Celebrating 1 Year of UJSIGN!

By UJSIGN – Published on January 19th 2025

It has been a little more than a year since UJSIGN was founded, and it was an eventful time of hard teamwork, community-building, and success. The UJSIGN team grew from 26 student members at the beginning to around 100 members, and the advisory board saw many great additions of both local physicians like Dr. Tareq Kanaan and Dr. Amal Abu Libdeh and international doctors like Dr. Tarif Bakdash and Dr. Mohammad Aburub. To celebrate their anniversary, the group rebranded from “Neurology Interest Group” to “Neuroscience Interest Group” to be more transparent and inclusive about their included neurology, neurosurgery, and neuropsychiatry specialties.

On the research and education side, they held several journal clubs over the year attended by students, residents, and guest doctors. They have also published the first edition of their Neurological Physical Exam Dossier for the OSCEs with an accompanying training course. Switching to the activities, Dr. Tala Rawashdeh, an esteemed and popular NS resident at JUH, held a session titled “Women in Neurosurgery” to talk about her life experience and help guide any female students aspiring to enter neurosurgery. Arguably the most fun activity of all was the annual icebreaker event to welcome all the new members. The old and new members enjoyed an afternoon of coffee, trivia, and heated mini-games!

Their biggest achievement yet belongs to their community outreach branch. In collaboration with the Pediatrics Interest Group and JoRunners, they were able to organize a charity run for Gazan Children being treated for Cancer at KHCC and collected the second-highest single donation. UJSIGN also launched its continuous Stroke Initiative to combat stroke in Jordan and improve care. Their efforts included awareness building among the general public, healthcare workers, and students. They held a booth at JUH hospital and a booth at a free medical day with Universal Medicine, garnering a reach of approx. 500 people. For those in the healthcare field, they held a webinar with esteemed and renowned interventional neurologist Dr Mohammad ElGhanem, the sitting director of neurovascular surgery at HCA Northwest in Houston Texas.

UJSIGN is fulfilling its goal of a friendly community of students with the same goal and passion for neuroscience and is dedicated to creating a meaningful impact in the world!