UNMC’s Alicia Smith is taking a year off from medical school to accept the American Medical Association’s Government Relations Advocacy Fellowship.
Smith was awarded the national post in March and will take up her duties in June, spending a year in Washington, D.C., to help the AMA provide leadership, advocacy and education for medical students, residents and fellows, and to assist the AMA advocacy team on its health care policy efforts.
Smith, who joined the AMA earlier this year, was inspired to get more involved after hearing talks given by Kelly Caverzagie, M.D., and UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.
“The American Medical Association is an important voice for American physicians, and all of UNMC is proud of Alicia’s appointment to this prestigious fellowship,” said Dr. Gold. “There are vital issues facing both health care and medical education, and in her role with the AMA, Alicia will play an important part in helping to educate her fellow students, as well as residents, faculty and practicing physicians nationwide, on the topics of concern facing the health care field, today and in the future.”
Smith also attended a national AMA meeting in Dallas, and left, she said, “awed by the level of medical student involvement on the national level and wanting to get more involved.”
“I have been pretty involved in state politics,” she said. “I worked with the Nebraska Medical Association and the student delegates. Advocacy has really drawn me in in the last nine months.”
Dr. Caverzagie says Smith has shown she’s willing to do what is necessary to make a difference.
“In her early career, she had proven to be a strong advocate for patients and our profession, and her selection as the Government Relations Advocacy Fellow is further evidence of her abilities,” said Dr. Caverzagie, a longtime AMA member who is currently an alternate delegate from Nebraska to the AMA House of Delegates. “The AMA and the AMA Medical Student Section greatly value the role of the GRAF in their advocacy efforts, and I know Alicia will fulfill this responsibility admirably.”
Smith’s term will last until June 2016, but she expects its effects to be lifelong.
“I hope to continue to be an advocate and maybe have a bigger role in politics,” she said. “I want to use this experience to gain knowledge for myself and to raise awareness for other medical students.”
Congratulations, Alicia!
It is great to see UNMC students doing big things on a national level!
Congratulations Alicia. Your record here at the state level here in Nebraska has been well noted.
This is so great! We are cheering you on in middle America!