Health Policy Resources

General Resources | Project Guides | Training Opportunities | Web Links | Reading Materials | Films

This page may provide resources in PDF format which require the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

GENERAL RESOURCES

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Health Policy (2002 - PDF)
A Compendium of Health Policy and Legislative Information

AMSA Health Policy Recommended Reading List

Pay for Performance (2006 - PDF 233KB)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are implementing a "Pay for Performance" system of reimbursements. What's "P4P"? How will it affect care? How might it change medicine? This primer provides an introduction to the concept.

Medical Malpractice (2003)

AMSA's Medical Malpractice Primer (PDF 98KB) - a look into the complex world of medical malpractice - the players, the crisis, and forces at work to resolve it

deMystifying Medical Malpractice Module (1.4MB PowerPoint Presentation)

Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution -learn about different ways of resolving malpractice claims. Also available in PDF.

Med Mal Fact Sheet - easy to read, distribute and understand

Web Links to consumer, physician, insurance groups and medmal research

Sex Education (2003)
Educate Yourself About Sex Ed in this Country (90KB PowerPoint Presentation)
Public Health Reform, Adolescent Reproductive Health, and AMSA Leadership
(824KB PowerPoint Presentation). A talk at the AMSA National Convention by Dr. Lloyd Kolbe, founder of Division of Adolescent of School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Medical Record Privacy: A Primer for Medical Students (2002 - PDF 153KB)

National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
Primer on the Corps (2000 - PDF 36KB)
Fact Sheet on the Corps (2001)

A Primer on Gene Patents (2001 - PDF 207KB)

Physician Collective Bargaining: Primer on Physician Unionization and the 'Campbell Bill' (2001 - PDF 196KB)

Prescription Drug Primer (2000 - PDF 182KB)

Women's Health Issues: The "global gag rule" (2000)

Medical Student Activism: A Primer on Domestic and International Tobacco Control (PDF 122KB)
Provides an overview of the domestic and international harms resulting from tobacco use and its promotion by multinational corporations, a timeline of key events and an introduction to available resources.

A Primer on Women and Tobacco: The Leading American Epidemic (PDF 93KB)
This primer provides a framework to educate students on the often underpublicized realities of tobacco on women's reproductive health and maternal/child health. Insights into the truth surrounding the tobacco industry's marketing to women. Presents data in epidemiological and political context.

Tobacco Control Action Packet (PDF 35KB)
Need an outlet to advocate for domestic and international tobacco control? Look no further than this Action Packet which provides petitions and sample letters to Congress. Includes information on Infact's Kraft Boycott, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the Philip Morris External Research Program.

Comprehensive Tobacco Control Research Booklet (PDF 81KB)
Overwhelmed by tobacco resources or don't know where to begin? This comprehensive research booklet combines all tobacco resources cited within AMSA publications and those recommended by tobacco activists. Includes both website and book resources.

Patient Tobacco Cessation Brochure (PDF 73KB)

U.S. Health Systems Primer (PDF 94KB)
Outlines major health policy issues and explains basic elements of the U.S. health system, including Medicaid and Medicare, health-care financing, single-payer, access to health care and more, with a look to the future and a list for further reading. 1996

PROJECT GUIDES

Emergency Contraception Day of Action

Academic Medicine and Managed Care: An Uncertain Future (Project-in-a-Box)

Legislative Skills for Future Generalists (Project-in-a-Box)

Managed Care 101 (Project-in-a-Box)

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Directory of Health Policy Opportunities for Physicians-in-Training (PDF 205KB)
Organizations active in health policy work in Washington, D.C., and nationwide that offer internship opportunities to physicians-in-training. 1996

WEB LINKS

• Citizen Works
• Families USA
• Health Affairs
• Last Acts, a call-to-action campaign dedicated to improving end-of-life care
• Physicians for Social Responsibility

READING MATERIALS

• Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach. T. Bodenheimer and K. Grumbach. 1998.
• The Politics of Health Policy: The U.S. Reforms, 1980-1994. V. Navarro.
• Time to Heal: American Medical Education from the Turn of the Century to the Era of Managed Care. K. Ludmerer. 1999.
• Universal Health Care: What the United States Can Learn from the Canadian Experience. P Armstrong, H Armstrong, C Fegan. 1999.
• The Serpent on the Staff: The Unhealthy Politics of the American Medical Association. H. Wolinsky, T Brune. 1995.
• Healthcare Policy: The Basics. J. McDonough. 1999.
• Jonas & Kovner's Healthcare Delivery in the United States. A. Kovner (Editor), S. Jonas (Editor).
• The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point. H. Johnson and D. Broder. (Account of the Clinton Health Plan). 1997.
• Plagues, Products, and Politics: Emergent Public Health Hazards and National Policymaking. C. H., Jr. Foreman. 1994.
• The Social Transformation of American Medicine. P. Starr. 1982.

FILMS

• The Big One (1997, Dir. Michael Moore)
• Bob Roberts (1992, Dir. Tim Robbins),
• Bowling for Columbine (2002, Dir. Michael Moore),
• Bulworth (1998, Dir. Warren Beatty),
• Coma (1978, Dir. Michael Crichton),
• Damaged Care (2002, Dir. Harry Winer),
• Dave (1993, Dir. Ivan Reitman),
• The Fugitive (1993, Dir. Andrew Davis),
• John Q (2002, Dir. Nick Cassavetes),
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, Dir. Frank Capra),
• Roger & Me (1989, Dir. Michael Moore),
• The War Room (1993, Dir. Chris Hegedus & D.A. Pennebaker)