. Mark the sponsors who sponsored you during your project, so you don’t forget to contact them again next time. Also include all the contacts you’ve used (teachers and so on).

Final word

We hope you all enjoyed reading this handbook. If you have any additions or comments,

you can always contact us at: Twinningproject@yahoogroups.com.

Last of all we would like to wish you good luck and a lot of fun with the organisation of

your Twinning Project!

Final Words

21

AnnexExamples:

- Contract between cities

- Participants’ Contract

- Matching Form

- Program

Note: You can find an editable version of these documents on:

www.emsa-europe.eu

22

CONTRACT FOR HOSTING AN EMSA TWINNING PROJECTContract between _______________________________________

[name of first FMO]and

_______________________________________[name of second FMO]

[name of FMO] and [name of FMO] will organize an EMSA Twinning Project.

[name of FMO] will visit [name of FMO] during the period __/__/____ - __/__/____, in [city, country].

Respectively, [name of FMO] will visit [name of FMO] during the period __/__/____ - __/__/____, in [city, country].

1. (name of FMO) will be officially represented by (name of responsible student), and (name of FMO) will be officially represented by (name of responsible student). Those students shall at all times be the contact person and responsible for all issues concerning the Twinning Project.2. Each FMO will send ___ Participants, of which ___ have to be active EMSA members.3. A preliminary Programme will be sent to the organizers at least 3 months before the first FMO visits the twins.4. A list of all participants with complete names and email addresses will be send to the organizers at least 6 weeks prior to the first visit.5. The inviting FMO shall provide accommodation with the twinning partner, all social activities, all medical activities, transportation to the activities and at least 2 meals per day.6. The participants shall pay for their own transportation to the hosting FMO.7. In a case of an irresolvable situation, both the FMOs reserve the right to terminate this contract, taking into account that this cannot be done less than 3 months before the first visit of the Twinning Project. In case one FMO cancels the contract, they shall be responsible for all financial losses the partner FMO might suffer. The only exceptions to these conditions will be in the exceptional case of a vis maior (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics, etc.) in which case the conditions mentioned in this contract shall no longer be legally binding.

On behalf of [name of FMO] On behalf of [name of FMO]

Host Contract

23

Participants‘ Contract pt. 1TWINNING PROJECT

PARTICIPANT’S CONTRACT[Twinning Project FMO > partner FMO +date]

[Twinning Project partner FMO > FMO + date]

Herewith I declare to participate in the Twinning Project [FMO]-[partner FMO] in [months in which TP will take place]I promise to stick to the conditions of the project, as written in the annex.

[financial part]

I took notice of the conditions of the project and I agree.

Name: .............................................Address: ............................................. .............................................Date of birth: .............................................

Autograph Twinning Autograph participant:Project OC President: [name]

----------------------------------------- --------------------------------

ANNEX:

24

ANNEX: 1. The Twinning Project OC will provide:• A social and educational program in the home country• A social and educational program in the twin country• Accommodation, transport and food in the twin country

2. The Twinning Project OC consists of:[Names]

3.Conditions:

1. The dates mentioned in the contract are only an indication. The organization has the right to change these dates if necessary. This will always happen in dialogue with the participants2. The participation fee mentioned is an indication. The fee can rise or lower, but always in dialogue with the participants.3. Cancellation after signing the contract will mean you will not get back the participation fee. If you can find a suitable substitute for the project, you will get back the money for the social program. Travel expenses can not be recovered.4. In case of cancellation of the Twinning Project, [FMO] is not responsible for the costs already made.5. Conditions:• The participant must participate in both parts of the project: staying at the twin partner as well as welcoming this partner at home. Dispensation can only take place in case of emergency, disease or death and always after consultation with the Twinning Project OC.• The participant must participate in the project in an active way, in the home city as well as in the twin city. The guest twin should not be kept from participating in the program organized by the OC.• The participant should respect his/her twin’s values and points of views.• The participant should provide the twin with a home and three meals a day during the whole project.• If any problems between twins occur this should be reported to the OC.• The participant should pay its own travel expenses to the first activity and from the last activity back home for himself and his twin.• The participant should pay his own drinks.• The Twinning Project OC is not responsible for any lost or damaged goods. Participants are in all cases responsible for their own behavior and the consequences of this behavior. • The participant must report his expenses truthfully and must have a receipt of these expenses.• If a participant doesn’t stick to the rules mentioned above, the Twinning Project OC has the right to keep this participant from further participation. No money will be refunded.

Participants‘ Contract pt. 2

25

Application FormTwinning Project [City-City][City, date] [City, date]

Application form

personal data

name, first name: __________________________________E-mail: __________________________________address: __________________________________phone / mobile: __________________________________

age: _____ year of studies: _____ gender: male female

languages: ___________________

The following questions will help us to find a matching Twin for you.1) My Twin will be: male female nevermind smoker non smoker nevermind

2) I drink alcohol: no / rarely normal excessive

3) What parts of the Twinning Project are you looking for most: the Educational or the social part of the Programme?

Mark your score on a 1 to 10 scale whereas 10 is the highest score:

Educational programme (Lectures, museums, workshops…) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Social programme (Parties, pub tours, dinners, cinema…) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

26

4) Hobbies/interests: ____________________________________

5) Something else we have to know (cat allergy, vegetarian, vegan, or similar...): _________________

6) Your Favourite Quote:________________________

7) what would you like to be in the future?: ________________________

8) favourite drink: ____________________________

9) something interesting about yourself: ____________________

10) what colour underwear are you wearing at the moment: _________

Program example

Friday 11th december Arrivalgo to twin’s house (or another house for Breda, Joanna & Lotte and Rui)

Saturday 12th (Bring Sint Nicolaas Gifts!!!!)10:00 Rotterdam Central Station (CS) at Smullers Visit Madurodam (25)13:30 Delft Visit Nieuwe Kerk (new Church), Boat

bring own lunch! (25)18:00 Sinterklaas at Sietse!20:00 Diner (will be brought) (26)22:30 PARTY! In Rotterdam

Sunday 13 december- go to parents (on your own)21:00 meet at Cocktailbar (ELIT) in Oude Haven

Application Form

27

Programme ExampleMonday 14 december (bring Bike!!!!) (Miguel and Rui leaving)10:00 meet at Cq-F1 (next to Cq-C)10:30 lecture by Dr Wildschut11:30 welcoming word by IFMSA-Rotterdam (Simone) (also in Cq-F1)12:30 lecture ‘abortion-boat’ in Co 3/413:30 lunch at ‘Mensa’ (25-27)14:30 Biking tour! (including Euromast, drink at Hotel New York)20:00 diner at Villa Kakelbont (21&Lisa)~22:00 Irish Pub

Tuesday 15 december (bring stethoscope! And eyepencil!!!) no lunch12:00 PKV D&E (25) 12:15 – 14:30 physical examination: the Heart~17:00 Running Dinner!22:00 gather at Sophia Childrens‘ hospital for Movie in our own cinema!

Wednesday 16 december (Joanna Amaral leaves at night)9:45 koffiecorner Erasmus MC10:00 – 11:00 Anatomy11:30 – 13:30 SkillsPlaza (10 + ?) 14:00 Lunch at ‘Mensa’15:00 Old-Dutch games19:00 Diner at Sorbonne (25 pers) (Rodezand 46)~21:00 Kroegentocht!~… Party!!! (Skihut)

Thursday 17 december Amsterdam! (some twins are not coming) (9 over)10:50 meet at Rotterdam CS at Smullers Caat meet met latere NL om 13:15 op stationHostel Lunch: vlaamse friet! Anne Frank Huis Tour Sex museum19:00 Diner ‘De Schutter’ (9+13=22) Drink/Party/farewell

European Medical Students‘ Association

European Medical Students’ Associationc/o CPME Standing Committee of European DoctorsRue Guimard 15,1040 BrusselsBelgium

www.emsa-europe.eueeb@emsa-europe.eu