The JCUMSA is one of JCU’s most active student societies, and is always looking for new student volunteers. There are a wide variety of activities and events for all interests. As a member of the JCUMSA, you are a valued stakeholder that has the potential to set into motion real change as to the direction the Society takes into the future.

After all, it is your JCUMSA.

Whatever you’re interested in, whether it be a creative or administrative role, one thing that we can guarantee is that there will be something for you. All you need is enthusiasm and a passion to be involved – no prior experience required! Anyone considering applying for Committee roles are encouraged to contact the relevant Committee position holder or overseeing Executive, who’d be more than happy to give their insights about the role. Every new position holder will receive a comprehensive handover and support from other members of the team to stand them in good stead to make a difference in the year ahead.

Committee Meetings

The Annual General Meeting is held in September each year to elect the Committee for the following year. This is your chance to nominate to take on a committee position.

Our fortnightly executive meetings are open to all members; anyone who’d like to raise an issue for immediate and direct address can contact our secretary for more information and arrange attendance.

Myth-busters

JCUMSA Executive Committee Positions

Click on the highlighted menu’s below to get a look into some of the responsibilities and requirements when applying for a position in our core Executive Committee.

The President is the face of JCUMSA, and oversees all of the association’s activities. He or she manages the Executive and coordinates the activities of the Association. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure the continued success of the Association. The President is the JCUMSA spokesperson, where they are to represent the association wherever necessary; e.g. liaising with the CMD, sponsors and other official persons.

The President represents JCUMSA and attends meetings on behalf of JCUMSA for committees including, but not limited to: Board of Studies and JCUMSA/CMD meetings. The President also chairs JCUMSA Executive meetings and works with the Vice Presidents, Secretary, and other members of the Executive to plan, oversee and coordinate all club activities (including financial, social, academic and student welfare issues).

The President further guides and assists all Executive members aiming to represent JCUMSA’s interests professionally at all times. This includes travelling to AMSA National Council three times per year with the JCUMSA Liaison Officer, to discuss views and topics of our and other medical schools, and to work on and pass AMSA policy. The President is further involved along with all Executive members of making and passing JCUMSA policy and ensuring that JCUMSA Inc. meets its financial and legal obligations as an incorporated association.

It is expected that students interested in the role of the President are aware of the position descriptions of the whole committee as well as the general procedures involved with the running of the organisation including the obligations as a not-for-profit incorporated association.

Key stipulations:

  1. Previous JCUMSA Executive experience is mandatory to apply for the President position.
  2. You must contact the current President prior to applying to discuss the role. If you are unable to demonstrate evidence of this if asked (for example an email, Facebook message or phone call log) in your application, you will be prompted to submit it. If this is not submitted prior to the AGM, your application will be terminated.

For information regarding the role, contact the current President Bianca Johnson ([email protected]).

The Academic Vice President portfolio holds a dual responsibility in (1) being the chief proponent of academic advocacy on behalf of the student body, working with individual students, Academic Representatives and the CMD, and (2) convening the academic events held by JCUMSA. He or she oversees all of JCUMSA’s contribution to CMD policy creation and assessment, feeds back information to the CMD from the academic representatives and wider student body, and informs the academic representatives of the outcomes of this feedback.

The Academic VP sits on the Board of Studies and the Assessment Committee, providing representation on behalf of JCUMSA and the wider student body in the discussion and implementation of new CMD policies and procedures. The Academic VP liaises with the academic year representatives in order to both flag student issues and feedback the information attained at the aforementioned meetings.

Other responsibilities of the Academic VP include meeting with key CMD staff through JCUMSA/CMD meetings once monthly which provides a forum for discussing student issues not applicable to the Board of Studies or Assessment Committee meetings. They also collaborate with the academic representatives in the organisation of JCUMA’s academic events, including Trivia Nights, Clinical Skills Nights, Practice MSATs/OSCEs and the Maggie Grant Guest Speaker Night.

Key stipulations:

  1. Applicants must be a clinical student in 2022.
  2. Experience as a JCUMSA Academic Representative or equivalent. experience in a similar organisation is highly desirable, but not essential.
  3. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role.

For more information contact, Abi Balaji ([email protected]).

The Events Vice President oversees and coordinates all social events of the organisation. They must ensure that Events Representatives and other subcommittee members are supplied with the appropriate guidance, information, resources and support they require to effectively run their events. The Events Vice President is ultimately responsible for ensuring the smooth running of social events and must attend these events to do so. The Events Vice President must meet regularly with Events Representatives and any other subcommittee members who are participating and support them in their roles. It is also your responsibility to ensure all rules of the subcommittee are adhered to including financial management, sales and promotion.

The Events VP must be extremely organised and start event planning well in advance. A calendar of events should be drafted and released before the end of the year preceding their term with guidance from the current Events VP as required. They must liaise with other student groups including RHINO, GPSN and Santé to ensure no events overlap.

The Events VP’s other responsibilities include creating event calendars for the year, heading the events subcommittee, ensuring the success of all social events by working with Event Reps., ensuring all events have convenors, attending all possible JCUMSA events and works with the Sponsorship Officer to organise the Welcome BBQ in the first week of Semester 1.

Lastly, the Events VP must coordinate the Med Revue team for the year and provide support where appropriate.

Key stipulations:

  1. Applicants must be a clinical student in 2022.
  2. Experience as a JCUMSA Events Representative or equivalent experience in a similar organisation is highly desirable but not essential.
  3. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role. 

For more information contact Lara Humadi ([email protected]).

The Secretary is the executive member responsible for the day to day running of the organisation. He or she facilitates communication between JCUMSA and other individuals/organisations and coordinates Executive meetings and the annual general meeting. He or she works closely with the President to coordinate the running of the organisation in line with the constitution. The Secretary also holds the capacity to assist other executive members in the management of their portfolios. The Secretary is responsible for; the day to day running of the association, facilitating communication between JCUMSA and other organisations such as the College of Medicine and Dentistry, for all JCUMSA correspondence and the running of Executive meetings. They notably ensure meetings are run in accordance with the JCUMSA constitution, collate the agenda for each meeting, record minutes for each meeting and is responsible for the annual elections and annual general meeting.

The Secretary further collects copies of all JCUMSA correspondence, important documents and is responsible for membership database, distribution of gold member stickers, as well as maintaining the ‘Opportunities Registrar’. They also support all other Executive members in the management of their portfolios.

The secretary must be organised, consistent, a strong manager of teams a clear communicator.

Key stipulations:

  1. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role. 

For more information, please contact Anson Yang ([email protected]).

The Treasurer has several functions within the executive structure with all duties involving a monetary aspect. The Treasurer is expected to:

  1. maintain, monitor and facilitate the records and use of the JCUMSA accounts and other owned financial resources,
  2. guide and advise the Executive on appropriate expenditure for events throughout the year,
  3. create an annual budget,
  4. facilitate an end-of-year financial audit for the association,
  5. organise reimbursements as necessary,
  6. oversee event budgets, including assisting Event Convenors with creating a tentative budget if necessary,
  7. liaise with event convenors regarding quotes and tracking of budgets,
  8. facilitate long-term financial sustainability for the organisation and managing JCUMSA’s investment portfolio working closely with the Sponsorship Officer and President.

Key stipulations:

  1. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role.

For more information, contact Eric Smith ([email protected]).

The Liaison Officer is an important point of contact for external organisations. The Liaison Officer sits on the Queensland Medical Students Council (QldMSC) and is the official AMSA representative for JCUMSA at the AMSA National Council.

The Liaison Officer role involves much discussion relating to issues facing medical students on a local, state and national level. Specifically, ongoing discussions relate to:

  • Medical education and medical school curricula
  • Increases in numbers of medical students and junior doctors
  • Quality clinical placements and the capacity of medical schools and hospitals to provide these
  • Pre-vocational training
  • Medical student wellbeing and issues surrounding bullying and harassment

The Liaison Officer is expected to familiarise themselves with these issues and be able to both disseminate information and collect students’ opinions and views in relation to the issues.

The Liaison Officer:

  • Is the AMSA representative for JCU
  • Sits on Queensland Medical Students Council
  • Coordinates an AMSA Policy Think-Tanks prior to attending National Council.
  • Attends AMSA council meetings (March, July, September)
  • Represents and advocates for JCUMSA and JCU medical students
  • Writes formal reports on activities and issues of JCUMSA for QMSC, AMAQ and other organisations as requested
  • Works with the Junior Liaison Representative to coordinate AMSA related activities at JCU.
  • Locally coordinates events run by AMSA on a national level including the national blood drive.
  • Advertise and coordinate contingents of JCU delegates to AMSA run events (includes organisation of JCU merchandise)
    • AMSA Global Health Conference
    • AMSA National Convention
    • AMSA National Leadership and Development Seminar
    • National Blood Drive (Vampire Cup) – As of 2019 a new “Vampire Cup coordinator/s position has been introduced, however the AMSA rep should still work closely with this portfolio to ensure it is on the right track
  • To advertise and help to secure funding for JCU delegates attending
    • AMSA National Leadership Development Seminar
    • IFMSA General Assemblies

The Liaison officer further has the role of targeting and achieving specific goals for the junior AMSA rep. The two should work together to achieve the above targets.

Key stipulations:

  1. Applicants for this position must be a clinical student in 2022 or has had significant experience within AMSA as deemed by the management committee.
  2. Experience in JCUMSA and the AMSA Council are strongly recommended for this position. Additionally, one must acknowledge that it is strongly encouraged that the liaison officer attends AMSA national convention, and at current this fee (approximately $1000) will have to be self funded.
  3. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role.

For more information, contact Steph Sullivan ([email protected]).

The Sponsorship Officer liaises directly with the organisations that donate their services and financial support to the Association. The Sponsorship Officer develops close working relationships with the marketing and public relations departments of the various sponsors. The Sponsorship Officer will work in tandem with the Junior Sponsorship Officer, delegating responsibilities and working together on decided projects. The Sponsorship portfolio requires excellent communication skills, reliability and forward planning.

The Sponsorship Officer:

  • Liaises with current and potential sponsors
  • Where necessary signs sponsorship agreements and is responsible for ensuring that both JCUMSA and the sponsor are aware of the requirements of these contracts
  • Informs the Event Representatives of the sponsorship requirements of each event (sponsor speeches, logos on posters etc). This is to be done through a document created throughout the year, with sponsor contact details and event requirements clearly written for the benefit of the Events and Academic VP.
  • Seeks new sponsors for JCUMSA
  • Liaises with the Junior Sponsorship officer on JCUMSA Gold matters, as this is the primary portfolio of the Junior Sponsorship officer
  • Forms a strong working relationship with all sponsors
  • Works with the Events VP to organise the Welcome BBQ in the first week of Semester 1
  • Works with the Townsville Academic Clinical Years reps to organise the Career’s Information Night
  • Works with the broader executive and Junior Sponsorship Officer to organise the Electives Information Evening

The Sponsorship Prospectus should be released by the end of January, with guidance from the newly elected Events VP and Academic VP so that event dates and modifications from previous years are accurately portrayed. New sponsors will be ideally sourced over the end of year holidays, and throughout the following year as opportunities arise. The majority of contracts should be signed by the end of January in the new clinical year.

At the end of each month, the prospectus should be updated to reflect changes to any events or sponsorship packages. Liaising with the previous sponsorship officer is encouraged if there are any questions about the role throughout the year. The JCUMSA Gold prospectus should be revised at the beginning of the year in conjunction with the Junior officer, prior to distribution to prospective Gold affiliates.

Key stipulations:

  1. Applicants are strongly discouraged from holding concurrent sponsorship positions in other organisations.
  2. Applicants cannot be an official representative or employee of any JCUMSA sponsor.

 For more information, contact Alena Adams ([email protected]). 

The Publications and Promotions Officer is responsible for:

  • All JCUMSA publications including the JCUMSA Handbook, Clinical Publications and any others
  • Collating articles for monthly CMD newsletter – The Pulse
  • Liaising with the Events and Academic VPs in creating promotional material for all events
  • Working with the Events and Academic VPs in advertising events through social media, posters and in person
  • Liaising with the executive to ensure students are kept up to date with the work of JCUMSA (eg. Academic issues)
  • Engaging with local media when appropriate (eg. to advertise community events, political advocacy)
  • Overseeing the work of the IT Officer and maintenance of the JCUMSA website including event ticketing
  • Moderating and promoting JCUMSA’s social media presence

The Publications & Promotions Officer is able to form his or her own subcommittee at their discretion (eg. For publication of magazine).

Key stipulations:

  1. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role.

For more information, contact Mali Edirisinghe ([email protected]). 

Recently there has been research into the wellbeing of medical students with a high proportion suffering from anxiety and depression at some point in their university life. This student is not to counsel students, but to provide guidance on where students can get help. The role also includes working towards ensuring that JCUMSA is active in the community and they will coordinate events as such.

The Community and Wellbeing Officer:

  • Will provide support to students through the provision of information about wellbeing
  • Will organise events (including Blue Week) to increase awareness of the importance of physical and mental wellbeing
  • Will ensure JCUMSA is active in community, including supporting the Teddy Bear Hospital program, ABC&D Cleveland Youth Detention Program, and identifying new opportunities for students to participate
  • Is the JCUMSA representative on the AMSA Wellbeing Network

Key stipulations:

  1. You must contact the current position holder prior to applying to discuss the role.

For more information, please contact Catherine Choong ([email protected]). 

JCUMSA General Committee Positions

Want to get involved, but out of the spotlight? These non-executive Sub-Committee positions cater for a variety of different talents and interests.

The purpose of this role is to engage preclinical students with the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). The Junior AMSA rep is encouraged to work closely with the AMSA rep across all aspects of the AMSA role (see above). Only pre-clinical students are eligible for this role.

The Junior AMSA Representative will:

  • Promote AMSA events and initiatives to preclinical students
  • Distribute relevant AMSA publications to preclinical students
  • Seek feedback from pre-clinical students on policies that will be voted on at upcoming AMSA Councils and relay this information to the Liaison Officer
  • Acts as a proxy to the Liaison Officer at AMSA Councils and QMSC meetings if the Liaison Officer is unable to attend
  • Work closely with and provide support to the Vampire Cup Coordinator/s which is a new position in 2019

The Junior AMSA Representative may have the opportunity to attend AMSA council (fully or partially funded by JCUMSA) during their term; this is dependent on budget constraints

The IT Officer is responsible for the maintenance and moderation of the JCUMSA website as required, and works with the Publications & Promotions Officer to achieve this goal. He or she updates the website with content supplied by the central executive and other relevant parties. The IT officer is responsible for the Joint Health Club Calendar (JHCC) and liaises with other student clubs to ensure this runs smoothly. They are also responsible for assisting the Executive with their email accounts.

There is a position for both a male and female representative. The Inter-Faculty Sports Officers are expected to:

  • Organise and field teams for the interfaculty competition
  • Communicate with students from all year levels and the JCU sports office
  • Coordinate appropriate training times, organise uniforms and generally manage the relevant sporting teams
  • Organise the annual JCUMSA vs JCUDSA MIPS Carnival (including liaising with JCUDSA and organising teams, uniforms, lunch, and accommodation)

The Inter-Faculty competition includes netball, basketball, touch football, soccer and rugby league. Each of the sports are run at different times throughout the year, with both male and female teams competing.

Responsible for liaising with the international students and relaying any concerns or inquiries back to JCUMSA Executive. Only international students are eligible for this role.

The Indigenous Students Representative is responsible for liaising with all medical students who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and relaying any academic or cultural concerns or enquiries back to the JCUMSA Executive. The representative is also responsible for overseeing and delivering the Indigenous Students’ mentoring program together with the College of Medicine and Dentistry. Only students who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander are eligible for this role.

This a new role starting in 2019 with the purpose of organising JCU’s Vampire Cup Blood drive campaign and continuing our success in the AMSA Vampire Cup competition. This role may be run for as an individual or a duo.

The Vampire Cup Coordinator will:

  • Organise the Vampire Cup campaign
  • Work closely with the Junior AMSA rep and Senior AMSA rep
  • Continue relationships with external sponsors and recruit new sponsors
  • Organise the Inter-JCU and Inter-college competitions and recruit representatives from these organisations
  • Work closely with the Redcross to facilitate the event

will have to be self funded.

The Junior Sponsorship Officer is a role which is dedicated to assisting the executive sponsorship officer in their shared goals for the sponsorship portfolio. Once the Junior Sponsorship Officer and executive sponsorship officer have been elected, they should meet to discuss the plan for the year and delineate responsibilities as per the sponsorship officer’s agenda.

One of the main responsibilities is for the Junior Sponsorship Officer to head up the JCUMSA Gold program, closely liaising with the executive sponsorship officer when necessary. They will communicate with businesses regarding JCUMSA Gold advertisement and agreements, and assist with creating new opportunities for the Gold program. The Junior Sponsorship Officer should will also take charge of record-keeping for the medicine lockers underneath the Padua lecture theatre (Building 40).

The Junior Sponsorship Officer will:

  • Liaise with the executive sponsorship officer regularly to discuss sponsorship goals and their decided tasks
  • Assist in revising the main sponsorship prospectus as well as the JCUMSA Gold prospectus that will be distributed primarily at the beginning of the year
  • Update the Lockers record sheet at the beginning of SP1 and SP2
  • Represent the sponsorship team at JCUMSA events such as the Welcome BBQ, Career’s Info Night and Electives Info Evening
  • Assist the Sponsorship Officer with organisation and running of aforementioned events
  • Be able to communicate with sponsors on behalf of the Sponsorship Officer

RACGP Queensland Board has a co-opted position for a Medical Student representative.

Past involvement in GPSN at JCU or an interest in a career in General Practice is highly valued. The individual will be responsible for liaising between RACGP and the JCU medical student body, as well as medical student bodies across QLD. This position will allow you, as a student, to represent the best interests of your colleagues within RACGP. The role offers a large scope, and sculpts the student body as a key stakeholder in the RACGP’s decision making process.

To be available (but seriously… the best role you can apply for).

The Teddy Bear Hospital Convenor is responsible for organising the community run visits in Townsville. They will be responsible for the logistics, recruitment of volunteers, upkeep and ongoing enhancement of the program.

The JCUMSA research officer is a new position proposed to commence in 2020, and will form part of the academic team under the Academic VP. The position was designed in response to a number of issues.

  1. Increasingly students are asking how to get involved in research opportunities without a clear point of contact or known pathway for getting involved.
  2. Students enrolled in MBBS(Hons) have little representation on the JCUMSA committee reflective of their unique circumstances.
  3. Many students are taking part in research outside the supervision of the College of Medicine and Dentistry (CMD). This leads them to be exposed to dangers such as unethical research practices, manipulation into doing free research assistant work, publishing in predatory journals and receiving a lack of acknowledgement from supervisors.
  4. JCUMSA and the CMD would like to support students doing these projects and provide them the recognition they deserve.
  5. JCUMSA produces useful data which is not yet captured in a database that could be utilised for more thorough internal analyses and infographic production.

The role of the JCUMSA Research Officer will include the following:

  • Be the point of contact for any enquiring with JCUMSA about research opportunities
  • Helping to maintain a central register with the CMD of students undertaking research to better support them
  • Update the website in conjunction with the IT officer to clearly delineate a pathway into research for all students who are interested
  • Connect clinicians, academics and students to undertake research activities together through helping to organise research showcase and networking events
  • Produce and maintain a database for JCUMSA to assist in internal data analysis, decision making and infographic creation
  • Promote collaboration with JCUDSA and JCUPSA to better capture research activity across the college
  • Be JCUMSA’s representative at various research presentations and symposiums locally

A new role which started in 2021, there will be (1) Digital Branding Officer, who operates closely with the IT Officer and Executive Publications and Promotions Officer to help create, edit and promote media related to JCUMSA. This includes;

  • Social media advertising
  • Ensuring consistent branding across all forms of media
  • Website design including creation of new pages
  • Website ticketing
  • Emailing year groups with JCUMSA-related updates

It is highly recommended applicants have some understanding of WordPress, as well as Canva. Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite (especially Photoshop) is highly desirable. For more questions about the role, contact the JCUMSA Publications and Promotions Officer.

The Year Academic Representative will;

  • Pass on feedback regarding academic matters affecting their year to members of the CMD as well as JCUMSA
  • Work closely with the JCUMSA Academic VP to review course content and other academic matters, like OSCE nights, exam timetabling and in-class sessions

For questions, contact the JCUMSA Academic VP.

The Year Events representative;

  • Helps organise JCUMSA-related events by liaising closely with the JCUMSA Events VP
  • Work with the JCUMSA Sponsorship officer to help fund events
  • Passes on feedback from the year regarding events to improve for future year
  • Is expected to be available for the majority of JCUMSA events pertaining to that year group to help assist where necessary

For questions, contact the JCUMSA Events VP.

The Policy Officer role will be a new role for 2022 and will play an important part in regulating current, and proposing new internal policy for JCUMSA. This role will be under the AMSA Liaison Officer portfolio and the successful applicant can expect to be in communication with the AMSA team regarding both JCUMSA policy and AMSA policy. Responsibilities include creating, updating and reviewing internal policy and flagging concerns with JCUMSA executives when required. Prior policy writing experience may be beneficial but not required. This role is open to both clinical and pre-clinical students.

For more information please contact Tanish John ([email protected]).

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JCUMSA Subsidiary Organisation Committee Positions

Get involved with our subsidiary organisations; MINT, JCU INPsych and JCU OB/GYN! For more details on these position, please read the position descriptions provided below;

Nominations

Unless otherwise stated, nominations will be displayed on this page.

Please be sure to read our Election Rules, By-Laws and Position Descriptions (all found on our ‘Official Documents‘ page) relevant to the position you wish to apply for.

Nominations Form – JCUMSA Election for 1st Year Academic and Events Rep

Please complete the form below. You may apply for multiple positions by submitting this form multiple times. Please note that, as always, campaigning for votes is strictly prohibited. Any nominee found to be in breach of this policy will have their nomination(s) revoked. Please make sure you understand the electoral process. This form will open on the 11th of March and close on the 18th of March at 11:59 PM. Any questions can be directed to [email protected]