December 9, 2020
Cindy’s Blog: The Power of Advocacy
Why this job? I’ve been asked that a lot lately. Sometimes with disbelief, sometimes as an accusation. Sometimes, with anger. It’s both an easy and a very hard question.
I began medical school wanting to be an Ob-Gyn and then migrated to Family Medicine, but in the end neither fit. I found dermatology, or as I usually say, dermatology found me, and it was a perfect match for my “doctor skillset.”
But I was a small-town girl and wanted to go back. My husband was from Renville and we knew West Central Minnesota. One day when I was a second-year resident, one of the senior residents tossed a recruitment ad from Affiliated Community Medical Centers in the trash and I dug it out and gave them a call.
And it fit.
But rural medicine didn’t fit my professors’ ideas for what my career should look like. They encouraged me to stay in academics and were not at all supportive of a rural career. “All you’ll see is warts and acne,” was one memorable quote. Rural medicine was always less than— less interesting, less fulfilling. Doctors were less bright, less motivated, and patients received substandard care.
So, when I was a senior resident, I started seeing patients in Willmar to see if what they said was true. And I found that the doctors, nurses and staff were all VERY bright and very committed. And patients received great care from people who cared. So, when I finished my residency, we packed up and moved to Willmar and have been here for 30 years.
So, when I finished my residency, we packed up and moved to Willmar and have been here for 30 years.
But I never forgot the attitudes that I heard from those who knew nothing about rural medicine. I made it my mission to educate them. I stayed in academics and became active in organized medicine. I advocated for rural patients and rural health.
Over the years, when people ask why I spend my free time doing these things, there’s an easy answer. It’s a privilege being a physician. As a doctor I make at least one person’s life better every day I work. That’s making a difference. That’s making the world better, one person at a time. But my best efforts can be undone by a bad insurance decision, a fake news article that goes viral, or poor public policy. If we, as physicians, step outside the clinic or hospital and advocate in board rooms, or court rooms, or at the legislature, we can affect policy and the press and make a difference for thousands of people for generations.
That’s the power of advocacy.