This summer, Nicholas Rohrhoff is trading his lab coat for the more politically suited threads of Washington. The third-year Miller School student isn't abandoning the M.D. program -- he is taking a year off to serve as the government relations advocacy fellow for the American Medical Association.
The prestigious AMA advocacy program is in its seventh year, and Rohrhoff was selected from a competitive pool of medical students from across the country, who are members of the AMA Medical Student Section. During their year in Washington, fellows become part of the AMA's dynamic advocacy team that seeks to improve health care by advancing the medical group's legislative agenda, all for the benefit of physicians, medical students and patients.
Rohrhoff, the son of a financial consultant and graphic designer who spent his summers as a teen working in a doctor's office in Naperville, Illinois, is chair of the Florida Medical Association's Medical Student Section, an affiliate of the national AMA. He looks forward to learning from the experts while giving voice to the medical student experience, all with health care reform looming large in the background.
"The ability to go to Washington for a whole year and be involved in promoting issues that advance the climate of health care was a huge draw for me," said Rohrhoff, whose passion for health care policy and advocacy is eclipsed only by his desire to be a primary care physician. Ideally, he would like to work in both fields.
"In 2010, if you're in medicine, you're in politics," Rohrhoff said. "But there are so many great physicians out there who don't want to do anything political; they want nothing more than to serve their patients' direct health care needs. I want to be a voice for these physicians, and for the medical students now who want to follow the same path."
Rohrhoff, who is a regular contributor of newspaper and magazine editorials on the issue of health care and health policy, is well prepared for the job inside the Beltway. He has been a member of the state medical association's student chapter since he enrolled in medical school and has held several positions in the organization before becoming its chairman last summer. As the advocacy fellow, he will be the chief student organizer of the AMA's lobby day, an annual event where medical students meet in Washington with their congressmen or congressional aides.
At this year's event in late February, Rohrhoff helped train the less-experienced AMA student members in the art of meaningful discourse with political powerbrokers. After the training session, students listened to the event's guest speakers, Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland, and Shale Wong, M.D., who works in the Office of the First Lady on the Let's Move initiative.
For students who were not able to make it to Washington for the meeting, Rohrhoff was delighted to represent them in health care discussions with their congressional aides.
"A lot of preparation is needed before you walk into that room," Rohrhoff said. "Many members of Congress are sympathetic to health care issues and want to make the system work for everyone. But the issues are complex, and you have to be ready to make an impact in a limited time."
During his year-long stint in Washington, Rohrhoff will report to the AMA's director of the Division of Legislative Counsel. His work day will include researching and analyzing issues in health care and policy; developing talking points, letters and other advocacy documents; and attending AMA meetings, including those of the AMA Council on Legislation and AMA National Advocacy Conference. He also will work extensively with the Medical Student Section to develop and communicate its policy agenda.
At year's end, Rohrhoff will return to the Miller School to continue his studies toward becoming a doctor. And, he stresses, an advocate.
"My parents always told me to find a career at the intersection of my passion and my abilities," Rohrhoff said. "Politics is a force-multiplier for health care. At their intersection, the potential exists to improve everyone's ability to care for their patients."
