Leading through empowerment.
Medical
Students'
council
of
victoria (MSCV)
The Medical Students' Council of Victoria is the peak representative body of all 4000+ Victorian medical students. As a councillor within the organisation, I advocate for Deakin medical students to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Australian Medical Council Victoria (AMAVic), the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) and Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA). I desired to take my advocacy to the state and national level in my final year of medical school. As a future health professional, advocacy for the rights of your colleagues and patients is important. This council position permitted me the experience I wanted to let Deakin be heard on the national stage, and ensure that our students deserve the support they needed from stakeholders around Australia.
Advocacy when it is needed by your community
In my final year of medical school, I had the privilege of joining the Medical Students’ Council of Victoria (MSCV) as the Deakin University representative. This role tested the skills I had developed during my four years as a leader in the School of Medicine. As this was an external organisation, it required me to balance my obligations as President of MeDUSA, as well as a councillor of MSCV and succeeding in my medical studies. It required a higher level of professionalism, organisation and emotional intelligence in order to represent Deakin University on a level that I had never done before. I often solely represented all 150 of my cohort to other Universities, professional governing bodies and leading figures in medical profession. Through my growth as a leader from a first year medical student in the role of an academic representative to a final year student as the President of MeDUSA, I took this role with the confidence knowing that I had learned how to be an effective leader. The advocacy needed for Deakin medical students on the bigger stage was an important call to action for me. With the experience behind me, I was able to be a leader who could listen, was receptive to feedback and had the skills to represent Deakin with pride.
Deakin medical students comprise of 150 out of 900+ applicants for internship positions at hospitals in Victoria; therefore we are but a small voice in the decision-making process regarding internship applications. Despite this, I took it upon myself to be the voice of my cohort and advocate for a fair, equitable internship application process. This required hours of meetings, making myself available for consultations and being sound in my proposals to ensure Deakin is represented to governing bodies such as the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV). My advocacy resulted in the removal of transcripts from the application process, the fair allocation of internship spots to Deakin students and a fighting shot for all Deakin medical students to receive their internships of choice. The professional development that I have attained whilst being a leader at Deakin University allowed me to advocate with compassion, empathy and reason.
"In this role, Mr Masangcay has often been called on to represent and advocate for Deakin students to various stakeholders, many of whom are pre-eminent figures in the medical profession. None have been able to intimidate Paolo. He is a tirelessly passionate advocate, yet it is a testament to his emotional intelligence and maturity that he is able to engage with so broad an audience, and moderate his passion with sensitivity and empathy towards the roles and priorities of other parties."
Stephanie Li
Chair
Medical Students' Council of Victoria