The challenge of Public Relations for AMSA is essentially the same challenge faced by every street corner magician, directing the eyes of the public where we want, focused on what we want, precisely when we want.

For AMSA to recognise the lobbying potential we have as a key stakeholder at the junction point of the healthcare and education sectors we have to be aware of the enormous role of public opinion as the basic building block of political will. The Australian media context of the 21st century is a fearsomely chimeric mix of old and new media. To harness this we must compete in a market saturated with news to build our brand as a recognised voice the public trusts, politicians listen to and journalists publish. In the high stakes year that will be 2010, in which the medical student tsunami-wave begins to break, task substitution continues to accelerate and AMSA’s voice will be more important than ever for medical students, this is not a game we can afford to lose.

The role of AMSA’s public relations bureau is threefold, firstly building, secondly protecting and thirdly utilising our brand as the peak body representing medical students.

Firstly building our brand. All of AMSA’s messages can and should carry weight. That is, the weight of the message, which should be interesting, relevant and well-presented, as well as the weight of AMSA as a respected voice behind it. This will require a continuous (but opportunistic and well-planned) media presence to be recognised as a reasonable and well informed voice on matters of medical education and others, both by the media and the public. I aim to solidify existing relationships with medical media outlets and strengthen relationships with national AMA offices. Additionally, by working closely with the AMA PR team I hope to use their skills and knowledge to improve the effectiveness and function of AMSA media and journalism.

Secondly protecting our brand. Luckily, medical students are a fairly respected, apolitical and reasonable lot, but protecting the status and image of AMSA and medical students in general is something that requires a professional outlook and perspective. Knowing which battles to fight and which to leave alone keeps us relevant and maintaining party political neutrality is also key to not being shut out of debates. Proper risk-management at our events, particularly Convention, will ensure we don’t get media coverage where it isn’t desirable.

Thirdly is utilising our brand. Our message is very much a case of ‘it’s not how big it is, it’s how you use it’, and while AMSA’s voice is already respected by many media outlets, governments and professional organisations, we need to use this clout to achieve tangible advances in the big issues like international students, internships and the like.

For an organisation like AMSA Public Relations is like carbohydrate metabolism. Vital for getting done what needs to be, but do it wrong and it will mess you up. These three tasks will not be easy. Magicians take years to train and indeed some never make it at all. But with the benefit of my background with a variety of non-governmental organisations, MedSoc and other groups, the Federal and NSW AMA’s support, a keen executive team and the retention of last year’s PR officer as VPE this bid team is in the best position possible to make our voice heard, felt and effective to further AMSA’s message and objectives.