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Kickin' It with the HPLA Chairs
74 Plays7 months ago
In this episode of Kickin’ It in The Lounge, Jared sits with the SNMA HPLA Chairs and discusses the importance of civic engagement (especially amongst physicians), SNMA/HPLA’s partnership with the nonprofit organization Vot-ER, the Healthy Democracy campaign, and National Voter Registration Day on September 17th! Tune in to stay informed on why being politically active as health professionals is paramount, and be provided a clear reminder on why it’s crucial to register to vote AND show up and show out to the polls this November!
Be sure to continue to stay tuned for more of our upcoming programming being released here on The Lounge!
Click here to get started on registering to vote/checking your voter registration status: http://vote.health/snma
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Transcript
Introduction to SNMA and Podcast Guests
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back to Kicking It In The Lounge, our lighthearted and conversational podcast where we like to dive into the world of the Student National Medical Association. On each episode, we'll feature an in-depth interview with individuals and organizations affiliated with the SNMA, offering a blend of professional insights and personal stories. Join us as we explore the responsibilities of board members, learn about their roles, and get to know them beyond their professional capacities. So without further ado, let's get this show on the road.
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm your host, Jared Jeffrey, and I'm joined by three lovely individuals today. Not a lot of you guys to introduce yourselves. Okay. yeah Hi, I'm Kaylin. I'm currently taking a little nice gap year between my second and third year mountain at Howard. So shout out to HU. Uh, I'm originally from Maryland and I'm one of the HPLA co-chairs. I'm definitely very excited to be here with you. Welcome, welcome.
00:00:59
Speaker
Hi everyone, my name is Adeia. I went to the real HU for undergrad, Hampton University, but I am currently a fourth year medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville, and I have the pleasure of also serving as one of the HPLA co-chairs for the SNMA.
00:01:19
Speaker
I like that. I like the HUB starting early. Yeah. Homecoming season is around the corner, isn't it? Okay. Let's get it. Let's get it. And last but not least. Yes, I'm Gerald Patterson. I'm a second year at Brody School of Medicine located in Greenville, North Carolina. And I currently serve as the HVLA Vice Co-chair. Thank you for having me on.
SNMA's Partnership with VoteER
00:01:44
Speaker
welcome to kicking it in the lounge and today we're going to be talking about a very special partnership that the SNMA has made and i'm actually not going to introduce this one i'm going to let you guys as the professionals give give our listeners a little bit about it so without further ado put us on what we kicking in talking about today today We have an opportunity to kind of talk to you and the audience of the lounge a little bit about the SNMA's efforts this year with voter information, voter registration, and then more specifically about the partnership that we've developed with an organization called VoteER. Very nice, very nice. Okay, so let's get right into it. I've never heard of VoteER. Can someone please put me on, tell me a little bit about them? What's up?
00:02:35
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So Vote ER is an organization that was founded in 2020 by an emergency room physician, Alistair Martin. It's a 501c3 nonprofit organization. um And their whole goal is kind of focused on being able to integrate civic engagement into healthcare care organizations.
00:02:57
Speaker
And so they partner with um institutions, healthcare care um institutions, ah social work institutions across the country to be able to bring kind of nonpartisan civic engagement tools to people across the country and integrate those into the healthcare care space.
00:03:18
Speaker
Wow, that's a mouthful right there, okay. yeah um Very nice, very nice. And you said that we're partnering with the, so Vodiar is partnering with the SNMA, and when did that partnership bomb come about? So that partnership has been going on for a couple of years at this point, um probably almost as early as when Vodiar originally got founded. So around 2020, 2021, Vodiar and the SNMA started to have somewhat of an unofficial partnership, being able to kind of get Vodiar involved by having an intern from the SNMA. work with the organization and kind of see civic engagement in healthcare spaces looks like. This year, well, I guess last kind of administrative year for the SNMA, we were able to make that partnership a bit more formal. And um through that, we are now partnering with them for some initiatives that hopefully we'll be able to kind of get into today. Very nice, very nice.
00:04:22
Speaker
Okay, so that's what's up. For those of our listeners that may not know, you mentioned civic engagement a couple of times. Could you elaborate a little bit on like what that might look like?
Civic Engagement and VoteER Initiatives
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah, so civic engagement is really kind of a umbrella term, which essentially lends itself to both political and non-political activities that can be done either by individuals or organizations in an effort to improve the quality of life for members of that particular community. So some of the things that that looks like is volunteering for a food bank.
00:05:02
Speaker
um You know going out to city council meetings or county council meetings um engaging in online forums about you know trash pickup in your community and how the trash workers being on strike is impacting ah the health of the kids, or um things like that. And then ultimately, kind of one of the things that we're really focused on, particularly with 2024 being a pretty large election year, is another form of civic civic engagement is voting. And that's across the spectrum, term voting in your local elections, state elections, and then obviously, ultimately, um your federal
00:05:48
Speaker
elections. And I feel like that's something that sometimes people miss that like civic engagement encompasses so much. Because just because like you have these big positions, um kind of like running for office, like you're thinking, Oh, I'm voting for president. That's all I'm voting for. No, you're voting for things that affect you at the local level, things that affect your daily lives. And those are things that we definitely need to think about when we're thinking about our responsibility um to vote in this election.
00:06:19
Speaker
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. How does vote er intend to use the partnership with the SMA to push civic engagement forward?
00:06:32
Speaker
Yeah, so um I think there's a lot of different ways that we as an organization are able to partner with VOTER. And I kind of lended the conversation earlier to one of those, which was the VOTER SNMA intern. And so that person gets to work directly with the VOTER as a member of the SNMA.
00:06:58
Speaker
and kind of learn the ins and the outs of a lot of the work that they're doing. But a part of that partnership is also that the intern has an opportunity to present at AMEC each year as a workshop that's a part of the HPLA track.
00:07:14
Speaker
of AMEC. And so that's one way that we get to kind of inform our membership about what's going on at Villa VR, but then also how they themselves can become ah civically engaged. Way number two is Each year in the month of September, so right now, VOTER hosts a healthy democracy campaign, which is an online-based um medical school or medical student competition for voter registration. Individual medical schools can form healthy democracy campaign teams.
00:07:54
Speaker
And then it's kind of a friendly competition to see which school um can get the most people registered to vote. um And as the SNMA, we have essentially a team, but when you as an individual school sign up for the Healthy Democracy campaign, you can indicate that your team is signing up as a part of this partnership with the SNMA.
00:08:19
Speaker
um and kind of help our efforts in getting people registered to vote and then ultimately getting those registered people to show up to the polls on election day. Okay. Okay. So it sounds, so this is what I've gathered so far. It sounds like vote yeah ER r is a nonprofit, just like the SNA and they kind of work towards getting work done in the community with regard to the upkeep of the community. So they're looking towards, um, ensuring that the members of a particular space or the members of a particular community ensure that they exercise their rights to be able to
00:08:58
Speaker
see to how that community is run. Am I am i on the right track? that That sums it up pretty well. Yeah. Cool.
Challenges in Healthcare Civic Participation
00:09:06
Speaker
and Also, they have been focusing on physicians also getting out to vote because being well educated, you know, physicians are less likely to vote than maybe other people at that same demographic. And so we definitely want to focus on, you know,
00:09:24
Speaker
as SNMA members getting our medical students to go out and vote so that they keep conducting those practices once they're practicing physicians as well. Interesting. yeah And physicians not voting, is that is that just um due to time constraints?
00:09:42
Speaker
um There's a lot of factors to it. And this has actually kind of been shown in studies over and over again. oh The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be civically engaged unless you're a doctor. now and so and And the problem isn't getting better.
00:09:59
Speaker
um In the late 90s, early 2000s, physicians voted less than, like 9% less than the general population. By 2018, that number was 14% less than the general population, which time constraints are a big part of that. One of the efforts that VOTER has been pushing both for medical students and for physicians is dedicated time off on election days to be able to go to vote.
00:10:27
Speaker
and or having health care institutions actually serve as polling stations. um So those are two of the things that they've been kind of working on for the last few years. Obviously, there's a lot of factors at play to make that happen. But in 2024, we know that a lot of health care decisions are not being made in the doctor's office. They're not being made in the confines of a room with a physician and their patient. They're being made at the legislative level. And so as health care workers, as future physicians, we owe it to ourselves, but ultimately we owe it to our patients to be engaged in these conversations because the way that we're going to take care of our patients whether you're a fourth year like me and that'll hopefully be next year, or you know you're a pre-med looking at potentially being a physician in five years, 10 years, whatever the case is, whatever that time span is, a lot of the things that we're going to be able to do
00:11:34
Speaker
to help our patients, to move our patients care forward are not things that we are solely going to be able to decide ourselves. And us being civically engaged, us being registered to vote, us getting um out to the polls, us encouraging our patients to go vote are all ways that we can kind of help control that narrative. Wow.
00:11:56
Speaker
um That's, that's really something right there. You are putting me on right now. You mentioned just now that, um, and I thought this was like brilliant when you said it, you mentioned that converting healthcare sites into voting, uh, voting locations. is Is that something that is like feasible? Is that something that we see coming down the pipeline anytime soon?
00:12:21
Speaker
I definitely think it's feasible. I don't know that ah this was something that was being worked on in 2022 when I was a VOTR intern. I don't know that there's been a whole lot of traction to the idea of making um healthcare care centers um voting, like actual voting polls, but they're really great places to get people involved civically. So the vast majority of the American population gets registered to vote at the DMV or for the people not from the state of South Carolina, the Department of Motor Vehicles, I know different states call it different names. And so I just want you to think how many times a year do you visit the DMV?
00:13:05
Speaker
um the average American that answer is one at most. um But the average American visits their healthcare provider at least four times a year. And so there's just more touch points to actually get you engaged. um There's more touch touch points to be able to make you kind of understand why it's important for you to be civically engaged. um And healthcare care is just a really big,
00:13:34
Speaker
issue on pretty much every political ticket at this point. Absolutely, absolutely. um I want to switch gears here just for a little bit and speak to the importance of actually knowing who your state and local candidates are for election. So, you know, it's a presidential election year. We're seeing all of the campaigns. We're seeing all of the, um, all of the hoopla, you know, the, the, uh, the ah debate is coming up. We see, we saw the DNC, we saw the RNC and you know, that stuff kind of like overshadows the other elections, right? Um,
00:14:18
Speaker
I guess what I'm what i'm wondering is, like and especially from a civic engagement point of view, what is the relevance of ensuring that you know who you're voting for for your state and local candidates?
00:14:30
Speaker
I mean I feel like it's so important because all like once you think big picture is when people get lost and so they're like oh nothing applies to me like I'm not that closely involved to it but like all of the things at the local level like I feel like a day I had mentioned it earlier like when your trash days are like what your taxes look like, all of those things like at the local level, you have to think about there are people working on all of those things and ensuring that you as a resident of that state get certain rights. So like, I can only speak for myself, because um I'm from Maryland, I vote in Maryland. And um ever since I was young, my mom would always had me go voting with her at the polls.
00:15:14
Speaker
I didn't know what was going on half the time but I feel like it's so important to like even at a young age kind of know like and understand the importance of like these are people who are working for you. These are not people all the time who are working against you. um They're working to make the state a better place or like your region or your county or whatever it is and they're trying to be beneficial to you so it's important for you to know who then you're voting for.
00:15:40
Speaker
You know, the things that Kaylin mentioned are really important. um You know, how your schools are funded. that Those are things that happen at the local level. But even when you start to think um about health care specifically, in the last, I guess, five or six years,
00:15:56
Speaker
States have had the opportunity to expand Medicare Medicaid. That is a state decision. And so ah I live in a state, South Carolina, that was not a state that um opted for the expansion. And so that makes a difference in people's day to day lives.
00:16:12
Speaker
um In a post-roll America, states have the individual opportunity to decide um what the access to reproductive health looks like in that particular state. That is a local issue. um And even if you continue to move up the chain, the reality is that regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, whoever you're voting for at the national level, the presidential level,
00:16:41
Speaker
the people that you're voting for at the local level, so you know your state representatives, your House of Representatives, your Senate, those are the people who are actually helping to carry out the agenda of whoever you're voting for. And so if you only vote for the president, but then you don't vote for their party or their position for ah the House or the Senate, then a lot of those ideas that you know led you to vote for that person are still futile. So even though it's a major election year with it being a presidential year, um it's also really important to be aware of who is controlling things at the city level, the county level, the state level, and then obviously the national level.
00:17:26
Speaker
I have to echo a ah sentiment that was given to me a little while back by um a high school teacher. This high school teacher said, yeah, we look at the presidential elections and everybody's tuned in, but it's actually the elections that come in between those, those every two year elections that really determine who's going to be making decisions determines the true trajectory of our nation. And I think what you guys said is just like so ah indicative of that, right? Like making sure that the president has the right people in the House and the Senate to back them up is kind of like paramount to making sure that your presidential candidate actually can lead the way that they want to, you know?
Engaging Marginalized Groups in Elections
00:18:09
Speaker
Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons why work like civic engagement in healthcare care spaces is so important um is because one of the reasons why the work is important is because it kind of helps target marginalized communities, people who traditionally don't have access to voting, which even the access and the the right to vote is a state level going back to the previous question. That's a state level issue and so we've seen it over the last several years um a lot of states implement once there were changes to the Voting Rights Act that lots of states have implemented kind of new rules that unfortunately have impacted a lot of people who look like members of the SNMA.
00:18:54
Speaker
and so um Yeah, but one of the reasons why the work is so important is by finding ways to target some of those marginalized communities and get disengaged, voters engaged, then those voices get to be heard. They get to be amplified. And the reality is that It's very difficult to get marginalized communities to show up to the polls during major election years. So, you know, presidential election years. It is even harder to get marginalized ah representation on those off years. And um statistically speaking,
00:19:33
Speaker
whenever it's time to you know for candidates to make their platform to say what it is that they are attempting to you know advocate for what their platforms are going to be they go to the communities where the people show up to vote. And so if marginalized communities are not, if they don't see marginalized people in marginalized communities as the people who are going to make the difference of whether or not they get elected, then they don't go to those communities and they're bored. They kind of push them further into the shadows. The issues that those communities are facing are not important items on their ticket. Wow. Wow. It's like a vicious cycle.
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. And it sounds like Vote ER is looking to kind of like nip that cycle right where right where it ah right where it starts. Yeah. Like if if I can stop you at being labeled as somebody unlikely to vote, then it forces whoever you're voting for to have to look at you and take issue with your issues.
00:20:41
Speaker
And even the accessibility point that we were talking about before, like being having a voting place that is accessible to you, that's easy to get to, you know, maybe if you don't have the time to go to a voting poll, having the option of being able to mail in your ballot and having the knowledge to do so is also really important. Definitely one of the things that we wanted to highlight.
00:21:07
Speaker
And going back to those local issues again. You gotta keep a running list at this point. I like the state and the local issues because there's just so many of them at this point. And it's so important, but as I was mentioning earlier, when you know some of those changes were made to the Voting Rights Act,
00:21:24
Speaker
um local entities started to make polling places crowd more crowded or closing down polling places. And so you know let's say I work a blue collar job. I work from eight to five. The polling place in my community is only open from you know eight to seven.
00:21:48
Speaker
And maybe I get an hour break from lunch, but they also just closed two polling stations around my area. And so now there are more people who have to vote in the same area, which means in order to actually get into the voting booth,
00:22:03
Speaker
I'm waiting in line for an hour. Well, if I only get an hour for lunch and it takes me 30 minutes to get there, plus I have to wait in out in line for an hour, then it just makes it that much more difficult for people to actually get engaged. And so if I think like, oh, well, even if I'm registered to vote, I'm not actually going to be able to get to the front of the line to be able to vote, then I'm just never going to show up to start with. And so and again, another local issue.
00:22:31
Speaker
I don't want to waste my time. I want to make sure. I want to make sure. I want to vote. I have every intention to. But if the systems aren't in place for it to fit into my actual life, then there's really no point in me making the effort. Wow. And I never even show up. That's why I love a good mail-in ballot. That's what I'm going to say. Love a good mail-in ballot. Just make sure you turn that thing in on time. OK, OK. So you actually mentioned, like,
00:22:58
Speaker
Oh yeah, like I went and got registered to vote and now like, you know, these, all these barriers have actually stopped me at the polls. Are there barriers that stop people from getting registered to vote? i
00:23:12
Speaker
Yes. I think I would definitely say there's a lot of barriers, just even knowledge and information of like knowing where to go to get registered, knowing where you can vote, um having the support systems to advocate for you, and to also just be educated about the political parties in your area. It's all imperative to like being registered to vote. That small first step to even getting you to the ballot is so pivotal so early on. So I think there's a lot of barriers in place for that.
00:23:43
Speaker
And in addition to to those things, voter registration is pitched to the average American as like something you do one time and like, oh, okay, I'm registered to vote. I don't have to do anything else. Every time you move, you have to update your voter registration. Um, you know, if you end up, you know, with some type of criminal history, there are kind of barriers there. And so.
00:24:12
Speaker
we We think of voter registration as a one and done when the reality is there are a lot of systems in place to keep certain groups of people from voting. And so one of the one of the barriers is just knowing what the rules and regulations are for being registered to vote wherever you are registered to vote.
00:24:35
Speaker
Caitlin has mentioned a couple of times mail-in ballots. The rules for registering to vote, the rules for registering for absentee ballots are different in every state. And so even just knowing what those are for the state that you vote in, some states allow you to get registered to vote online. Some states, ah you have to come in person. or you have to mail it in. Some states will allow you to update your address and get your new precinct online. Again, other states, you have to do those types of things in person or mail in. And so even just knowing those things um can drastically improve the chances of you actually being registered to vote and then ultimately showing up to the polls to exercise that right to vote.
00:25:21
Speaker
um I think a lot of people they think like oh I'm registered to vote and then they show up to the polls and it's like oh this isn't actually your precinct or um certain a few states have started to entertain the idea of your voter registration having to be updated every so many years and so if you got updated I mean if you got registered to vote the day that you turn 18 and then um let's say you haven't voted in two or three cycles there are states who are attempting to make your registration null and void had you not exercised that right to vote um in previous elections.
VoteER Resources and Tools for Voter Registration
00:25:57
Speaker
So just knowing those types of things are really important because the worst thing that could happen is you think you're registered to vote and then you make it to the polls and get turned around.
00:26:07
Speaker
But also with Vodiar, what we've been working on, um the Howard chapter has um has given out their badges. I don't know if every other chapter has, but I have my little badge and it lets people scan it. You're gonna make Isabella's heart smile the way that you represent Howard.
00:26:27
Speaker
We love a good Howard cameo, Howard, love that. um But um we have our little badges that have QR codes that allow people, if they're interested, they can scan it, they can check their voter registration status, and they can check kind of like the different voting stuff in each different state. I know I've been privileged in Maryland that I have not had to update any voter registration, anything, just constantly get a mail-in ballot. But obviously, as Adeia said,
00:26:54
Speaker
That's not the reality for some other states. I wish it was, but it's not.
00:27:00
Speaker
Um, and to, to the point that Kaitlyn made, um, about being able to scan the QR code and kind of check your own voter registration status. Um, listeners can actually visit our like organization, VOTR link. So it's vote V O T E dot health, H E A L T H backslash S and M a, um, what would they find there?
00:27:27
Speaker
That link will lead you to a page that will do one of two things. You can kind of learn about voting for your particular state. um And you can also ah check your own registration status. And if your state allows you to request a mail-in ballot or absentee ballot online, you can also access that from that page as well.
00:27:56
Speaker
So big thing, biggest plug for this podcast episode is if you're not registered to vote, get registered to vote. And if you think you're registered to vote, make sure that you check your registration um before the end of the month. Is is there a deadline for registering?
00:28:14
Speaker
The deadline is slightly different in each state. And when you go to that and link, you can find out when the the registration you find the the deadline for your specific state. But most states, um it ends up being sometime in October ah for elections that are happening in November. whether that's 30 days before whatever the election is that you're voting on. And then some states just have like a specific date, you know October 7th, October 16th. I'm just throwing out random dates, but yeah. So each state kind of has different rules. So if you wanna be safe and you don't know what the the rules are for your state, I would say make the end of September the goal for you knowing that information and updating it.
00:29:01
Speaker
Got you. Got you. Okay. So, um, so we just did a lot on the civic engagement piece. We did a lot on the, on those state and local that list. That list is still running, by the way, if you come up with anything, it's added to the list. You can stop me when I put just add it to the list.
00:29:18
Speaker
ah home um I want to pivot just a little bit and ask you guys about like your personal um experiences getting involved with OER and like what has been like something rewarding or impactful that you've seen from your time with the organization.
00:29:34
Speaker
um So of the three of us, I probably have kind of the most experience with VOTR by nature of having been the SNMA intern for the organization and then having the privilege of serving as the HPLA vice chair last year and co-chair this year. And we can tell via via your extremely talented interview.
00:29:54
Speaker
um There's a reason I got involved in HPLA. I'm really passionate about this work. But ah when I was coming on to the VOTER team as an intern, um the SNMA intern prior to me had been working on this project with them, which was getting the AMA to recognize voting as a social determinant of health.
00:30:17
Speaker
And so I think it was like the week or maybe the first week or second week that I was on as an intern, that resolution actually got passed. And now um the AMA recognizes voting as one of the social determinants of hell. And we can kind of go down a rabbit hole about why that is, but... Listen, I was tempted to. I was so... Maybe maybe that's another episode. Light bulbs went off in my head. I was like,
00:30:41
Speaker
Oh my gosh, that's so revolutionary. that that could be so many We're not even going to get into it. We're here. Maybe you'll have to bring HVLA back for another. Honestly, if you'll come back to kick it, of course. yeah ah But so kind of as a spin off of that resolution, we um had been reaching out to kind of ah um on the national level, also on the state and local level of trying to get cities, states, and then hopefully, ultimately Congress to
Healthcare Professionals' Role in Civic Engagement
00:31:20
Speaker
pass resolutions for um like National Voter Registration Day, and then also recognizing the you know importance of civic engagement. And so we you know made some progress on that while I was there, but it was really i important for me to be able to see
00:31:40
Speaker
how the organization was not just like serving as kind of lip piece but like we were working on making um September like voter registration month or like national civic engagement month so you know October everybody knows it's breast cancer awareness month um but Nobody really thinks about like, oh, what month are we really talking to people about? Are you registered to vote? And so we were we were kind of working on getting September recognized as civic engage or national civic engagement month.
00:32:16
Speaker
um And we ended up having several kind of local um municipalities as well as we're working with several states um to kind of get that done on a more local level. But then hopefully, ultimately, one day we'll be able to see that happen um in a resolution at the national level.
00:32:35
Speaker
Okay, okay, so is the um the the effort to get September recognized, did that also coincide with September having National Voter Registration Month in it? Yes. Okay, okay, wow. You guys are really, I'm gonna go with strategic for lack of a better word, but um it seems like when it comes to civic engagement,
00:33:03
Speaker
No move is without ramifications. No move is made without thinking about what's going to happen two, three steps down the line. And it's like a real ah sequential approach and a real, I'll call it an involved approach. It sounds like you guys are like, like, I'm going to say, you know, meticulous with it, meticulous with it. I like that.
00:33:28
Speaker
For sure. And you mentioned National reg vote national Voter Registration Day. um And depending on when this episode comes out, that is September 17th.
00:33:40
Speaker
We're encouraging you to look and you know be aware for the full month of September, but specifically that day, National Voter Registration Day. you know Make sure you're registered to vote. Make sure your mama, auntie, cousin, them, everybody is registered. You ought to plug it a little bit more. stay Say it a couple of times. say yeah make it Make sure you plug it all the way.
00:34:03
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you most importantly, are you registered to vote? But on September 17th, you know, create your little family group text or the, you know, early 2010s text message chains, you know, whatever, whatever it takes. Send this to this to 20 people right now or you figure out what your or is. um you know Make your little Facebook post and tag all 12,000 of your friends, whatever it takes. you know Make sure that you are encouraging people to know how important it is for them to get out and exercise their right.
00:34:45
Speaker
Nah, that's fine. That's fine. Okay. Yeah. I heard it here first, man. September 17th, nobody get call lacking. HPLA going to be looking for y'all. Um, so I want to switch gears and go back to the actual partnership now that vote ER has with the SNMA. Could you tell me what, um, some of the goals of would be for the medical students and the physicians?
00:35:14
Speaker
Some of the goals are to, especially for medical students, is to host voter registration drives. Just get the word out and make awareness of surrounding the election and the importance is of making sure your register to vote and your friends and your family has also registered to vote. I think that's one of the main things I'm looking forward to, just community engagement, making sure I'm spreading the message about voter registration, making sure that voter registration is on the forefront of people's minds and in the community. So we can all pitch in and help during this time of the support and election.
00:35:50
Speaker
Very nice, very nice. um To Jarell's point, I think one of the reasons that's really important is the vast majority of us don't go to medical school in our hometown. And so once you've moved,
00:36:06
Speaker
you can then make the decision of if you're voting you know in your hometown or if you are going to like change your registration to you know be registered to vote in the city that you live in. And so by hosting these voter registration drives, um specifically through the Healthy Democracy Campaign in September, but by hosting these voter registration drives then it gives you the opportunity to check where you're registered to vote and then hopefully update that information if it needs to be. And then the ideal scenario is that that you catch some people that have never been registered and actually get them um get them registered before the November election.
00:36:47
Speaker
Got you. Got you. So I'm going to paint a picture for you. Um, Kaylin, let me know. So I am a medical student. I just moved from New York to let's say Illinois to do medical school. And I'm interested in voting. I actually got really involved in the community here in Illinois. How would I go about registering to vote?
00:37:12
Speaker
Well, if we're going to use Vote ER, you can always go on the website that my girl said earlier and check about what your state specific things are for voting registration, you know, what your voter registration status or is, or how to change your voter registration to a different state.
00:37:30
Speaker
i mean you can always still vote in that same state if your permanent address is still your like previous state that you're from but you know if you want to vote in your new state if you're more passionate about what that new state kind of has in terms of their laws on the state and local level you can always change it so definitely going and using utilizing voter vote ER as the best as you can, like in terms of just understanding your registration to vote. And you know, you're a new medical student, you're interested in voting, you can always start your own healthy democracy campaign at your school and get other students involved in it as well. We love a good healthy competition, you know, get some other medical students involved, getting them to get others in the community to also get registered to vote is definitely something that you could do.
00:38:19
Speaker
Okay, okay, so um so remember I said at the beginning of the call, I didn't know what vote ER was, I'm getting it now. Vote yeah ER r in this partnership with the SNMA, the average SNMA student should consider this a resource. Vote ER is a resource to ensure that you have the pertinent information that you need to be able to register to vote and make sure you get voted. Am am I in the ballpark there?
00:38:47
Speaker
Yeah, you're in the ballpark. And you you mentioned resources. I think one of the things that's super that I really enjoy about the VOTR resources, Kayla mentioned earlier the badges um that you can get from VOTR. And so that badge on one side goes to the page that I just talked about where it'll take you to check your registration um status, to know your state's rules about voting, all of those pieces. But the backside, I think, is probably the most interesting to me. um If you scan the back of the QR code, and I think this is really nice when you're you know in the patient engagement environment, You have very limited amount of time. But let's say a patient says, oh, Adeia, I see that that badge that says, you know are you registered to vote? Tell me more about it. And you start a conversation, and they're like, oh, well, I hadn't voted in 20 years because I just feel like my voice doesn't matter. Why should I vote? Well, if they scan the QR code on the back of that VOTR badge, it takes them to a page that really talks about why your vote and your voice is important.
00:39:53
Speaker
which again, going back to marginalized communities, disenfranchised voters, unencaged voters, I think those types of resources are really important because one, we don't have a lot of time in patient rooms, whether you're a medical student or whether you're actually a physician, but then also as passionate as we are about these issues, we may not always have the language to be able to explain some of those things to our patients or our friends or our community. And so they already have resources that are made up, you know resources that are developed that can really talk people through why voting is so important.
Impact of Civic Engagement on Community Health
00:40:29
Speaker
um And so their resources don't just stop at, hey, are you registered to vote? But they extend the spectrum of here's why you should vote. Here's why your voice is important.
00:40:41
Speaker
Understood. Understood. So, um, I'm going to pivot one more time and see if I could get a little anecdotal, which you all get a little personal and see if I can get a story perhaps about a time that, um, that maybe working with VOTR, maybe working with the SNMA, you've seen your perspective switch with regard to how healthcare professionals can play a vital role in civic life. Jerome, might you have one?
00:41:13
Speaker
Yes, even though my introduction to SMAA is fairly new, and I'm new to this position of vice chair of HVLA, I've already seen a tremendous impact about ER and all the good work HVLA has done to ensure that medical students feel heard, they're feeling like they're being advocated for, and that their voice is actually matters to them. So I think one thing that's really important to me is just seeing how At my school, there is like a minority population here, um but with HVLA and SNMA, I do feel represented and I do feel um supported. Okay. Not bad. Not bad. Caitlin, what about you?
00:41:59
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know if it's really changed. I think it's really amplified my thought like or for the need of like physicians to really be involved in those sorts of things. Like I think physicians are involved but they may not always directly know that like what they're doing and how they're interacting with their patients is kind of changing the trajectory of like what may be happening outside of being in the doctor's office. um I mean, we live in like a post row world where like some states you know may not have those options. And I think that like
00:42:40
Speaker
that important That is like one of the most important things, at least to me, as like a future OB, fingers crossed, um to have like you know the option for my patients to be the best educated that they can be in terms of those certain things and like fighting for you know the rights of my patients to have the best ability to take care of their own bodies regardless of what state you live in like it it just expands into like you know not being able to take care of your body like reproductively expands into like your psych
00:43:13
Speaker
like being able to take care of your mental health and being able to take care of other things that are going on with your health. Like I think just like being a physician, you just like it expands into like the outside world. Like people may not be able to do their jobs. People may not be able to enjoy their outside lives and things like that. And so like really harping on the actual you know,
00:43:36
Speaker
politics of it all, like it expands into like so much more of like how a person is and like how their day to day life goes. Gotcha. Um, so that now I'm gonna move it over to you to help. So I'm like, paint a picture for me. I'm a physician.
00:43:55
Speaker
I have been lacking on my civic engagement um and not the most adept. I don't really use it in my patient encounters too much. And and I actually see like a good amount of patients from a lower socioeconomic community. How can I make a tangible change to the way I approach civic engagement?
00:44:18
Speaker
um Number one, making sure that you are exercising your own right to um you know be engaged in the community. and i think while this was you know became an issue several years ago, it was actually a pediatrician who originally identified the water crisis in Flint. And I mean, that goes back to the civic engagement piece of like you as a physician, you're seeing the patients who were coming in and she was starting to notice like essentially signs of lead poisoning and all of these you know kids who were coming into her office.
00:44:56
Speaker
and oh And so as a physician, regardless of you know what area of of medicine you go into or what specialty, you have a really great pulse of what's happening in your community.
00:45:12
Speaker
oh both good and bad. And I think as doctors or, you know, future health care providers, it becomes easy for us to, you know, go to work, come back home. That is what it is. But particularly when you live in smaller areas like I'm from, you are a part of that community. And so, you know, I'm from a really, really small town. You see your doctor in Walmart.
00:45:38
Speaker
or Food Lion, you know, you see your doctor at the Homecoming Parade or the, you know, Town Spring Festival or whatever it is. And so, you know, you are engaged in what's happening in that community. And as a result, you have a responsibility to help shape what's happening in that community. um And so I think, number one,
00:46:04
Speaker
make sure that you are engaged both politically and non-politically in your community. Two, going back to these awesome resources that Vodiar has, um they obviously have those badges that we've talked about, but they also have posters that um they offer in English and Spanish, depending on the makeup you know of your community.
00:46:27
Speaker
where you never have to have a conversation with the patient about voting. But just having access to those resources, you know a poster in the lobby or in the elevator that asks, are you registered to vote? And it's as simple as scanning the QR code. People are bound to take you know take initiative on on those things, whether you've said anything or not. And then by nature of wearing yeah yeah and then by nature of wearing the badge, should you have one,
00:46:55
Speaker
um You know, you'll get the curious question every now and again, like, even if I never bring it up, hey, doc, I see your badge. Like, can you tell me a little bit more about that? And so it's a great way to kind of start conversations. And I think what's really important about Vodiar specifically, but just kind of these civic engagement and health care spaces at large is I'm not trying to convince you who to vote for. This is by nature, a nonpartisan effort.
00:47:25
Speaker
But studies have shown over and over again that regardless of how you vote, if you vote, gives better long-term health outcomes. And again, there's a lot of kind of deeper conversation there, but statistically speaking, people who are more civically engaged have better healthcare outcomes. And so if all I do is encourage you to show up to the polls, in some regard, I'd help you as a patient, even outside of what happens and the confines of the four walls of my clinic. Fire. I think that's a great like encompassing line of this conversation. People who are more civically engaged live longer. so Simple. Simple.
00:48:16
Speaker
um
00:48:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think that really um answers the question if i if I do say so myself. um I think it's like this is good a good place to wrap up. you know I've held you guys in the lounge here long enough. Do you guys have any final thoughts that you'd like to get off? My final thought is the same thought I made in the beginning, or I guess the middle of this conversation. Please make sure that you are registered to vote. Please make sure that you know your voter registration status, you can visit vote.health.org to be able to see that information. Once you know that you are registered to vote, make sure you know what's on the ballot at your local level, your state level, the national level, so that you can make really informed decisions about who's going to
00:49:06
Speaker
have a major impact on what your community looks like for the next two or four or six years, depending on where you live. This is a really important election. um Again, regardless of how you vote, what your views are, how you feel, there's a lot that is on the ballot come November.
00:49:24
Speaker
And make sure not only that you're registered to vote, you actually go out and vote. You go and bring your friends out to vote. You go and bring your family, your neighbor, the person sitting next to you at church. You bring them all out to vote, okay?
00:49:38
Speaker
have a have a little uh waiting in the poll line uh party once you once you get there you know bring bring a chair if you happen to be in one of those places that has really long lines bring a snack but once you get in line stay in line because as long as you are in line before your poll closes you that poll is obligated to let you get to the box and vote that's ah That's another gem. I like that one. Okay. Okay. um Thank you guys for coming to kick it with me in the lounge. The Vote ER r and SNMA collaboration seems to be off to a fantastic start. And I look forward to the things that are
00:50:27
Speaker
will come of it. Like the team said, make sure that you're registering to vote, voting, and screaming from the mountaintops to everybody that you know that they need to vote too. Thank you guys for kicking in the lounge with me today, and I'll see you next time. Bye!