Serving Your Community Outside the Exam Room

Every day, I am faced with the downstream consequences of food insecurity, housing and security, unsafe neighborhoods, economic instability, inability to afford medications, and chronic stress. Patients who deal with these issues are often the most challenging to help because there is no pill, test, or medical procedure that can address them. We spend far too much money at the distal end of the healthcare delivery system and miss massive opportunities to not only prevent disease, but also to promote health further upstream.

When an opportunity recently presented itself, I felt like it was time to put my money where my mouth is. I have decided to run for the school board in my local community because by being at the table where these health policy decisions are made, I can have far more impact on the health of my community and my profession. I am committed to reinforcing and nurturing the health of my community by contributing my experience as a healthcare professional toward the legacy of high-quality public education—the ultimate upstream building block to promote good health.

I’m excited to cultivate collaborative relationships and to advocate for evidence-based decisions and solution-oriented governance. Physicians have the interpersonal skills, critical reasoning, and evidence-based perspective to succeed at policy making, which make them fantastic leaders and public servants. Although many of us tend to be perfectionists, I challenge everyone to take a risk. Expand your comfort zones and find friendship and support in whatever way you see fit to serve your community.

Regardless of the school board election outcome, this process has been fantastic, and I hope that other physicians will consider looking for different ways to serve their community. I will leave you with my new favorite quote, which I seem to be saying to myself often: “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re probably not big enough” (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf).