_____________________________________
This course is BEING taught
NOVEMBER 2002 and JANUARY 2003
Information is current as of 10/28/02

Physician Activism and Advocacy
A Course for Resident Physicians  

This two-week course is designed for all of the Internal Medicine Primary Care Residents at the University of Pennsylvania.  It is being implemented in November 2002 and will be repeated in January 2003 with a second group of residents.  It is much more limited in scope than medical student courses that have been conducted at our institution due to the time constraints in a residency curriculum.  Nonetheless, it strives to expose all of the primary care residents to the fundamental skills of activism and methods of incorporating activism into a medical career.  

We provide structured interactive sessions in Week 1 that cover basic activism skills such as strategy development and media advocacy.  At the close of the Week 1 session, residents are divided into teams of three or four and assigned an advocacy issue that they are expected to work on over the following week.  Basic background materials on the issues are provided to the teams to minimize the amount of time spent doing issue research and optimizing the time spent learning and refining advocacy skills.  For similar reasons, the issues are selected in advance by the course coordinator rather than relying on participants to identify and agree upon their own issue.  In Week 2, residents are expected to present a mock campaign strategy, deliver a speech on their assigned topic, perform an interview with a mock reporter, and make a mock lobby visit to their targeted policy maker.  In addition, participants will write an op/ed piece and a fact sheet on their assigned topic.  All of the residents will be encouraged to carry out these activities beyond the mock exercises.  

Course Coordinators:

David Grande, MD                        
Resident Physician
Department of Medicine                           
University of Pennsylvania                          

Kevin Fosnocht, MD
Primary Care Program Director
Department of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania

Guest Speakers:

Karl Stark
Health Care Business Reporter
The Philadelphia Inquirer  

Flaura Koplin Winston, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator, Partners for Child Passenger Safety
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Goals and Objectives

Attitudes

Participants will better value and appreciate:

1. The role of physicians as community advocates

2.  The social contract between medicine and society.

3.  The accessibility of decision-makers and the ability of individuals and organizations to impact policy.

Knowledge

Participants will understand:

1. The principles and key elements of an advocacy campaign

2.  The difference between a problem and an issue.

3. The concept of "Free Media."

4. How to bridge research with advocacy.

Skills

Participants will be able to:

1. Develop an advocacy campaign strategy.

2. Speak in front on an audience with confidence and proficiency.

3. Lobby decision-makers in an effective and efficient manner.

4. Work effectively with the media.

5. Translate research findings into meaningful policy change.

6. Provide effective community leadership.

Schedule  

Session I: Monday, November 4^th  

8:00 - 8:15 AM          Physicians as Agents of Change: An Introduction  

8:15 – 9:00 AM         Campaign Strategy Development  

9:00  - 10:00 AM       Public Speaking (Flaura Koplin-Winston)
                                   Research-Based Advocacy (Flaura Koplin-Winston)  

10:00 - 11:00 AM      Media Advocacy (Karl Stark)  

11:00 - 11:30 AM      Lobbying  

11:30 - 12:00 PM      The Issues and Group Assignments  

Session II: Monday, November 11^th  

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM   Group Presentations  

[Break at 9:30 – 10:30 AM for Resident Report]

Team Tasks  

Develop your Campaign Strategy

• Who are you?

• Who are your Allies and Opponents?

• Who are the policy-makers and people in positions of power?

• How will you influence the decision-makers?

• What tactics will you use to mobilize support?  

Lobbying Exercise

• Choose a policy-maker to target and describe your reasoning.

• Prepare to make a lobby visit and identify specific reasons why the decision-maker should support your position.

• Prepare a fact sheet for your lobby-visit.  

Media Event

• Develop an event that will earn you “free media.” 

• Write four questions for a reporter to ask you about your issue and develop sound bite answers.

• Write an Op-Ed piece for a newspaper (250-500 words).  

Speech

• Determine audience you are trying to influence (venue).

• Prepare a persuasive 3-5 minute speech.