Have a lifetime?  Make a commitment to making advocacy a regular part of your career, no matter what your specialty.  Here are some ideas as to how!
 
-          Patient-level advocacy:   Choose the issues that you feel most strongly about and make a commitment to incorporate them into every visit.  Going into pulmonology?  Maybe your issue is clean, safe housing and air. Becoming a gastroenterologist?  Perhaps you prioritize asking about access to affordable nutrition.  CHC 4 Life?  Maybe obesity or gun violence prevention is your topic.  These core topics can evolve with time, but as you gain more experience will hopefully lead you to also prioritize those issues on a larger scale in your clinic and beyond.
 
-          Community-level advocacy:  Explore longitudinal volunteer or board positions in your local schools, community centers, shelters, and other local organizations.  Run for the school board or the PTA.  Few organizations actively seek out physicians to join them, but having a longitudinal relationship will allow you to build trust and help communities prioritize the child health issues that YOU think are most critical!
 
-          Federal-level advocacy:   Now that you know from http://federaladvocacy.aap.org who your elected representatives are and have set up visits…. make a commitment to maintaining a long-term commitment with them.  Stay on the weekly Federal Updates email list-serv (email the AAP to sign-up) or other issue-oriented list-servs (smoking cessation, gun violence, etc) so you know what’s going on.  If any issue comes up in Washington that you’re interested in, commit to an email or personal visit with your elected officials!
Last modified: Tuesday, August 27, 2013, 5:21 PM