Here we will describe some of the things you need to know about the leaders in your National Member Organization (NMO). In IFMSA the main leaders are called the "Executive Board (EB)" and most countries call their leaders by the same name. At the international level, IFMSA has five Executive Board members:

• President
• Secretary-General
• Vice-President on Internal Affairs
• Vice-President for External Affairs
• Treasurer

For established organizations that are joining IFMSA you probably have a similar structure in your country already. In this case, then you probably don't need to change your structure just because you are joining IFMSA. If your membership structure is effective then don't change it! However, you may want to look at the explanations below, and maybe you might want to change your officers' jobs a little bit based on the "typical" NMO of IFMSA.

For brand new organizations that are forming so they can join IFMSA, we recommend that you try to shape your Executive Board so that it is as similar as possible to IFMSA at the international level and also to the other National Member Organizations of IFMSA. You absolutely must have a President and Treasurer; in practical terms almost every organization has a Secretary-General and at least one Vice-President, too. We recommend that you have the same as IFMSA - a President, a Secretary-General, two Vice-Presidents and a Treasurer. But you have to decide what structure will work best for you, and there will be some trial and error involved - you might have to change your structure over time. That's okay; most NMOs do that at some point!

Now we will explain how most IFMSA National Member Organizations organize the structure of their Executive Board. This will probably be most helpful for the new organizations that are forming to join IFMSA but it also might provide some suggestions for the already established organizations.

The Executive Board comes together as a group to make most of the important decisions for the organization, so you must work very hard to find good leaders for the Executive Board. Let's be honest, if your organization is to succeed it will be very dependent on whether your Executive Board does a good job. Work hard, and make sure you find good leaders.

In most of the National Member Organizations of IFMSA, the National President of the NMO has too much responsibility. We think that the President should only have these responsibilities:

• Chair and lead the National Executive Board, the Standing Committee National Officers, and the other National Officials;
• Represent the National Member Organization to IFMSA and to the other National Presidents, including: filling out all of the documentation that the NMO needs to remain as a full member with voting rights in IFMSA, studying the IFMSA Constitution and Bylaws, voting at the IFMSA General Assemblies for the NMO, and discussing IFMSA issues with the other NMO Presidents.
• Represent the NMO to the faculty advisors of the NMO, if the NMO has a group of faculty advisors or a Board of Trustees or a Supervising Council.
• Represent the NMO to the external organizations where the NMO establishes a relationship, including the media.
• There will be many other responsibilities that the President will probably do, but we recommend that you keep their job description as simple as you possibly can and delegate many responsibilities to the other officers. There is a tendency for the President to take on more and more work, but the best NMOs will have a good division of labour between many people.

In most of the National Member Organizations of IFMSA, the National Secretary-General of the NMO probably does not have enough responsibility. For IFMSA at the international level (and in the United Nations, etc.) the Secretary-General is extremely important and has a tremendous amount of responsibility. Basically, the Secretary-General is the principal day-to-day administrator of the organization. The Secretary-General should answer all of the questions of the medical students in that country (this responsibility should NOT go to the President who is already very busy), and the Secretary-General should maintain good contact with the members. Additionally the Secretary-General keeps the national Constitution and Bylaws updated and takes minutes at all of the meetings. Also the Secretary-General is the trusted first assistant of the President - the Secretary-General should help the President with any other responsibilities that the President asks. It's a very important position - if the National President is the most important job in an IFMSA NMO then the Secretary-General is a very close second.

The National Vice-President on Internal Affairs deals with the internal structure of the organization and tries to make it better. In some NMOs it will actually be the VP-Internal Affairs that answers all of the questions of the medical students in that country and not the Secretary-General. In many countries the VP-Internal Affairs will be the person that works with the Local Member Organizations and helps them improve their structure. Also in many countries the VP-Internal Affairs will help to organize the National meeting (although there is also a local committee that is involved with this). Probably the VP-Internal Affairs should really be focused on getting students actively involved in IFMSA and in the NMO. This job description can be somewhat flexible; each country should take these suggestions and then make good decisions based on their situation.

The National Vice-President for External Affairs typically deals with a few issues. Every NMO will probably make contact with external organizations, and the VP-External Affairs organizes this and represents the NMO to these organizations along with the President. Every NMO will need funding, and the VP-External Affairs typically recruits new sponsors and develops relationships with them. Marketing and public relations are important functions also and the VP-External Affairs will help make contact with deans of medical students, telling them about IFMSA and getting them excited about our group, while also reaching all of the medical students in the country that don't know about IFMSA and getting them involved.

The National Treasurer deals with all of the financial and accounting issues of the organization. They also develop the budget and usually they implement fundraising strategies.

These job descriptions are suggestions and they are very flexible; each country should take these suggestions and then make good decisions based on their situation.