The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), a national organization to address the common needs and tremendous financial and public policy pressures faced by academic medical institutions throughout the country, has begun the implementation of a national communications campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of the contributions of medical schools and teaching hospitals.

The plan’s objectives and messages are founded on public opinion research and extensive input from many sectors of the AAMC constituency. As the plan’s implementation unfolds, the association on the national level and MUSC with the other AAMC member institutions will coordinate their local activities to achieve their one overarching objective: to educate key audiences about the value of medical schools and teaching hospitals, and the financial challenges these institutions face in the highly competitive health care market.

On a national level, the AAMC will convey these messages, initially, by placing the campaign’s print ads in several publications read by federal policy makers, including in the Washington Post, and through such media relations activities as editorial boards and reporter briefings.

At the institutional level, the AAMC is encouraging MUSC and the association’s other member institutions to begin informing faculty, trustees, staff and students about the initiative.

In the upcoming weeks, the AAMC will be distributing additional materials and laying out strategies to assist MUSC Public Relations in the effort.

“Establishing a foundation of understanding for the campaign among the faculty and staff of AAMC institutions, and engendering support for it, is an important first step in this effort,” states a memorandum from Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., AAMC president. “As internal understanding is established, the AAMC also will assist member institutions in expanding their participation in the campaign to educate other important audiences in their community, including state legislators, media, business leaders and community physicians.”

In the coming months, MUSC will receive installments of talking points, fact sheets, brochures and other materials that are designed to be helpful in informing key external audiences. AAMC’s current strategy calls for sustaining its communications campaign for a year or two. As the campaign evolves, the AAMC will continually monitor its impact, both among federal legislators and among the association’s constituents and their key internal and external audiences.

The association is calling it a “dynamic” campaign, meaning that as the campaign matures, policy opportunities will arise that the AAMC (and MUSC, locally) must be alert to address.

“Our goal,” Cohen continues, “will be to significantly increase the measurable awareness of and appreciation for academic medicine, and to have developed a strong cadre of influential supporters of medical schools and teaching hospitals.”