The Miller School’s Office of Communications received two national Awards of Excellence from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for its coverage of and public relations strategy for the Miller School’s unprecedented emergency medical response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.

The awards were presented at the AAMC’s Group on Institutional Advancement’s (GIA) 2011 National Professional Development Conference in Nashville.

The staff received the top GIA award in the Public Relations/Special Projects category for employing every available platform and resource—including the Miller School’s homepage, e-Update and MED newsletters, and Medicine magazine, and a network of media outlets—to become a vital information clearinghouse for all facets of the University’s emergency response.

The editorial team also received the highest award in the Publications/Single or Special Issue category for the “Healing Haiti” special edition of Medicine. The special edition was designed to serve as a blueprint for large-scale, medical school responses to disaster, a keepsake to commemorate the legions of employees and other volunteers who saved countless lives, and a marketing tool for recruiting faculty and students and cultivating donors who support and enable the Miller School’s public and community service.

The judges, who consisted of communications leadership at other medical schools, said the “Earthquake in Haiti” public relations special project “demonstrated a commitment to ongoing excellence’’ and the “Healing Haiti” special edition was “truly spectacular.”