Media and Medicine

22 Feb 2023

Dr. John Torres, NBC News Senior Medical Correspondent, was a guest speaker at School of Medicine grand rounds at Cork University Hospital recently.

A renowned emergency room physician, Dr. Torres is an adjunct clinical professor at University College Cork and contributes to the prehospital care special forces Medicine teaching programmes.

The topic of discussion was ‘Media and Medicine’. Dr. Torres spoke about the importance of medical messaging, how this was highlighted during the pandemic when many within the medical profession were called upon by the media to share their expertise. “We had to convert, explain science and medicine to the general public – not always an easy thing to do”.

Thank you to everyone who participated, our chair Professor Paula O’Leary, Head of School of Medicine and Professor Adrian Murphy, Clinical Professor in Emergency Medicine & Prehospital Emergency Care for hosting.

So what should we keep in mind when it comes to speaking with the media?

Dr. Torres shared his top tips for a successful media interview:

1. The importance of being prepared. Know what it is you want to say. What are the two to three key messages you want to share?

2. Be concise. You have a short space of time to get your message across.

3. Don’t let the questions throw you. Dr. Torres shared the following bridging phrases to stay on track.

•  “Great question but what's most important for parents and/or for the general public to understand is this …………..”
•  “Yes but keep in mind that ......"
•  “Let me tell you what we've been seeing......”.
•  “I'm not sure that's the case. Here’s what I know……”
•  “That said………..”

4. Remember you are the expert. You are delivering a message, sharing information we want to hear.

5. Never say ‘No Comment’. If you don’t know the answer say so. Tell them you don’t know now but will get back to them on it.

6. Remember when talking to a journalist, you’re always ‘on the record’.