Health Policy

The Duke Chapter of the AMA’s Health Policy Committee has proven to be an excellent example of what a group of young medical students can do when they commit themselves to the ideals of the physician community and the welfare of patients.

Over the past year, this committee has setup advocacy events at the local, state, and national levels and touched a variety of policy issues relevant to physicians and their patients across the nation.  Lobby Day, for example, is an annual event during which medical students, residents and physicians come together on Capitol Hill to discuss policy issues with Senators and Congressmen from every state.

AMA National Lobby Day 2006

Legislative Advocacy Day is a similar event organized for the state of North Carolina, which was organized by the Duke policy committee this year for the first time and included a collaborative effort with the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest University AMA chapters.  Not only did the participants get a chance to interact with state Senators and Representatives, but they also began to establish the relationships between the medical community and policymakers that will help to improve the delivery of healthcare in the state. 

NMCS North Carolina State Advocacy Day

The policy team has also organized many activities that highlight the issue of the uninsured and underinsured in America, while working to find local and national solutions to the problem.  Students this year participated in a community forum to inform the citizens of Durham about the issue on the local level; AMA members participated in a drive at a local Wal-Mart to enroll uninsured children in NC HealthChoice; several other outreach events were also conducted.

The Duke AMA has become very involved at national levels of organized medicine and its leadership; among our ranks this year is a student member of the Board of Trustees, members of national-level student committees, state delegates to the AMA House of Delegates, and state medical society student leaders.  All of these people are participating in policy-making within the organization as well as outside it, and the number of people in leadership grow every year. 

The policy committee continues to be a positive path for activism by students in the AMA . . . and hopefully, with the continued energy of Duke medical students, it will only continue to grow and advocate for physicians and patients.