Fellows Find Their Voices on Capitol Hill

“If I or my colleagues or patients or new fellows don’t go help lawmakers understand what we do, then lawmakers are going to make policy decisions that directly affect us and our patients without knowing what it will do to us,” says Dr. Downey. “I wanted participants to understand that we have a voice and, at a bare minimum, to leave the event knowing they have the tools to use it, that it doesn’t have to be time consuming. It can be as simple as writing a letter or picking up the phone or sending a tweet.”

Kelly April Tyrrell writes about health, science and health policy. She lives in Madison, Wis.