Advocacy Curriculum

Overview: In their Declaration of Physician Responsibility, the American Medical Association declares that physicians should “advocate for social, economic, educational, and political changes that ameliorate suffering and contribute to human well-being.” In effort to promote this responsibility amongst combined internal medicine-pediatrics resident physicians, an advocacy curriculum has been developed to run concurrently with the PGY4 Med-Peds Ambulatory Rotation. Throughout the month, residents will have the opportunity to complete advocacy modules developed by the AAP in addition to participating in experiences at health departments, local free clinics, and local schools. Depending on the time of the year, there will also be opportunity to join faculty members at state and national level physician advocacy events. Finally, residents will also be given independent study time to develop an advocacy project targeted to impact residents (via education), the community, the hospital system, or state/national healthy policy. Projects will be presented at the end of the month at a weekly Med-Peds noon conference.

Goal and Objectives

1. Understand the multiple advocacy roles in which Med-Peds physicians can participate
   • Define advocacy.
   • Explain why patients need advocates.
   • Describe ways that Med-Peds physicians can advocate for patients at the local, state, and national level.
   • Learn how the legislative process works and how to access local and state government leaders.
   • Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and community agencies.
   • Learn how to assess and access community resources.
2. Understand the disparities that exist in health care today, how they work as a barrier to adequate care, and how to use advocacy to overcome these barriers.
   • Describe the social factors that affect the health of patients (i.e. social determinants of health).
   • Explain how social determinants of health can impact the health of patients.
   • Discuss barriers to health care and strategies to overcome them.
   • Demonstrate a working knowledge of current psychosocial issues, legal protections, policies, and services provided for various vulnerable populations at the local, state, and federal levels.
   • Design an advocacy project to impact resident education, your community, your hospital system, or state/national health policy

Sample Schedule

*Other Possible Activities

• Give lecture to a medical student group about advocacy
• Work in Healthy Weight Clinic
• Work in TEDI BEAR Clinic
• Meet with Med-Peds clinic social workers to discuss local resources for patients
• Attend ACP Leadership Day (usually 2nd week of May)
• Volunteer with medical students at the Greenville Community Shelter Clinic
• Join the Asthma Action Team on school visits

Required Rotation Activities

• Develop an “advocacy project” to impact residents (via education), your community, your hospital system, or state/national health policy
  • See AAP CPTI Project Planning Tool for assistance
  • Examples include (but are not limited to): sending a letter to a public official, writing an Op-Ed, creating a list of community resources for residents to hand out to patients in clinic, arranging to meet with a local/state official and discussing your experience with the group (or asking that official to join us at a Monday noon conference!), investigate food insecurity or health literacy (or other social determinants of health) in the Med-Peds Clinic, apply for a grant to get helmets (or other resources) in our Med-Peds Clinic, organize a free clinic for the community, etc.
• Present above advocacy project or advocacy topic of choice to residents at a Monday noon conference.