Thanks to a scientific work entitled “Addressing Factors Associated with Public Compliance Toward Quarantine Measurements as A Breakthrough Way Fighting Covid-19 Pandemic: A Meta-analysis”, Ayers Gilberth Ivano Kalaij (Faculty of Medicine Universitas IndonesiaI 2018) and his team member, Nathaniel Gilbert Dyson (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019) , Valerie Josephine Dirjayanto (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019), and Stella Kristi Triastari (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019), won 1st Place in the Scientific Paper Conference. Ayers and eleven other students from the Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia (FKUI) brought home one win from the three categories achieved by Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia at the international scientific event East Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) 2022 Online Academic Competition organized by the Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). International (17 – 18 February 2022). The competition is a collaboration between AMSA-Australia, AMSA Thailand, AMSA-India, and AMSA-Singapore.
“Reflecting on the current state of the pandemic, which is still trying to be suppressed, various efforts have been made by the governments of various countries in formulating appropriate interventions related to how to reduce the incidence of Covid-19,” said Ayers. He added, “Unfortunately, compliance with the #stayathome intervention in the form of quarantine, is currently still low. We made a meta-analysis of the factors that affect adherence to the #stayathome intervention and provide recommendations on things that need to be considered to increase compliance with this rule, in the hope of reducing the incidence of Covid-19. We hope that these recommendations can be taken into consideration by the government to improve the current regulations.”
Besides Ayers, the team led by Syaharani Martiza Hakim (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2020) won second place in the Film Conference Auvert category (the type of category in the competition). The team consisting of Cokorda Istri Agung Dewinta Adnyani (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2020), Alisha Damara Praditya (FKUI 2020), and Muhammad Candrika Agyawisnu Yuwono (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2020) made a film that was shown at EAMSC 2022 with the title “A Bitter Truth”. “A Bitter Truth is Auvert’s film work which is inspired by the real daily conditions of Indonesian people related to the socio-economic field due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this video, we hope that the public can also consider the economic challenges faced by others, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Syaharani.
“Because their economic condition can be correlated with the way they respond to problems related to current health protocols. At the end of the video (after watching “A Bitter Truth”), we want people to realize that the simple things they think about, like wearing a mask in their daily life, may not be as simple as for other people,” he said. Therefore, Syaharani invites the community to show a little willingness to help and care for others. “No matter how small or big the contribution is, we can create better conditions for the future health of the Indonesian people,” said Syaharani.
In the same competition, another achievement was obtained from the Conference Scientific Poster category, through a team consisting of Nathaniel Gilbert Dyson (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019), Valerie Josephine Dirjayanto (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019), Aldithya Fakhri (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019), and Stephanie Amabella Prayogo (Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia 2019). ). They won third place by displaying a poster entitled “Effectiveness of Digital Handwashing Intervention as a Breakthrough to Control COVID-19 and Transmissible Disease Outbreaks: A Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials”.
“We conducted a meta-analysis study which proved that the online handwashing education method using the internet and telephone, was able to significantly increase the frequency and adherence to hand washing. Education is carried out through learning videos followed by a respondent’s understanding test and feedback session so as to ensure that the respondent has understood the material well. Washing hands is an easy and effective method to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases including Covid-19 at this time,” Nathaniel said.
The Dean of Faculty of Medicine Universitas IndonesiaI, Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH, MMB appreciated the achievements of Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia’s students at the 2022 EAMSC and said, “This achievement is also proof that Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia’s students are able to balance themselves to excel in academics, as well as in organizations, such as, through AMSA-International. This achievement should be an inspiration for other students to make the best achievements, in order to make Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia,, Universitas Indonesia, and Indonesia proud in the international arena,” said Prof. Ari.
EAMSC 2022 is an annual conference held with the aim of inspiring medical students in the East Asia region to network and actively analyze global health problems and efforts to improve them. The inspiration was created through various academic, socio-cultural, and community service activities that explored each of the nominated conference themes.
