title: Emergency medicine and political influence.
abstract: The 2008 election brought sweeping political change to Washington, DC. For a variety of reasons, there is also substantial political momentum for reform of our health care system. At the 2008 Association of American Medical Colleges meeting in San Antonio, Texas, the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, meeting in conjunction with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, chose to examine the topic of "advocacy and political influence." This article summarizes comments made at the meeting and develops the argument that expertise in health policy and political advocacy are valuable skills that should be considered legitimate components of scholarly activity in academic emergency medicine. Strategies for effective advocacy of issues relevant to emergency medicine and emergency patient care are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. rhemphi@emory.edu
authors.forename: Robin R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Hemphill
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Sklar
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Christopher
authors.forename: Arthur L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kellermann
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Tarrant
mesh_terms: D003226:Congresses as Topic; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D014481:United States