Chethana Eswarappa, MS3
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Prior to attending the AMAM, I knew that I wanted to be involved in advocacy and policy in my future, but I didn’t know what that would actually look like. At the AMAM I was able to see how physicians, even residents, can involve themselves in policymaking through CAFP/AAFP and through the US government, on a local and national level.
As a medical student it can often feel like there are a lot of things that affect us that we just don’t have any control over. It was really inspiring to be in an environment where it felt like I could have an influence. I’ve never really been spoken to as if I could get involved in politics, talk to senators, and wield medical expertise. It can be hard to keep in perspective that just by working with the population at county hospital, I have learned a lot about healthcare inequities and how policies can affect them. That perspective is something that politicians may not actually have exposure to, so being able to provide that background is very valuable. Attending the meeting definitely showed me that I have valuable skills to share and that I can use them to advocate for my patients.
Another aspect of the meeting that was very inspiring and comforting was seeing how many residents and doctors care about the same issues I do. I was so happy to see the issues undocumented patients face brought up multiple times, and to hear from the team at Kaiser Santa Rosa about how to deal with the possibility of an ICE raid affecting their clinics and their patients. This is an issue we definitely have at LAC+USC and it inspired me to seek out community organizers and activists in the LA area to come speak to medical students at Keck about how best to protect and advocate for our undocumented patients (this is still in the works!).
Overall I truly feel like I gained a lot from attending the AMAM and I’m very grateful to LAAFP for providing me with the opportunity to attend.
Jose Negrete Manriquez, MS1
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Our day began with an introduction about the five practices that are common in leaders. The one that stood out to me the most was “enable others to act.” The reason being that as I sat there, listening and engaging in conversation with the passionate presenters of the workshop, I realized that this was exactly what they were doing for us—enabling medical students and residents to gain the skillset necessary engage in meaningful conversation with our patients, senators, and each other to enact meaningful and positive change. As our session came to an end, I felt inspired and encouraged to share this knowledge to the high school students I am currently a mentor for.
As the day went on, I got the pleasure to meet Dr. Galdamez, a representative of the CAFP from Santa Ana and learn about his work with Alta Med. I got the opportunity to meet Dr. Lee and hear about the direction that the Family Practice Political Action Committee is heading towards. Along the same lines, I felt excited to learn that the CAFP obtained $100 million in funding for primary care residency programs for the next three years thanks to the Song-Brown Physician Training Program. I felt proud to hear that the CAFP had tackled issues surrounding tobacco restrictions, gun control, pharmaceutical prices, and federal teaching health center funding. At this point, it was clear to me that Family Physicians see health from a holistic view and are truly dedicated to the health of their patients inside and outside the clinic.
As a student physician, I recognize the great responsibilities that come with earning the title of physician. Not only do we get the honor to share this life with our patients at their highest and most traumatic moments, but also we get the privilege to become a part of their family and advocate for them in ways that they do not have the opportunity to do themselves. I found these truths to be represented in each and every one of the physicians, residents, and medical students who attended this event—through the way they gave up time with their families to attend this event, the time they dedicated to prepare for this advocacy and lobbying preparation, and the way I heard them speak about the patients they love and the path they would like medicine to follow.
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this family.
Elisabeth Parra, MS1
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
I wanted to take some time to thank the LAAFP for allowing students like myself to attend this conference with their generous scholarship. It was so motivating and refreshing to be in a room full of primary care doctors that share my common values and dedication to the communities they want to serve.
I attended the “Opening the Door to Leadership” workshop that was intended for medical students and residents. I really enjoyed this workshop and was able to apply some of the direct leadership skills taught to some of my leadership roles here at the David Geffen School of Medicine. On campus, I am the Co-president for the Charles R. Drew class of 2021, I am the Co-coordinator for the family medicine interest group, and I am involved in student activism on campus. This workshop allowed me to truly reflect on my position as a leader in these roles. The discussion part of this workshop allowed space for other students and residents to ask about difficult topics such as delegating tasks and how to motivate people around the projects you are very passionate about working on.
I really enjoyed getting the perspective of the residents in family medicine and I was excited to hear not only about the amazing patient care they are providing for their patients, but also the projects that they are working on to further quality access to healthcare for all of their patients.
During the next part I learned a lot listening to the leadership of the CAFP and what their goals as an organization were. I was impressed by all of the political advocacy work that had done through the CAFP in the last year. I appreciated the humble but active participation as well as the knowledge that all of the physicians had around the policies that would directly affect their patients that they cared so much about.
Attending this conference made me even more excited to go into family medicine and explore all of the avenues to enhance the lives of my patients inside and outside of the clinic. Thank you so much!
Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MPP
Family Medicine Resident – PGY1
Kaiser Permanente – Los Angeles Medical Center
This year was my first year ever attending the CAFP All Member Advocacy Meeting as a recent transplant to California and intern at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. I was heartened to see so many from Los Angeles and especially those from my institution attend in full force, ready to advocate on the behalf of their patients at the State Capitol.
Over the course of the meeting, I learned of all that CAFP had accomplished in 2017 at the state legislature from ensuring transparency around prescription drug price increases, increasing database resources through the Department of Justice towards the Firearm Violence Research Center, prohibiting state and local law enforcement agencies from using financial or personnel resources towards immigration enforcement purposes, among a number of other bills meant to protect both patients and primary care providers.
We also received a legislative update from CAFP around AB 2895, the proposed Primary Care Transparency Act that would mandate insurers and health plans to annually report its total primary care expenditures to the state and online. Research has shown that when there is substantial investment in primary care spending, both patients have better clinical outcomes and health systems experience significant cost savings. Oregon was one of the first states to pass such a transparency bill, which has incentivized insurers to increase funding into primary care thereby improving healthcare for patients across the state.
For me, the best part of the meeting was being able to connect with the Los Angeles AFP chapter over breakfast to discuss all of the proposed resolutions in depth and in a collegial environment that made it easy for me as a newcomer to voice concerns around certain proposals. This gave me hope that even as a trainee, the voices of myself and others’ just starting our career in Family Medicine would be heard to continue to make a difference for our patients in California.
Allen Rodriguez, MS4
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
The All Member Advocacy Meeting is a great conference, which I have attended since my first year of medical school. As a student, attending this meeting has had a significant influence on my own career trajectory. I have made good friends at this meeting, learned about various residency programs, and learned about pressing health issues facing our communities today. I am more excited than ever to continue my training and look forward to attending this meeting in the future as a family physician.
During these tumultuous times for us and our patients, it is very grounding to meet with like-minded professionals in the same field and have the time and space to share our struggles and successes. This meeting helps build a community of support among family medicine physicians that enables us to do our work to the highest ability possible.
Rima Shaw, MD, MPH
Family Medicine Resident – PGY2
Kaiser Permanente – Los Angeles Medical Center
As a first-time attendee at the CAFP AMAM conference, thanks to the generosity of the LAAFP scholarship, I started off the weekend with an incredible and practical lecture on long-term opioid therapy for patients. I could not believe the timing—just the past week, I had met for the first time with a patient on my panel who is on long-term opioid therapy. Immediately saving the presenter’s slides to my phone for later reference, I took this first event as a good omen of what the conference would bring next.
Throughout, I had the opportunity to connect with people who were equally passionate about advocating for patients outside of the exam room. Seeing the multitude of ways this can be done was invigorating: whether it was feeling the energy of medical students excitedly matching into their chosen specialty mid-conference, hearing about the innovative ways family medicine physicians continued to provide care amidst the Ventura County and Santa Barbara fires, or the debating that took place during the Resolutions Hearings.
Staying for the last day was the perfect outlet for the inspiring energy that the preceding days had stirred up. As the individual groups talked about AB 2895 in preparation for Lobby Day, I could hear our patient stories bringing the proposal to life; I could see the connection between how policy shapes what we can do for our patients’ health.
The AMAM was a wonderful and inspiring way to reintroduce myself to the additional tools for affecting care for our patients.
Amy Tressan, MD
UCLA Family Medicine Residency – PGY1
The 2018 AMAM conference was such an informative, well-organized meeting that reinvigorated my passion for patient advocacy, particularly for me in regards to women’s reproductive healthcare. It gave me a chance to learn about the interface between medicine and politics and how we as physicians have a chance and responsibility to engage in dialogue with the people who represent our patient’s interests in government. In particular, I learned how the CAFP pac works and how the money we give is spent. I also learned how best to approach issues in conversations with lobbyists and state legislators. The best part of the conference was that I got to see a lot of incredible and dedicated physicians work together to discuss difficult and pressing topics with regards to medicine, patient care and navigating the healthcare system.
Navigating the healthcare system can feel very frustrating and overwhelming. Particularly, when it comes to figuring out healthcare coverage for tests and follow up for those with insurance plans that don’t offer wide coverage. The AMAM conference gave me a platform to express my concerns over these issues and learn about the concerns of my colleagues. As different resolutions were discussed, and voted on by delegates, I got to voice my concern over the lack of representation of women’s reproductive topics at the AAFP’s FMX conference, which was an exciting chance to advocate for a topic I feel so much passion for. I learned a great deal over this weekend from other physicians as well, who presented their own resolutions for healthcare inequities in their own communities.
I unfortunately, did not get to attend the final lobby day, where we march on the capitol and lobby for change, but I certainly plan to do this next year and am very much looking forward to it!
