Healthcare Policy Advocacy Elective

Rotation Overview

In this rotation, students will choose an area of interest in health policy advocacy and they will work with senior legislators, policy advisors, state health department representatives or advocates of various professional organizations that are involved in advocacy efforts for health policy. Medical students must receive prior approval regarding which health policy issue they want to work on and which individual or professional organization they plan to work with during their on-site experience. 

It is anticipated that students involved in the advocacy elective rotation will be in Des Moines for a minimum of 4 weeks in order to fully realize the impact of health policy and advocacy and best practices. Students may be asked to participate in meetings outside of the 4-week on-site experience.

Students will have the opportunity to select from a wide variety of health policy issues that may be of interest to them. Based on that interest, the student will be paired with a legislator, policy advisor, state agency representative involved in health policy advocacy, or an advocate of a particular professional organization to help guide and mentor him/her/them through the advocacy process. 

Expectations

At the end of the 4-week rotation, the student will be required to present their project to the distinction track leadership, project mentors, and peers sometime later in the spring term. 

Evaluations will also be distributed to the students about their experience and the individual/organization for whom they worked. 

Prerequisites

This rotation is open only to Healthcare Delivery Science Management and Policy Distinction Track students during the M4 spring term.

Contact Information

For further information about this rotation, please contact Kelly Breffle-Starbird, Administrative Director, in the Consortium office at 515-241-4455.

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