A medical student’s advocacy journey [PODCAST]

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“As I looked across the boxes on my screen, I saw the gleaming faces of my peers. Just as it did then, and as it has for countless of my peers since, involvement in the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) Advocacy Day showed me the difference that medical student voices make.”

Scott Landman is an osteopathic medical student.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, “Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA).”

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Hosted by Kevin Pho, MD, The Podcast by KevinMD shares the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from.

Transcript

Kevin Pho: Hi, welcome to the show, where we share the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from. My name is Kevin Pho, founder and editor of KevinMD. Rate and review the show at KevinMD.com/rate. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/follow. On today’s show, we have Scott Landman. He is an osteopathic medical student, and his KevinMD article is titled “Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA).” Scott, welcome to the show.

Scott Landman: Thank you so much for having me.

Kevin Pho: We’ll get into the article a little bit, but first off, just briefly share your story and journey to where you are today.

Scott Landman: Thank you again for having me. I’m a third-year medical student at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, and I went to undergrad at Binghamton University. I was born and raised in New York, and I’m very passionate about academic medicine. I didn’t think that I would ever get into advocacy work, but through SOMA, this organization that I started off in at just my school, I’m now the national treasurer. So I love to share the experiences that I’ve had and help medical students advocate for themselves.

Kevin Pho: So you said that you initially weren’t interested in student advocacy, but then you got involved with organizations. Tell me about the genesis of that interest.

Scott Landman: Yeah, I think that all clinicians, all future physicians, and health care workers generally care about more systemic issues about their patients but don’t know how to address them. So when I was a medical student, I found a lane of policy writing that can advocate to different organizations for institutional change, whether it be the inclusion of darker skin tones in our education. This is one of the ways that I can make a small impact that can hopefully change health care in the future.

Kevin Pho: Now, before we get into your article, in general, what percentage of your class would you say is interested in this entry into organized medicine?

Scott Landman: I don’t know a specific percent. When I speak to other medical students, specifically osteopathic medical students, with the background of mind, body, and spirit being the core of patient care, these topics tend to be very inciting in terms of passions for bettering health care. Not everyone is necessarily included or jumps in immediately. We’re all busy medical students, and some of us just don’t take the time to jump into advocacy or policy writing.

Kevin Pho: So let’s talk more about your experience. Your KevinMD article is titled “Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA).” Now, for those of you who get a chance to read your article, just walk my audience through it and share the story of why you decided to write it.

Scott Landman: Sure. SOMA, or the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, is an organization found at osteopathic medical schools around the United States. If you attend an osteopathic medical school, the chances of having a SOMA chapter there are pretty high. Besides getting leadership opportunities from the chapter level, and getting trained in the speech of policy, the writing of policy, and the debate, this is where we get quite a bit of experience in professional development that you don’t really think you’d get in medical school. So that’s kind of my way of including medical education through an external source.

This specific experience was when I participated in DO Day for osteopathic medicine, and we set up meetings with our congresspeople. I was lucky enough to get on the phone with Tom Suozzi, who is a congressperson in New York, and I had this really great experience where I was advocating for a specific bill that had to do with equity in COVID-19 research. There were so many things going on at the federal level when the COVID-19 epidemic took over, but obviously, from a medical student’s perspective, we want to know the most up-to-date research on the different populations, so that we can best serve our patients. So we had the experience of asking him to co-sign a bill, and he said yes, and that was particularly powerful to me.

Kevin Pho: So take us into that interaction. What was that episode of advocacy like when you were interacting with that congressperson’s office?

Scott Landman: They’re all very busy, and especially during COVID, this was the start of mask mandates and everything going on, so it was shifted to virtual. What I thought would be more mundane became a pretty great experience, because Suozzi was actually in an airport traveling somewhere, and he popped up in the conversation maybe four or five minutes in. And that was not the only thing that we were advocating for. So the fact that we had a specific ask, that he agreed with our advocacy points, and that he decided to make the decision to co-sign the bill, that was particularly cool.

Kevin Pho: So what are some of the other major issues that SOMA advocates for currently?

Scott Landman: I would say, in terms of internally, a lot of what SOMA advocates for is for medical students. There is a bit of historical discrimination against DO medical students when it comes to residency. So both SOMA and another organization, COSGP, work in tandem to make sure that discrimination is not something that’s experienced by DO medical students, who also now comprise a quarter of the graduating medical students in the United States, and to ensure that the public is educated on osteopathic medicine, which is something pretty great that we get to do. And we advocate for our careers, which is something kind of unique that most MDs don’t have the experience of doing.

Kevin Pho: So when you’re involved with SOMA, is there any training involved? How much guidance do you have when it comes to advocating for these issues?

Scott Landman: Sure. The core of SOMA is resolution workshops, where we get to write policy suggestions for the organization. When this does happen, we have three major meetings throughout the year: a spring meeting, a summer meeting, and a fall meeting. We have something called the House of Delegates, which is a collection of all of the SOMA chapters, and the SOMA chapters vote on what becomes SOMA policy. The cool part is you can see all of SOMA’s stances and advocacy work through the website, studentdo.org.

But when it comes to actual training, I think what I’ve learned the most, besides communication skills, is the way that you speak under what’s known as Robert’s Rules. It is a format of debate that makes it equitable, so the minority may speak, but the majority can vote on whether or not to continue a conversation. Learning this new language, whether or not I thought this was going to be something I’d learn in medical school, has been quite a treat.

Kevin Pho: You mentioned earlier that you’re a very busy medical student, like all medical students are. Estimate the time commitment it takes to be involved with organized medicine during medical school.

Scott Landman: I would believe that it’s what you put in that you get out of it. As a national board of trustees member, I’m putting in a few hours a week, maybe upwards of 10 to 15, maybe even higher when it comes to significant decisions, such as managing the budget, voting on the budget, and having board of trustee meetings. This is, again, something I didn’t think that I would ever be involved in. I take my position very seriously, that I’m representing the House of Delegates, because when the House of Delegates isn’t in session, the board of trustees acts in the interest of the House of Delegates. There’s this cool mirroring of the House of Delegates to democracy in the United States that is pretty exciting to be a part of.

So, you know, there are going to be parts of it that are unfortunate, because there are times when you write policy and maybe it’s redundant. Maybe that becomes the argument for the opposing side, that we actually don’t need to vote on this policy. There’s always a few where they say, “We actually already have it. It’s implemented through this.” So what we try to do when we go to the COCA, the accrediting body of osteopathic medical schools, is ask for extremely specific word changes in their constitution or bylaws. That, I think, has made me a way better communicator, because I can now advocate for myself better, and hopefully advocate for patients better in the future.

Kevin Pho: We’re talking to Scott Landman. He’s an osteopathic medical student. His KevinMD article is titled “Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA).” Scott, speaking to medical students in general, MD or DO, in your view, why should more medical students get involved with organized medicine?

Scott Landman: I haven’t necessarily used the term organized medicine when it comes to any of this, and again, I still consider myself pretty amateur, so I’m very humbled to be serving in this position. When it comes down to it, you’re not going to change the realm of health care and the issues facing our patients when you’re in the room with a patient. It takes a larger scale to formally address some of the major issues, whether it’s cutting back Medicare or the fact that vaccine distribution has been a long issue. You can see that most recently with the monkeypox distribution. It’s cool to be in an experience where you feel that you can vote and be a part of a bigger group that advocates for what medical students and physicians ultimately feel is vital to public health. I think that really sums up why I loved my experience in SOMA, because I was able to make an impact in public health.

Kevin Pho: And my final question: What are some of your take-home messages that you want to leave with the KevinMD audience?

Scott Landman: In terms of take-home messages, I’m a big advocate for students. I think students, as the future of health care, can provide a lot of insight into more novel ways to address some of the issues in residency, internship, medical school, and premedical programs. I really believe that the more we include medical students in the process of the creation of programs, the better these programs will be at preparing for real-life physicianship.

Kevin Pho: Scott, thank you so much for sharing your time and insight, and thanks again for being on the show.

Scott Landman: Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

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