ASIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS'
ASSOCIATION HONG KONG
香港亞洲醫學生學生會
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Academic
Research
Academic Department (ACAD)
OUR VISION
The Academic Department of AMSAHK follows the structure of the Asian Medical Students' Association International (AMSA-I). Our department is first and foremost committed to the fostering of interest and ability in academic research within medicine. This vision is enacted on two scopes.
Firstly, the Academic department seeks to raise awareness of the possibilities of participation in academic research among the medical student communities of Hong Kong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We also hope to increase interest, familiarity, and ability in the process of research, as this skill we believe to be necessary both to education in medical school, as well as development further on in various medical careers.
The second, focused scope lies within AMSAHK; our department seeks to hone our own capability in writing and presenting research, and to use these skills to increase the reputation of Hong Kong’s research among medical students internationally through participation in academic conferences.
Projects
Conferences
The Asian Medical Student Association, of which AMSAHK is a chapter, hosts two conferences yearly, the EAMSC and the AMSC, both of which combine cultural, academic, and educational exchange. The Academic department participates in both conferences, though we take different roles in each one.
The East Asian Medical Students' Conference (EAMSC) is an annual event hosted by cities across Asia, bringing together medical students from the region to discuss variant health issues. The Asian Medical Students Conference (AMSC) is held in the summer period. The conference is similar to the EAMSC but on a larger scale, with more than 20 Asian-Pacific chapters. The competitions follow a different theme every year, and as AMSAHK our projects target issues relevant to Hong Kong, so that we gain a better understanding of the state of medical problems in Hong Kong. By participating in these competitions, we raise the reputation of Hong Kong as a research hub internationally, as well as learning about situations and perspectives in research from other countries.
Our work has been recognised in most, if not all, of the EAMSCs since 2011. We are grateful for the opportunity to present our findings to panels of professors and audience of delegates from all over Asia every year, as well as to receive awards for that.
2025 AMSC Academic Competition
Scientific paper: “Impact of Predictors on the Outcome of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: An Individual Participant Data Review.” (finalist)
AMSC was hosted in Bangkok, Thailand, under the theme Urban Health, addressing critical 21st-century challenges such as environmental medicine, lifestyle medicine, urban addiction, and mental health among city dwellers.
As part of the academic competitions, our team was selected as a finalist in the scientific paper category. Over a three-month period, we collaborated closely with Professor Samuel Wong from The Chinese University of Hong Kong to develop an abstract titled “Impact of Predictors on the Outcome of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: An Individual Participant Data Review.” Using statistical analysis tools such as R Studio, we investigated the influence of various predictors on the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in alleviating psychological symptoms. Our findings highlight key predictors of MBI response, paving the way for personalized treatment approaches tailored to specific patient subgroups.
AMSAHK Academic Research Symposium (AARS)
The AARS was divided into 2 events: a ‘Pre-Symposium Workshop’ and a ‘Symposium’, both held in person at the HKU medical campus. The pre-symposium workshop focuses on introducing students to medical research with talks and workshops by esteemed professors. Students had the chance to critique and analyze sample scientific papers using the CODE-HER criteria, helping them understand the qualities that characterize a strong paper. Aside from the guest presentations, the workshop also included an introductory briefing to the audience on the roles and visions of AMSAHK and ACAD, and a Q&A session during breaks and at the end of the guest presentations. Students are then divided into groups of four and they will work amongst themselves to create a poster abstract, which will then be presented at the symposium. This provides an opportunity for students to apply and practice the skills they learned from the pre-symposium workshop and receive tangible feedback from professors.
For the Symposium, our theme was Climate change, Global warming, and Human Health. Each group gave a 7 minute presentation on their poster abstract, followed by a 3 minute Q&A from the panel of judges. There were a total of 14 groups, consisting of approximately 4 students in each group.
We invited 3 professors and doctors from both HKU and CUHK to be our esteemed judges: Professor Kendrick Shih (HKU), Dr Ann Lau (CUHK), and Professor Paul Lee (HKU). With strong research backgrounds and excellence in teaching, the judges provided valuable feedback and constructive criticism to the participants after their presentations.
There were 2 award categories: Best Poster Award and Best Presentation Award. A clear and concise judging criteria was also created and shared with the participants to give them an idea of the areas they should focus on. This included the structural organization of the poster, the experimental design quality of results, etc.
2025 EAMSC Academic Competition
Scientific paper: Impacts of Extreme Heat on Accident & Emergency Attendances in Hong Kong: A Territory-wide Retrospective Cohort Study.” (finalist)
We collaborated with Dr. Abraham Wai from the Department of Emergency Medicine (HKU) on a scientific paper project related to the theme of Climate Change, Global Warming, and Human Health. The project was titled Impacts of Extreme Heat on Accident & Emergency Attendances in Hong Kong: A Territory-wide Retrospective Cohort Study.” We collected data from the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS) and conducted statistical analyses using R Studio. The final results were reported in the abstracts submitted to academic competitions of the East Asian Medical Students’ Conference 2025 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Our project made it to the final round of academic competitions at EAMSC in Egypt. Our department presented our scientific paper to the judges on the second day of the conference.