Liam Cotter, BS, MS, M4
Of the many ways advocacy has enriched my life, one boon that stands out most is the network of connections I’ve formed through advocacy work across the field of radiology. Now as a fourth-year medical student, I sometimes reminisce about the residency interview trail, the countless socials, one-on-one interviews and Q&A sessions with attendings, residents and medical students whom I had previously met through the MSS Pre-RAN Subcommittee of the ACR® Radiology Advocacy Network (RAN).
Advocating for another individual, changing a policy or attempting to understand the medical needs of an entire population demands empathy, dedication, grit and an ability to think in new and creative ways. In my experience, it brings people, in this case radiologist physicians from a plethora of different backgrounds, together under one banner to find a lasting solution to important and specific topics that ultimately improve patient care and career satisfaction.
From joining MSS Pre-RAN alone, I’ve attended discussions led by students dedicated to educational reform at both the undergraduate and graduate level, engaged in workshops discussing the art of resolution writing and personally presented on the implementation of mandated breast cancer screening for incarcerated women in New York State, commonly known as the Eleonora Legacy Act. My presentation particularly opened my eyes to the amount of effort and time that policy change demands.
The ability to identify a societal disparity and write policy to counteract that disparity is itself impressive. However, the sheer amount of time it takes to codify such changes and apply them to a community is what I believe makes advocacy work so crucial and rewarding. The Eleonora Legacy Act alone took close to four years to finally be signed into law!
Much like the overwhelming feeling of “I have no idea what I’m doing” that we all experience when first starting medical school, witnessing the astonishing depth to which radiology advocates go to ensure the delivery of quality, equitable and affordable medical care is intellectually, spiritually and emotionally invigorating.
As the dust of medical school begins to settle, the behemoth that is intern year of residency becomes ever clearer. Although I’m admittedly anxious for the year ahead, I find solace in the lessons I’ve learned from engaging in advocacy work as a student, and I look forward to where the RAN will take me as a resident and beyond!
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