The meaning of advocacy

To echo my colleague’s thoughts, I have greatly enjoyed my time in Dr. HPK’s clinic. It has been a fascinating week of seeing patients with rare diseases and the knowledge I have gained is sure to serve me well in my future career as a family doctor. During clerkship, I gained an appreciation for the ‘bread and butter’ of medicine but hardly encountered the rare cases, so this selective experience has been insightful.

In addition to expanding my knowledge base, there is another aspect of medicine I want to discuss – the role of the doctor as a patient advocate. What does that mean? Advocacy is of paramount importance to the doctor-patient relationship and to be an advocate is to advance the health care interests of patients. The health care system is complicated as it is and having a doctor who actively and responsibly advocates for patients’ interests is fundamental. In Wednesday’s clinic, I saw firsthand how powerful advocacy can be to effect progress and change. One of Dr. HPK’s patients had recently been diagnosed with a tumour that was amenable to surgical resection. However, the patient’s surgery had been rescheduled three times so far, much to the frustration of Dr. HPK and the patient himself. Rather than accept this as a systemic problem out of his hands, Dr. HPK began firing off e-mails to surgical colleagues and making telephone calls. This process took no less than one hour and Dr. HPK’s perseverance to try and help his patient have his surgery as soon as possible was very admirable. There are many things a doctor does ‘behind the scenes’, of which advocating for patients is one of them. I want to be this kind of doctor too – someone who helps patients fight their battles, who takes time to write that extra letter or make that phone call, if it means that patients will ultimately get the best of care.

-Laura