The Health Advocate Role (cont.)

Preparing future physicians for socially responsive practice

Vanessa Brcic

Clinical Scholar Program

UBC Department of Family Practice

How did you get started?

Working briefly for CIDA, I saw the prevalence of unmet health needs at the heart of many grass- roots community initiatives, and began to understand the connection between physical and social environments and health. I was initially attracted to medicine with an interest in advocating for healthy community development and bringing an interest in determinants of health to clinical practice.

From the first weeks of medical school I found space for these interests, campaigning against an expressway that now runs through what was Canada’s largest undeveloped urban green space, within metres of several elementary schools and through one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada. The health issues surrounding this project seemed clear, as did the importance of my engagement as a future physician.

Primary care seemed like a fundamental place to learn how to address population health challenges at the heart of a community’s health.

What is satisfying about this work for you as a physician?

I see health advocacy as a satisfying as well as an imperative part of my practice. Imagining how to improve my practice environment and work towards a more equitable primary health care system is a great motivational force. Sharing these ideas with colleagues and patients amplifies this effect enormously, particularly within the UBC Department of Family Practice.

I don’t see myself as a champion by any means; I am an exponent of health advocacy at most, someone who seeks out opportunities to participate in her community. Those of us who understand our roles as advocates need to walk with other health providers, seeking to engage more deeply with colleagues, patients and communities on how to improve population health.

What pearls of wisdom would you like to share with medical colleagues about this work?

As an educated and privileged member of society, I feel a certain civic duty to be engaged in community processes and policy. This can be as simple as voting, or in my professional life, taking a few minutes to read the news and discuss important issues with colleagues; take the time to learn something about my practice population and the communities in which they live. These are basic levels of engagement but can foster future action on issues that are important to the health care needs of people who are most vulnerable.

How do you think more physicians can be engaged in HA?

I believe advocacy is more about perspective and openness. I don’t believe perspective is difficult to achieve, it is simply an approach to practice. It is about more sincere contemplation, productive conversations, and direction towards action. It is about shedding the cloak of disempowerment placed on our shoulders by heavy workloads and an often inefficient system, to think of how we might run things differently and optimally. Advocacy is simply the refusal to slouch under the weight of disempowerment and complaining about a system we are doing nothing to change.

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