A-22: Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellowship - Advancing Health Equity

The proposed panel presentation by Satcher Health Leadership Institute faculty, the AMA's Center for Health Equity staff, and fellows from the inaugural cohort will present the fellowship's origins and its foundational principles, including Political Determinants of Health, and help the learner better understand the AMA's strategic approaches to equity as well as discuss ways they can operationalize equity in their work.

Using an anti-racist, equity-centered learning framework, the fellowship provides a mentoring and training platform that equips participants with the foundational skills, tools, and knowledge to engage in institutional and political health advocacy.

A fellow in the current inaugural cohort expressed, “I have gotten the opportunity to meet so many amazing physicians throughout the country…some are still in training, some are attendings and some are in fellowship. The summation of us is something that I don't think the world has ever seen before… I know have a deeper understanding of why the structure of our country is the way it is, and why the structural inequities have continued and—in a robust way—continue to be perpetuated.” To probe such issues deeply “and to have the protected time to do that was a huge draw,” she said.

The fellowship aligns with the AMA's strategic approach of equitable collaborations and to eliminate health inequities by pushing upstream and creating pathways for healing and justice which will remove obstacles in patient care.