Two Rotterdam-based entities shortlisted for Medical Student of the Year Award

Erasmus MC seems very likely to win this year’s national Medical Student of the Year competition, as two of the three candidates shortlisted for the annual award issued by the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) are affiliated with Erasmus University’s Faculty of Medicine.

The jury reviewed forty nominations and ended up shortlisting medical student Yara Dixon, the GIDS group and Radboud University Nijmegen student Coen Vulders.

Cabinet dispensing menstrual products

Dixon made headlines a while ago because she got her faculty to install a cabinet dispensing free menstrual products in the ladies’ lavatory of her faculty. She also raised funds for the fight against period poverty. In addition, she developed a symptom checker for women suffering from heavy menstrual bleeding, available in three languages: English, Turkish and Arabic.

‘GIDS’ stands for ‘Geneeskundestudenten in de Samenleving’ (Medical Students Engaging in Society) and consists of several medical students attending the Erasmus MC. The group organises projects that allow medical students to get involved with Dutch society. For instance, it organised a project in which students provided information on the coronavirus and vaccines at markets in Rotterdam. Furthermore, the students read texts to language-deficient children and helped elderly people get some exercise in parks.

Depression and burn-out

The third candidate, Radboud University student Coen Vulders, founded the Open Boek Nijmegen Foundation after suffering from depression himself. Among other things, he used the foundation to organise two symposiums, about depression in adolescents and about burn-out.

If you want to cast your vote, you can do so on KNMG’s website before 7 November.