Advocacy!

When I was in medical school, I frequently served as a student interviewer for the admissions department. While I tended toward a laid-back, conversational style of interview, I was frequently teamed with practicing physicians who were a bit more interrogative in their approaches. Regardless of the strength of the applicants, they looked for chinks in the armor, then zoomed in for the attack. They would ask questions like,"Why did you only earn an A- in Conversational Babylonian?" or "Under what circumstances is it okay to lie to a patient?" It was sometimes very painful to witness the stammering and stuttering of hopeful future physicians as they attempted to craft the 'right' responses to these questions.

After one particularly grueling series of interviews, I asked my team members why they chose to be so challenging. I was told, "If they can't stand up for themselves, they won't be able to stand up for their patients." I couldn't argue with that kind of logic, so I filed that bit of insight away, and thanked the stars that my own interview had been fairly benign.

Fast forward ten years, and I have become that physician who understands the importance of advocating on behalf of my patients. I have had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. to share with our nation's congressmen and women the positive impact of community health centers. Last month, I headed to my state's capital to request that the General Assembly vote to maintain funding for community health centers, as part of supporting the Virginia Health Safety Net. I frequently encourage my patients to call their representatives to share their personal stories about the care that they receive at our site, and I also ask my staff, my parents, my husband, and my friends on Facebook to call or email, too. I know that many of my patients are reluctant to speak up for themselves, so I have chosen to do it for them.

As physicians, we work so hard to provide the best care that we can for our patients, and we can accomplish that goal in many diffent ways. For me, that means working both inside and outside of exam rooms to ensure that health care will be accessible to my patients today, next month, and next year. I recognize that not every physician is going to feel compelled to "go political,'" and that's okay as long as we are willing to stand up for what is important, and can recognize when it is most important to do so.