Plan of Action for Candidate for VPi - MMSA

MICHAELA ZAMMIT CANDIDATE VICE FOR

FOR

PRESIDENT INTERNAL

AFFAIRS 2021/2022

Motivational Letter Dear members, It is with great responsibility that I present my candidature for the role of Vice President for Internal Affairs within the Malta Medical Students' Association for the term 2021-2022.

Since my first year as a medical student, MMSA has kept growing and pushing its limits. This is all thanks to our members, and our dedicated teams. When I started my university experience, I was very intrigued by MMSA and had this urge to get involved but I didn't know where to start.

My first step involved taking part in as many Standing Committees as possible to see which one I was most inclined to, and that is where my passion for SCORA (Standing Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) began. My second year involved me fulfilling my roles as Freshers' Week Coordinator and SCORA Assistant, pushing me to contest for SCORA officer, for which I was elected.

This past year was definitely a hectic one, a new role during a pandemic, not knowing where to go from there, doubtful if all of your original plans will even take place. Nevertheless, MMSA managed to execute events effortlessly with help from the dedication of our teams, our members, and support from the Executive Board and Board of Directors throughout.

Thanks to my role as SCORA Officer I have gotten the opportunity to truly understand the inner workings of MMSA. I have gotten the opportunity to work hand in hand with the Executive Board, understanding their level of responsibility and the crucial role they play in the functioning of our organisation.

Motivational Letter This experience, as well as my dedication and passion for this organisation, are the main reasons as to why I would like to go forward and join the Executive Board for the upcoming term. I would like to continue building on what has been laid for us during this term, a great foundation to strengthen our internal workings. I would like to strive towards gathering feedback from our members, giving them the chance to express their opinions which is of high value to our organisation.

If I would be given the opportunity to take on this new role, I will give my utmost to ensure that the student is kept our priority and that MMSA will move forward, stronger than ever. I will put in all my efforts to ensure I live up to all that has been written in this plan of action, keeping our foundations strong.

Yours truly, Michaela Zammit

My Aims...

The VPi office plays a crucial role in linking the Board of Directors with the student body. My aim is to guide the board to more efficient and effective event planning, which can be done through clear and thorough feedback collection and impact assessment.

Some of my aims are as follows: 1. Member Recognition: This is done through compilation of the Room Allocation Report, keeping members, coordinators and assistants our priority and maintaining IFMSA recognition, 2. Calendar, 3. Moving forward with our method of impact assessment, 4. Feedback collection, 5. Advocacy and Transparency, 6. Encouraging collaboration within the Board of Directors, 7. Increasing member engagement and encouraging participation.

Plan of Action

Impact Assessment

Calendar

VPi Office Feedback

SC Development Room Allocation Report

And much more...

Member Recognition Room Allocation Report Thanks to the hard work of each and every one of our MMSA members, MMSA has placed first for the past nine years in the Room Allocation Report. This report is a compilation of all the events that occur throughout the year, in our case comprising a very long report. After forming part of the small working group during my term as SCORA officer, I would aim to create, once again, a small working group of around 4 individuals in order to complete and compile this report efficiently. In this way the report will be finished earlier allowing for more time for fine-tuning before the deadline.

Following in the footsteps of the current Vice President for Internal Affairs, I would enforce strict deadlines for event report submissions with a spreadsheet on all events taking place and which reports are to be submitted, this will be done in liaison with all SC heads. Such a spreadsheet will include all details of such events such as; event code, date of event, deadline of event report submission and if applicable a link to the previous years event report. This sheet should be shared with all members of the Board so that they too can keep organised when it comes to event report submission.

It is encouraged that all event reports are reviewed by the individual/s in charge of the event and by the VPi themselves. This will ensure that the event report is well written to further improve RAR compilation efficiency. I would also like to push for SC heads to organise meetings with their teams on how to write an event report, as SCORA Officer I found that this initiative was very useful within my team.

Member Recognition Members, Assistants, Coordinators and Board Members All the work achieved as an organisation would not be possible without the dedication and hard work of our members, assistants, coordinators and board members. Recognition of our members should always be a priority, and this can be done by awarding our members with certificates after events, and hosting events such as our 'Appreciation Night' to ensure that our members feel rewarded for the contribution they have made to the organisation.

IFMSA Recognition In collaboration with the VPe office, I would aim to push for Standing committees to enrol an event of their choice to IFMSA. This is quite a long process but would be of benefit to MMSA, as our events would be recognised on an international level and would pave way for such events to be submitted for Rex Crossley awards and Activities Fair. In some cases, in other to be identified as being an active standing committee, activity enrolment is essential therefore it would be of benefit to move forward with this initiative. If elected, I will push for international recognition for MMSA increasing our exposure and boosting our reputation as an organisation.

Calendar and Event Planning One of the main responsibilities of the VPi office is to support each Board member in the planning and management of their events.

Organisation of the calendar plays an essential role. I would aim to organise the calendar at the very start of the term as a team. After discussing with each committee separately what events they have planned for the term, organisation of the calendar would be done as a Board to ensure no clashes, or if any such will be dealt with as a team, rather than individuals. This will give us a better idea of the timeline of events for the rest of the year.

Event Planning Establishing goals for our events is crucial, and this should be done in the planning process. I would encourage that a list of goals are made for each campaign in order to ensure event planning is done efficiently. It is also important to disseminate the workload amongst the coordinators within a team, this can be done by creating to-do lists for that specific team in order to keep on track with the progress of event planning. This can be done by using Trello, I have used this with my team as well as within the Board.

It is important to keep events relevant, effective and beneficial. It is also important to ask yourself whether the timing and date of the event will affect the turnout. These are all factors that I would discuss with the team in order to amplify our event engagement and expand our audience further. Relevancy is key when it comes to our events, we should not be afraid to steer away from tradition in order to boost our engagement and tackle hot topics at that moment in time.

Calendar and Event Planning It would also be beneficial if SC heads would go through event reports and evaluation reports of the previous year. In this way we can avoid repetition of mistakes and keep improving our events year after year. This should be done at the start of the term before the implementation of plans have begun.

If I were to be elected as VPi, I would ensure clear and regular communication with all the teams in MMSA. Checking up on our SC heads is important, not only to make sure they feel supported throughout their role but also to ensure that plans are running smoothly. In this way I can also offer my assistance to SC heads. Given that we are still living through a pandemic, adaptability is important. Through my experience as SCORA officer, I can ensure that I support the future board of directors, and help them, throughout the implementation of their events. Should any issues arise when it comes to the event happening or not due to limitations caused by the pandemic, I will be there to support our team and lead them in the right direction to adapt such events to fit the situation we are living through.

We must also keep in mind, quality over quantity. We should assess the impact each and every event of ours has, and this will be our measurement of success throughout the term.

With regards to event scheduling, the one event per day method we used this past term should be kept. In some instances, more than one event would be scheduled in the day, so it is important to take this on a case by case basis, e.g. workshops/peer ed sessions that have a small target audience and would involve a small amount of MMSA members. This occurred due to the time constraints found within the calendar.

Calendar and Event Planning Social Media Calendar Throughout this pandemic, social media has proven to be an essential tool that can be used to our advantage in our campaigns. Preferably social media posts with regarding our Facebook pages should be one per day, in order to direct more attention to that post. That being said this should also be done on a case by case basis. Online giveaways and quizzes through our Instagram page have proven to increase member engagement and indeed catch the eyes of many and so this should be pushed for within our Team especially during big campaigns.

All this should be done in liaison with the PRO for smooth running of media development and making sure time is given to Media coordinators when creating content. This would ensure that media quality is maximal and aligns with dates set for publishing in our calendar.

MMSA Office Thanks to the efforts of previous MMSA Board of Directors, the MMSA office has been very well organised and is following a very efficient inventory system.

During my term I would like to ensure upkeep of the office, and discuss with the Board of Director to review the inventory of their committee to keep everything in check. I would like to keep the Sign in and Sign out sheet that is currently present in the MMSA Officer. This can be couple with an Inventory Spreadsheet which would be updated every so often so that the VPi Office would be aware of what we have available to us in our office.

Impact Assessment What is an impact assessment?

In simple terms, this is a measure that our organisation can use to determine what effect we are having through our events.

During my term as SCORA officer, we used a system of pre- and postevaluation forms. In these forms we would ask the same or similar questions and we would analyse any changes in the answers prior to an event and after an event. This would give us an idea on the 'difference' we made through our events.

I would aim to keep this system as it has proven to be very beneficial for us to create a proper evaluation of the benefit of our events. I would work with my team to create a standardised form for impact assessment, preand post-evaluation forms, after discussion with the members of the board in other to aim for standardisation in our evaluation. That being said, each standing committee would tailor such evaluation forms to the needs of their events as they see best with guidance from the VPi office.

This would be done at the start of my term in order to ensure that impact assessment is done from the beginning of event implementation.

Impact assessment can be taken from 3 different sources; workshops/seminars, peer education sessions and from the public.

Feedback Collection Feedback is an essential part of the process of all events that occur in MMSA. This allows us to improve all the work we produce as a Board, and as a team. This feedback is a form of communication between the Board and our members, and especially in some cases the public.

Therefore it is important to collect such information to allow us to deliver greater quality of events again and again.

Feedback from Medical Students This form of feedback is essential for improvement in our events as MMSA. MMSA is the voice for our students so it is important that we listen to what students like, and do not like, in our events, peer education sessions, workshops etc. allowing us to improve them and move forward.

The methods of collection I would propose is of two types; the Feedback forum, and Quarterly feedback through google form. If I were to be elected I would like to host regular fora for feedback collection on relevant issues that arise within the year. This form of feedback would be informal, but will give students the opportunity to voice any concerns they may have about the workings of MMSA or about any events we are organising. I would reduce the number of online sessions for feedback collection, as this tends to get repetitive and this could alternate with forms posted in active members. Furthermore, I would keep the system of quarterly feedback about the Board of Directors and issues that are pertinent at the time, this gives us a great idea on what members are thinking on a regular basis and how this is changing throughout the term.

All feedback in the system of forms and informal collection will remain anonymous in official documentation.

Feedback Collection Feedback from the Board of Directors This form of feedback is important to improve the quality of all our events, this can be done through meetings with board members if needs be but can also be done informally with regular check ups. In the past term informal communication was used in order to check up on each Standing Committee Head regularly and this proved to be an efficient and clear method of communication. Getting input from all the Board of Directors is beneficial to each committee, gaining insight into what may have been improved in one SC can boost another.

Feedback from the public During public events, feedback collection is also very possible. Through online events feedback forms can be sent via email for attendees to fill out, and for in person events online forms can be scanned with a QR code for example on stands at our events for any passerby or attendee to fill out. Feedback collection from the public may help up improve out engagement and tailor our events to fit the target audience more efficiently.

Advocacy and Transparency If I were to be elected as VPi, I would like to advocate for current issues that will be occurring throughout the term. If there are particular causes that are relevant to our organisation, we should not be afraid to stand up for them. This does not mean taking a stance on any particular subjects but merely discussing current issues within our student body.

Being transparent with our members is an essential part of our work. This year we have made a great step forward in keeping our students updated regularly. I would like to keep this system of regular updates with our members as it keeps them in the loop of what is going on within the MMSA Executive.

With regards to our application process, I would like to keep the system of making applications more specific to their role. This will keep applicants a clearer idea of what they should note down in their application as well as a clearer idea of what is expected of them when applying for this role. Before the call is released I would set a meeting with each Officer-elect to discuss how they will be setting up their teams, basing the number of coordinators on the workload of the previous year and how much work we are expecting in the coming year.

BD Collaboration If I were to be elected as VPi, I would like to encourage further collaboration within the Board of Directors itself...what do I mean by this? Many areas in most of the Standing Committees overlap. Taking SCORA and SCORP as an example where issues such as Gender based violence fall under both standing committees, or SCOPET, SCORA, SCORP and even SCOPH can collaborate in educational session training, debate training etc.

When Standing committees collaborate together they not only increase outreach as you are targeting many different areas in one event, but you may also increase event quality as more individuals are working towards the same goal, whilst simultaneously refining that goal. Increasing internal collaborations within MMSA further strengthens our position as one team, ultimately working towards that one goal and improving event impact.

Engagement and Participation At the start of the term I would like to host, once again, the 'Discover MMSA' event. This event gives first years a chance to not only get to know MMSA, but also to get to know each other. As a first year I had attended this event, which took the form of a treasure hunt, and was a great opportunity for me to not only get to know my peers but also get to know what MMSA was all about. This event should be hosted at the start of the scholastic year and can take the form of a treasure hunt, escape room or even murder mystery as it did this term. The event will be tailored to the COVID-19 restrictions at that point in time to make sure all our members are kept safe.

Health Fest

Health fest is another opportunity for us to engage our members. During this event each standing committee is given the opportunity to showcase their work that has been done during the year. This term, the health fest theme and goal may revolve around the theme MMSA will take for the upcoming term. This will give our standing committees the opportunity to conclude the work they've done that has been dedicated to this theme, but that being said such a matter will be discussed with the Board of Directors before being finalised. We could also contact externals, such as the Health promotion and Disease prevention Directorate, to collaborate with us on this event, giving us a greater outreach as well as combined goals for a greater outcome.

The Team

1 VPi Assistant 2 Feedback Coordinators 1 Healthfest Coordinator Small Working Group of 3-4 individuals for RAR

Concluding Remarks I would like to thank all MMSA members, and the current Board of Directors for giving me this opportunity. If I were to be elected I would try my utmost to achieve all that I have listed in my plan of action, and keep on building on the strong foundations that are being left behind. It would be a great opportunity to be able to represent all MMSA members once more, but this time round as the Vice President for Internal Affairs.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my Plan of Action. Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions either on Facebook as Mick Zammit or via email at mickyzammit2000@gmail.com.

Past experience

World Aids Day 2018

World Diabetes Day 2018

SCOME - First Aid by the Beach

World Aids Day 2018

Past experience

Leader at World Diabetes Day 2019

Parliamentary discussion on prostitution

World Aids Day as SCORA Assistant

Science in the City Workshop

Freshers' Week Coordinator

Past experience

MD1 Buddy

Phlebotomy Workshop SCOME

Defending Your Rights Workshop SCORP

LGBTIQ+ Lockdown as SCORA Assistant

Medicolegal conference panel discussion participant

Past experience What have I organised as SCORA Officer?

Peer Education Sessions with my Peer Ed Team LGBTQIA+ Lockdown Movember Webinar Pink October Social Media Campaign Social media campaigns on Sexual Assault and PCOS Sexual Health Campaign Abortion Debate MAMA Campaign - MATERNA Magazine Medicolegal Conference w/ SCORP Aware in Care w/ SCORP Completion of Birds and the Bees powerpoint for Peer Ed. What have I taken part in?

Murder Mystery event - Discover MMSA Beach clean up with SCORP Freshers Week Video Lovin Malta Interview Two Online General Assemblies Tabib.mt Live Small Working Group for RAR compilation

LGBTQIA+ Lockdown as SCORA Officer

Freshers' Week Video

Lovin Malta Interview

SCORP Clean up

Sexual Health Campaign as SCORA Officer

Discover MMSA

Birds and the Bees Session completion