Notre Dame medicine students compete for Vampire Cup

Medicine students from The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle and Sydney campuses are currently competing in the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) hotly contested annual Blood Drive competition, the Vampire Cup. The Vampire Cup is the national blood drive run by AMSA in conjunction with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and encourages medical students from the 19 medical schools across the country to save a life through blood donation. The University with the highest number of students donating is awarded the Vampire Cup. Fremantle medical student and AMSA representative, Ms Chantelle Ruoss, said that it is a fantastic opportunity for Notre Dame medical students to participate together in a large-scale community health initiative. “It fosters University pride and a bit of good old-fashioned rivalry,” said Ms Ruoss. “This has been a popular event at Notre Dame, with the Fremantle Campus actually taking home the Vampire Cup a few years ago. With a few years grace, we are hoping for a similar result as everyone gears up to donate both whole blood and plasma throughout August,” she said. “Notre Dame medical students are aware of the constant need for blood donations and many are already regular donors. AMSA Vampire Cup is a great incentive for students to continue to donate, as well as encourage those that have not yet donated to get on board such a great cause. They just need to visit their local Blood Donor Centre before August 31, quote a code which is unique to their university, and then donate!” In addition to donating blood, the Sydney medicine students are coordinating a ‘bone marrow donation awareness program’. This is the first time that a project of this kind has been conducted in Australia and is designed to encourage students to sign up to the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Media contact: Rebecca Cassidy 08 9433 0611, 0408 959 13