THE Talk is an educational project about sexual and reproductive health launched by CroMSIC (Croatian Medical Students’ International Committee) with the assistance from the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ).
It refers to some of the topics that parents and teachers should traditionally „go through“ with teenagers and adolescents, which is why we named it like this. We believe that it is necessary to educate young population about all the ways of protecting sexual health, but also about the biology of our reproductive system, its structure, protection and offspring planning. The key to a complete picture of human sexuality and reproductive power is conversation – THE conversation! We hope that this project will bring young people closer to the most important elements of protecting themselves first and then the others.
We named the education project THE Talk, which materials are refined in collaboration with the HZJZ, and we have official permission from the Ministry of Health. As future physicians, we feel a great deal of social responsibility on all health topics and do everything in the power of a student volunteer organization to improve the knowledge and health of our fellow citizens.
Who will benefit most from a project like this?
Project THE Talk is designed to educate a vulnerable population of teenagers and adolescents, from 14 to 24 years of age, who are in the process of their first experiences of sexual intercourse and the process of developing into a complete person. Of course, anyone who does not feel educated enough about this topic is more than welcome!
You know that our association has four subsidiaries: Rijeka, Split, Zagreb and Osijek. These are the four cities where this training is conducted. Together we are stronger and louder, therefore, we equalized high school education on sexual and reproductive health in all four cities, dividing it into two presentations – Sexually Transmitted Infections – Risks and Protection and Reproductive Health (human development, contraception, and HPV). It is conducted in secondary schools in duration of 45 minutes – the first presentation, Reproductive Health, is recommended to the first year high school students, whereas the second one, Sexually Transmitted Infections – Risks and Protection, is recommended to the second graders in high school. *Presenting educational resources this way is a well-intentioned tip that should not be strictly adhered to if there are no possibilities to carry out education in an identical manner. Student education is conducted in a somewhat more relaxed manner and involves more practical knowledge other than theoretical background. We truly hope to expand and popularize this project so that we can reach as many young people as possible.
We reach the schools through cooperation with school’s physicians, other educational organizations in the city, or through simple contact with school’s teachers. We must emphasize the fact that teachers support this action and find it very useful. Please note that the quality of knowledge in this field is very low, even in the older students’ population. Our mission is to bring everyone closer to this inevitable topic that is part of everyone’s life, one way or another. We cooperate with professors, doctors and scientists in many specialties of medicine, because we are in daily contact with them as medical students, and therefore we are able to produce high quality materials based on accurate data.
Do you want to become our volunteer?
Send your application to thetalk.zagreb@cromsic.hr, thetalk.rijeka@cromsic.hr, thetalk.osijek@cromsic.hr or lora.split@cromsic.hr
The way we have invited and educated volunteers so far (and tend to do so in the future):
Each CroMSIC member uses an application that announces future events, that is, actions that will be organized by each committee. Students of medical faculties and members of our association follow the events and apply within the given deadline. This is followed by a personal agreement or agreement through social networks on the details of meeting and performing activities. The first meeting, for the purpose of educating educators, is in the classrooms of medical faculties. Local coordinator and their assistants, present their presentations and descriptions of activities to the applied volunteers, and instruct them on what is the purpose of the training and on the optimal way of doing it. Warning about time limitation is given and students who have not yet studied some of the topics of educational programme in their classes are referred to in a proper way. Then, in agreement with the school teachers / school physicians /other local educational associations, a plan to go to schools is created. How many schools can be visited depends on the number of volunteers. Students receive exchange points for each class and gain new experience. Many medical students have this conscience of educating the general public about the latest professional medical knowledge and this is one of the reasons why we have existed for many years as an organization.
Vision of the project
to continue our existing efforts
procurement of educational aids (anatomical dolls, posters, examples of condoms and contraceptive pills, examples of intrauterune devices)
gifts for participants
popularization of the project through targeted advertisements on social networks, contact with media, sets of presentations
going to other places
creating information leaflets on various important topics in this field
The importance of a project like this
We will list some basic facts that make it extremely important for such a project to be implemented. Did you know that mucosa of young people is more susceptible to STDs than mucosa of a fully developed human? The importance of education lies precisely in recognizing the risky behaviors and possible symptoms of STDs or possible pregnancy and responding properly and in a timely manner to the situation, protecting your health and that of your partner. It is also clear that the health of our reproductive system is crucial for our fertility and for production of healthy and functional offspring. Therefore, it is important that we behave responsibly towards ourselves and others from the early days. It is important to know the basic structure of our reproductive system, the ways in which unwanted pregnancy can be prevented, and the consequences of having a single sexual intercourse besides pregnancy. In 70% of cases, sexually transmitted diseases do not produce symptoms! This means that person can spread the infection without being aware of it. This education aims to educate you to the level of recognizing risky behavior and some general and common symptoms of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, and to learn the principles of protection against them – the principles of sexually responsible behaviour. This will help prevent unwanted pregnancies and preserve your reproductive system. We emphasize that one unprotected sex is enough to acquire a particular disease. Some of these diseases are deadly, such as HIV, some are painful and unpleasant, some result in infertility. It is crucial for young people to know that girls should visit a gynecologist before their first sexual intercourse. The importance and proper use of condoms must also be made clear to all.
It is not our goal to intimidate someone, our goal is to present sexual intercourse as something normal that happens between people, but that everyone is held accountable for this.
Try the useful website and application Spolno zdravlje of Croatian Institute of Public Health for a detailed description of certain diseases and much more that may interest you in this field.
This is our contact mail: thetalk@cromsic.hr if you need some advice or specific information. If you need advice or specific information, feel free to ask us on our Instagram profile @thetalk.scora
Thank you for your time and attention!
THE Talk team
