Opinion
Video
Juan J. Andino, MD, on how urologists can get involved in health advocacy
Author(s):
“There's state advocacy work groups and other public policy work groups where folks can remain involved and keep pushing to improve the delivery of health care,” says Juan J. Andino, MD, MBA.
In this video, Juan J. Andino, MD, MBA, shares insight on how urologists can get involved in health advocacy. Andino is an assistant professor of urology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Video Transcript:
I think one of the easiest ways to start to get involved is to get exposed. It's something that a lot of times, doesn't come up in medical school, doesn't come up in residency, and so many people don't even know what this public policy advocacy world looks like. One of the best ways to get exposure is every year, usually in the spring—February, March—the AUA has an Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC. It is a crash course in health policy, health advocacy. It starts with the first day or 2 is actually lectures about, here are the policy topics that we're going to talk to lawmakers on the Hill about. Then on the last day of the Summit, you actually go in groups from your state to lawmakers' offices and talk about those issues that impact the practice of medicine, urology, [and] how urologic patients receive care. I would say for anyone who's interested, that's probably the number 1 way to be able to dive in and start to get involved.
From there, many people who find that, yes, this is rewarding, they feel empowered by the ability to advocate for their own patients, then there's many other ways, either through local, state, and regional medical societies and through the AUA. There's state advocacy work groups and other public policy work groups where folks can remain involved and keep pushing to improve the delivery of health care. Lawmakers do rely on us to come in and share with them, [because] they're not seeing the day-to-day work [and] the interactions between the doctor and the patient. So, it really takes physicians, urologists, to come sit at the table and explain why or why something does not make sense, and what would be the best way to move forward.
This transcript was AI generated and edited by human editors for clarity.
