Contents tagged with 2017 Texas legislative session
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Resident Voice: Why physician advocacy is important
By Leo Lopez, III, MD
During the 2017 Texas legislative session, I spent time at the State Capitol in Austin as a recipient of the TAFP Foundation James C. Martin, MD, Scholarship, appreciating the depth, scope, and importance of physician advocacy. In my time as a medical student and resident, I’ve watched health policy debates evolve. I’ve watched them triumph from inception to implementation. I’ve watched them fall in committee at the behest of a deluge of lobbying efforts and special interests.
As these important issues revolving around clinical practice, graduate medical education, and access to health care are debated, the relative silence of the physician voice is impressive. While many outstanding physician leaders make selfless sacrifices to protect patient and physician interests, the gross physician influence in advocacy and health policy is severely impoverished.
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