Thursday, March 7, 2019
Liberty medical students visit nation’s Capital, wear white coats to advocate for Osteopathic medicine
Thu, 07 Mar 2019Asa Keimig | LUCOM Marketing
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) faculty members and student-doctors spent two days in Washington, D.C., advocating for the Osteopathic profession in support of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)’s annual DO Day on Capitol Hill.
LUCOM representatives arrived in the nation’s capital early Monday evening for a private dinner with Representative Roger Marshall, MD, who spoke with LUCOM Dean Peter Bell, DO, and LUCOM students about the importance of political advocacy and the privileged role a physician has as an advocate. “I have a great platform as a physician that I never thought I would’ve had,” he said. “Build relationships with your elected officials and be honest with them that there is a physician shortage in this country and that we need residencies.” Prior to entering the political scene, Rep. Marshall practiced medicine for over 20 years.
Later that evening at private reception in the National Osteopathic Advocacy Center, Carl R. Hoegerl, DO, FACP, associate professor of neurology at LUCOM, was inducted as an honorary member into Omega Beta Iota; the National Osteopathic Political Advocacy Honor Society. Omega Beta Iota was founded to emphasize the importance of the work medical students do within the United States political system. Dr. Hoegerl is the only LUCOM faculty member to be recognized for such an honor.
DO Day on Capitol Hill activities began early Tuesday morning with a legislative debrief for participants to learn about important issues where they heard from William S. Mayo, DO, president of the AOA. “It’s important that we share with elected officials why we as DOs treat patients holistically.” There were over 550 participants representing 44 states and 35 osteopathic colleges/schools.
At the conclusion of the debriefing, all participants marched to Capitol Hill in their white coats to draw attention to the Osteopathic profession. Liberty medical students had scheduled meetings with elected officials based on where they were registered to vote. A majority of the group had meetings with Senator Mark Warner’s staff, Senator Tim Kaine’s staff, and Representative Ben Cline.
“DO Day allowed for us to meet with congressional leaders – senators, house representative and legislative affairs staff – to promote medical education and residency training expansion from a unique patient-centered perspective,” said Hannah Thompson, Class of 2021. “I think that it is crucial that we are active and informed participants shaping healthcare and health policy that will affect our future medical practice. I have always believed that the best leaders are informed leaders.”
Thompson, who was pleased with the outcomes of her meetings, knows that political advocacy is an important component shaping her future as a physician. “DO Day provides a unique opportunity for you to share your personal story about the important of federal funding and medical education and how crucial this is to patient care. As a resident of a small town with poor healthcare options, I was particularly passionate about advocating for community-based residency programs to ensure that underserved and rural areas would receive excellent osteopathic medical care.”
For Tahsin Choudhury, a third-year medical student in LUCOM’s Class of 2020, he has come to realize through working in the hospital setting that simply practicing medicine isn’t enough. “We as future physicians must strive to create a better future through advocacy work so that doctors and patients alike can strive for a better future,” he said. “I have come to realize that we as healthcare professionals have a unique opportunity to share with legislators what we see on the front lines in the medical field. Participating in events such as DO Day on the Capitol Hill is me simply fulfilling my responsibility to create a better tomorrow for our patients.”
While Choudhury believes that being in the medical field is an honor, he also knows at the same time that he has a responsibility to speak up to improve overall healthcare. “Today we were able to put faces and stories behind things our legislators will be voting on and as such when it comes time to vote on important matters, our legislators will not simply see laws; rather they will see doctors and the patients whose lives they will affect.”
Second-Year student-doctor, Kevin Thomas, describes DO Day on Capitol Hill as a sea of white coats ascending on the Capitol showing physical support and expressing verbal support for the Osteopathic profession. “Before one of my meetings with a senate staffer, a faculty member from Ohio University shared a quick acronym to encourage and remind us as to why we were advocating today: IATP, It’s All About the Patient,” said Thomas. “Healthcare policy is more than a way to promote legislation that would benefit our profession. It ensures that the millions of individuals that osteopathic physicians will treat have access to the care they so desperately need.”
Thomas had the opportunity to be the lead advocator for his final meeting of the day with his group as they met with a representative’s advisor. “To be able to be in a position to speak on behalf of not only our group, but Osteopathic physicians as a whole was a great feeling.”
DO Day on Capitol Hill is an opportunity for physicians, student-doctors and advocates of the Osteopathic profession to have their voices heard and educate congress on important pieces of legislation that affects their profession.
The first issue was the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program, a community-based medical residency training program, which fills vital primary care gaps in rural and underserved communities. Funding for the program expires every two years and is set to expire in September 2019. Advocates lobbied for congressional action for the reauthorization of funding for this program and to extend the life of the program from two years to five years. “Next week there are forty-five thousand student-doctors entered in the match and only thirty thousand residency slots, it’s going to be a disaster,” added Dr. Bell. “The continuation of this program is critical! It ensures that high-quality health care can continue to be provided to underserved communities that need it most.”
The second issue that advocates lobbied for was to encourage elected officials to support patient access to Direct Primary Care (DPC) by allowing patients to use Health Savings Account (HSA) funds for DPC. The DPC is an innovative practice model that is designed to improve access to high-quality health care. The most important element of the DPC is ensuring a trusted relationship between a patient and his or her primary care physician. For a monthly fee, patients have direct access to their primary care physician, ultimately resulting in better health outcomes with lower costs. Without congressional action, Americans with Health Savings Accounts will be denied access to this new practice model.
“The issues that are being discussed now are the issues that will not only affect us as we go into practice but, more importantly, our patients,” said first-year student-doctor Jinjoo Lee. “It’s important to remember that it is our job to advocate for our profession, for ourselves, and for our patients.”