August 16, 2011

Med students help shape Michigan State Medical Society political platform

You can't fight city hall. My vote won't make a difference. All politicians are the same. One voice can't really change anything. Nobody listens.

Americans offer many reasons for political apathy, but three Wayne State University School of Medicine students can tell you that engagement and political action can effect change.

Neha Narula, Brian Rutledge and Vanessa Stan decided that as future physicians they needed to make a difference - and did. They drafted and introduced a resolution calling for the Michigan State Medical Society to support an initiative calling for a greater proportion of national agricultural subsidies to support more nutritional foods in an effort combat obesity.

Their resolution, as submitted, was adopted in May by the society as part of its formal political platform.

Resolution 45-11, titled "Reallocation of Agricultural Subsidies to Fight Childhood Obesity," calls for the MSMS to advocate for an increase in the proportion of agricultural subsidies given to nutritionally valuable foods as defined by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 in support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines for a healthy national diet and the goals of the Healthy Kids Healthy Michigan coalition. It also dictates that the society support educational initiatives like Healthy Kids Healthy Michigan to address the prevention of childhood obesity and further promote healthy foods and activities.

Asked whether she expects the resolution to have an actual impact on the health of those they are seeking to help, Narula, a third-year student from Ann Arbor, Mich., was adamant: "Absolutely! Of course this is not by any means the final and only step to tackle obesity. It's important to recognize that this resolution alone cannot overcome this problem, but neither can medicine single-handedly prevent obesity. By collaborating with medical and political processes, along with creating awareness and reaching out on an individual level, can we begin to make sufficient change that will start bringing the prevalence of obesity down."

Stan concurred, noting that federal legislation that details farm subsidies will be up for reauthorization in 2012 and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) chairs the Senate Agricultural Committee.

"Having an MSMS policy that specifically discusses farm subsidies allows our leadership to more directly advocate for changes to the current policies," said Stan, a third-year student from Allen Park. "Also, part of the resolution supports educational initiatives. As new programs are developed on the state or local levels, support from MSMS or county medical societies may help secure funding in the tight budget climate we see today in so many levels of government."

Stan, who has served as one of the School of Medicine's delegates to the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association, familiarized herself with resolution language.

Rutledge, who described himself as "cynical as they come" in regards to politics, nonetheless expects the resolution to make an impact.

"There are certain things I believe in and feel obligated to promote if no one else will. Although this bill may not directly have an impact so far as the Michigan State Medical Society being the direct cause of a change in federal law, I do expect it to at the least change the minds of physicians about what types of changes are possible," said Rutledge, a third-year medical student from Battle Creek, Mich. "Politics is about promoting ideas. In this resolution we promoted ideas that I feel could lead to a healthier future, so I am satisfied regardless of the final result of this particular resolution."

Narula and Rutledge wrote the resolution over a span of a few months. The pair learned more about the political process through involvement in the American Medical Association and the School of Medicine's Medical Political Action in the Community organization. They used Michigan's ban on smoking in public places as an example of how medical students, through MSMS, could make a direct difference on the health of a vast number of people. Stan then assisted with editing and revising the language for the final proposal. Adnan Hussain, a medical student at the University of Michigan and a graduate of Wayne State University, also helped in the editing process.

Narula and Rutledge had coordinated the school's Healthy Detroit Youth Initiative for the past year. The project is designed to bring positive health and lifestyle changes to Detroit's children. Medical students engage middle school children in the classroom to promote healthy diets and exercise. They also meet with parents at parent-teacher conferences to encourage more involvement in childhood health.

"Through this experience, as well as our academic courses, we were able to recognize the significant gap between the recommended nutrition and exercise and the actual lifestyles that the youth in our community were living," Narula said. "Therefore, we decided to take an initiative to try and combat the problem of obesity on a state level."

"I've often felt that as a medical student I had very limited opportunities to leave an impact in health care through volunteer efforts at free clinics and health fairs," she added. "Having participated in past American Medical Association and Michigan State Medical Society meetings, and seeing the recent ban on public smoking, along with my experiences through Healthy Detroit Youth Initiative, I really saw this as an opportunity to create awareness about the obesity epidemic and hopefully make a difference one day."

While many classes at the medical school have emphasized the growing problem of obesity and its related detrimental effects, Narula said, "as medical students, we often feel inadequately equipped to handle the problem of obesity medically; but the American Medical Association and the Michigan State Medical Society have provided us with a platform and an opportunity to create awareness and make a lasting impact on issues we feel are important to the health of the general public."

Rutledge said more medical students must educate themselves politically and become involved.

"My interest in politics began during the debate surrounding health care," he said. "I spent a good amount of time during the health care debate educating myself politically. ... I was surprised that so few students had educated themselves in any substantial way outside of news clips from 'The Daily Show' concerning the health care bill. I do feel it is important for us to have a voice in government particularly as its role increases in health care delivery."

The resolution, now part of the MSMS official platform, gives the society and its associated groups the ability to advocate for change in government policy.

"It's important that the voices of our Wayne students get heard at the state level," said Stan, explaining that many of the patients she has assisted while serving as a volunteer in area clinics are overweight and have poor nutrition. "It was really exciting to work on a resolution that was inspired by some of the numerous challenges faced by our patients as they try to live healthy lives in Detroit."

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