Legislative Advocacy

As physicians struggle with the day-to-day challenges of healing patients and running a business, it's tough to remember that advocacy really matters. After all, advocacy is something someone else does, and physicians almost never see the results today.

In this, our annual advocacy issue, we want to remind you that advocacy matters to every physician — and it matters a lot!

First, the results are often hidden. In his short story "Silver Blaze," Sherlock Holmes speaks of the guard dog that didn't bark as the clue to solving a murder. Often, the "dog that didn't bark" is the bad legislation that wasn't enacted, the poor decision that was stopped, and the awful ruling that was never made. We all see the affirmative successes, but we seldom see the averted disasters.

Second, advocacy results often take years to show themselves. Consider that every candidate for state and national office from San Diego County is interviewed, educated, and contacted in a way that, as candidates, they understand physician issues, and, as office holders, they are frequently reminded. They may not always agree with every position we have, but they sure as heck understand the issues and their impacts.

Third, advocacy is not an arena where everything goes your way. So while a particular issue may not go exactly the way one would like, sometimes organized medicine has to compromise. Remember: It's not the operating room where the doctor has the final say!

Fourth, when you speak, the politicians listen. When you are quiet, the voices of our opponents win. So when we ask you to call your congressional representative or U.S. senators, to fax your California assemblyperson or senator, or to contribute to a campaign, your participation matters, and your failure to participate is noticed.

Lastly, we need you — all of you! Advocacy is the voice of one or two, but with a chorus behind them. That chorus is physician membership. It is the power of one to speak for many. Absent the many, we who do this all the time are just empty voices. We need your membership, we need your contributions to CALPAC, and we need you to get involved when we ask you to. Contact me anytime on my cell at (619) 206-8282 or email me at Gehring@SDCMS.org to discuss how you can get involved!