Whether it is work, hobbies, politics or your kids’ school or sports team, someone is always asking you to “get involved”. Well, I am no different and here is another request!
In order to make sure we have a voice in the decision-making regarding health policy, health law and even the way we practice medicine, family physicians need to be involved. The good news, however, is the being involved can mean any number of things and can even mean different things at different times. Of course, if you have the availability we would love to have you with us at meetings, coming to conferences, serving as leaders in our professional organizations and lobbying for change in Sacramento.
Involvement does not necessarily require your presence and time, though. Consider serving as a Key Contact for the California Academy of Family Physicians. Under the guidance of the CAFP policy team, your voice can make a huge impact during crucial points of policy making (http://www.familydocs.org/advocacy/key-contact) or do as little as share what patient experiences you have had. To affect policy making, no policy experience is needed. Your day to day experience with patients is all of the background you need.
If that all sounds exhausting, or if you just want to support some of our full-time team…of course, monetary donations are always helpful. Consider supporting the Family Physicians Political Action Committee (FP-PAC), a bipartisan group dedicated to helping pro-family medicine candidates win election to public office and educating current legislators on the importance of family medicine (http://www.familydocs.org/fp-pac)
Any time, energy, money, thoughts you have can go a long way. Please do not hesitate to ask how you can get involved!
