By Kathy Wollner, Rush Medical College and Zach Bay, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
Standard responses you get when you ask a medical student to participate in health policy advocacy:
“The system is too complicated to try to change it.”
“There’s nothing I can do to make the system better.”
“I support change but I don’t think we can actually make a difference."
“I support this but I am too busy.”
These are the statements we hear time and again and even tell ourselves on occasion. Being both a medical student and a single-payer advocate is certainly not for the easily discouraged. In spite of these challenges, this month in Illinois twenty medical students teamed up to speak out against our inefficient, extremely expensive health care system that doesn’t even begin to take care of everyone.
On April 11, AMSA members from Northwestern, Rush, and Rosalind Franklin joined with colleagues from the
Illinois Single Payer Coalition in support of the
Illinois Universal Health Care Act (HB 311). Over the course of the day, we spoke with or distributed literature to every Representative and Senator in the state legislature. Though diverse in age, culture, race, gender and religion, we were unified by our common commitment to a single payer health care system that will cut out the for-profit middle-man between doctor and patient. Our white coats broadcast our stake in the health care system as health professionals in training.
Aderonke Bambgose, AMSA president at Northwestern, gave an impassioned speech on the glaring faults of our current health care system:
Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator for Physicians for a National Health Program, gave an assessment of the national fight for single-payer and a shout out to students’ commitment to health justice:
Meeting with policy makers and hearing their different viewpoints on the issues was both challenging and inspiring. It was great to learn that although our voices alone seem weak, we can make our collective voice be heard by sharing our opinion with those elected to represent us.
While we know achieving universal health care in Illinois will be an uphill battle, we’re in it for the long haul. How could we not be? The health care system is the world we will take part daily as health professionals and, every more importantly, the reality of health care – or lack there of – for our future patients.
Here’s some audio coverage of the press conference from
CBS local news and additional videos from the press conference can be
viewed here.
If you’re in Chicago and you’d like to get involved in single-payer advocacy, please contact us (email womens.policy@amsa.org)!