Resident Physician Participates in ACP Health Policy Internship
by J. Hunter Fraker, MD Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, PGY-4
As a resident physician, my daily focus is typically clinical medicine—taking care of patients at the bedside. Recently, I had the opportunity to learn the policy side of medicine as a health policy intern for the American College of Physicians (ACP).
As part of the internship, I was able to do a deep dive into various health policy issues, such as physician payment reform, graduate medical education, and pandemic preparedness. I also gained a better understanding of interpreting and responding to the Administration’s proposed rules as well as legislation.
Being able to meet with staffers on Capitol Hill was another great aspect of the internship. I was able to advocate for some of ACP’s key issues while also providing real-life examples for staffers so they could better understand how the current health care landscape affects patients. There are often so many moving parts in bills that it can be easy to lose sight of how the bill will affect patients once passed, and staffers seemed to appreciate discussing the bills with this perspective.
Lastly, I participated in ACP’s Leadership Day and helped detail ACP’s policy priorities for medical students, residents, and fellows. It was my first time at the event, but it was incredible to spend the day with passionate patient advocates who wanted to make our health care system even better for patients. By bringing patient stories to back up our policy asks, we were able to depoliticize issues and have productive conversations with members of Congress across various political ideologies.
ACP’s health policy internship fueled my interest in health policy, broadened my knowledge of our health care system, and taught me additional ways to advocate for my patients. I would encourage any medical student, resident, or fellow to do the internship and everyone to attend Leadership Day. We need more physicians advocating with our elected officials—both at the federal and state levels—in order to bring awareness to problems we see every day and improve the health care system for our patients.
