MAS has sponsored the 2022 New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA) Conference, which was held from June 10 to June 12 at the Christchurch Town Hall.

The insurer has been sponsoring the annual conference for more than 10 years, and is also a welfare sponsor of the NZMSA, supporting a range of welfare-related events run by the organisation.

“We are proud to be supporting those that will one day play a key role in improving the health of our whanau and communities,” MAS said.

Two of the conference’s organisers, Michael Chim and Sarina Towers, said that organising a major event during a pandemic was challenging but the communication and problem-solving experience it gave them was irreplaceable. 

“The COVID-19 situation was honestly frightening,” Chim said. “A lot was up in the air, and we had contingency plans for what would happen if there was a change in lockdown or traffic light levels. Around April or May, it started to look like we could go ahead, and we took a massive risk and just ran for it.”

The conference’s theme was “Evolve”, and according to Towers, the theme challenged attendees to envision how they would like to see healthcare evolve.

Health Minister Andrew Little was among the keynote speakers, and he spoke about how the health system is evolving and why New Zealanders need to change the health system to better suit their communities and population.

“It was really clear that, after two years of COVID, everyone was feeling fatigued and burned out,” Towers said. “We wanted to focus on reinvigorating students and reigniting the passion they have for healthcare.”