Watch: ‘Empowered Members And Democratisation’ – Patrick Sammut’s Vision For MAM Presidency
Democratising communication, reforming the statute and empowering union members are just some of MAM President Patrick Sammut’s goals for his term.
Lovin Malta sat down with Sammut shortly after his election to discuss his priorities for making the Medical Association of Malta as efficient as possible.
“We need to empower through communication by making it democratic and modern. By improving the infrastructure we’ll have a well-oiled machine to work efficiently and deal with the real stuff. And I’m working on that, we’re going to have a very well-oiled machine,” Sammut assured.
He explained that the MAM statute has remained unchanged for around 20 years, and he is working on modernising and democratising it. For example, it currently sets no term limits for council members and includes no safeguards against conflicts of interest for those in key leadership roles.
Theoretically, Sammut explained, the president of the MAM can also serve as chair of the Foundation Programme or head a department. “For democracy to prevail, we need to minimise conflicts of interest,” he said.
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The union is also looking to modernise its electoral system, which still relies on paper ballots. This makes elections complicated and vote counting “tedious and outdated”.
In the last election, Sammut recalled having to collect physical ballots from PO boxes at the University. With around 900 votes cast, the boxes quickly filled up, requiring daily collection to avoid ballots being left unsubmitted due to lack of space.
Internal workflows and communication are also set for an upgrade, with Sammut emphasising a drive to tap into the diverse skills and talents of union members to boost overall efficiency.
“I work in a profession full of highly committed and extremely intelligent people,” he said. “We’re reaching out to involve them more actively. In fact, we’re forming subcommittees to take on different roles.”
Admitting he’s a “dinosaur” when it comes to IT, Sammut proudly shared the punny name of the union’s tech committee: MAM-ory Upgrades.
“I see my role, and that of the senior council members, as empowering the talent we have, bringing everyone together, and ensuring we’re moving in the same direction. If we’re all pulling different ways, we’ll never get where we want to go.”
He added that this kind of collaboration is crucial, especially given the weight of the union’s decisions.
“Every decision we take has an impact on patients. So when we work to improve conditions for doctors, we always have to keep patient safety at the forefront.”
What are your thoughts on these upgrades?
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