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1st appeared
26
January 2001
Walking Tours Help Put Future Docs on the Docket US congressional staffers got an earful and eyeful last week when they visited UCSF as part of Project Medical Education. Project Medical Education (PME) is a nationwide program that aims to educate elected federal representatives and the analysts who assist them in the ways of academic medicine and to impress upon them the critical funding difficulties facing these institutions. The visit gave staffers who are interested in medical issues the opportunity to speak with UCSF students, residents and faculty.
UCSF invited about a dozen staff members from the offices of US Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Anna Eshoo, Robert Matsui, Nancy Pelosi and Lynn Woolsey. Over two days, staffers toured laboratories and patient-care services and also heard overviews from campus leaders on UCSF, the mission of the teaching hospitals and medical schools, the health care marketplace, the process of becoming a physician, and funding for medical education. PME, which operates in partnership with the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), sponsored its first program two years ago, with Duke University as the host, and followed up last year with a program at Harvard University and its teaching hospitals. Program administrator Julie Gay notes that the project grew out of initial research by the AAMC and feedback from governmental relations representatives. These inquiries revealed that lawmakers -- even those in charge of health-related legislation -- appear to be inadequately informed about academic medicine. The government servants often lack an accurate understanding of how long it takes to educate physicians, of the scope of faculty involvement in research and medical care, and of the role of research in patient care and in the training of physicians. The AAMC maintains that educating legislators about the public benefit delivered by academic medical centers through teaching, research, patient care and service to the uninsured is crucial to reversing the impact of federal legislation that has resulted in a decrease in federal funding for medical schools. Mark Laret, CEO of the Medical Center, who spoke to group about the role of the teaching hospital, said it was a worthwhile opportunity to provide a reality check about the state of the medical center. "It was very clear that the congressional staffers assume we have the information technology in place to adhere to federal standards," he said. "We gave them a real education that we need to develop clinical information technology and that it is a major expense item for us." As distinct from the lobbying of members and staff that takes place on Capital Hill, "PME is a kind of hands-on education to let them know what it’s all about," Gay says. Neal Cohen, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs with the UCSF School of Medicine and a participant in last week’s PME event, notes that staffers were surprised to hear about the negative impacts of legislation on the viability of academic medical centers. The visit not only allowed staffers to learn about academic medicine and the challenges facing teaching hospitals, it also enabled participants from the UCSF campus to appreciate what Congressional staff do. "Many people who interacted with the visitors got a better sense of how the legislative process works, of the role of the staff in the Congress and of the impact that staff understanding of the academic health care environment has on potential legislative changes," Cohen says. One goal of PME is to foster dialogue between the academic and legislative communities, although it is probably too soon to tell what the recent visit by staffers will engender. Of his own experience, Cohen says, "We talked about some potential opportunities to meet again. I would have no hesitation about calling on some of them when I go to Washington as a follow-up to things we talked about." A debriefing by PME staff of staffers who participated in previous years’ programs revealed that more than 68 percent formed a more positive attitude toward medical education, and as a result of the program, nearly 39 percent conducted or requested additional research on related issues. Scott Sudduth, Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations for the University of California, notes that educating lawmakers is an especially high priority now that there is a new presidential administration as well as a new Congress. "You’re dealing with a whole new slate of players, many of whom have not had much background with these issues," he says. "That’s why endeavors like Project Medical Education are so important. A lot of members are new or have taken on new committee assignments." A major priority for academic medical centers, including the five in the UC system, Sudduth says, is to maintain funding for key graduate medical education payments. This federal funding now comes from the Medicare program, and for each academic medical center it is based on the number of hospital beds occupied by Medicare patients. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 calls for these payments to be decreased by 29 percent over several years, but in both 1999 and 2000 some of the cuts were restored. The loss of Medicare funds compounds the loss of compensation from private insurers. "Medicare is one of the few insurance programs left today that still recognizes the additional cost of training and education," Sudduth says. Sudduth believes that other issues affecting academic medical centers on legislators’ minds during the new session will include conflicts of interest in faculty research, intellectual property rights and medical privacy. Links: American Association of Medical Colleges Source: Jeffrey Norris, UCSF Publications |
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