New Program Builds Next Generation of Health Care Advocates
By Rita Colarito
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The practice and business of health care have always been tied to policies and legislation at the state and federal levels. As the assault on science and evidence-based medicine continues, physician voices are more critical than ever in policy discussions. To get the next generation involved in advocacy, the WSMA created the Medical Student and Resident Advocacy Program.
The certification program, designed with input from Washington’s three medical schools, is the brainchild of WSMA President-Elect Matt Hollon, MD, MPH, MACP, who began his own advocacy work as a mid-career physician when he visited Washington, D.C., to help represent the Washington Chapter of the American College of Physicians.
“Medical students and residents have this incredibly valuable perspective on the health care system,” says Dr. Hollon. “They really have, oftentimes, kind of clairvoyant views on contemporary changes in society and the ways those can impact the health care system. Involving them helps to evolve the health care system. It’s the system that they’re going to practice in for the rest of their professional careers. Let’s help them influence it.”
Learning the ropes
More than 70 medical students and residents participated in the inaugural program, launched in December 2025 and precipitating the start of the 2026 legislative session in January. The program included six virtual one-hour sessions held in the evening every other week to provide an overview of the legislative process and effective advocacy and lobbying of the Washington State Legislature.
Following House Bill 2242—a bill to preserve access to preventive services and vaccines—throughout the legislative process served as a case study, with the governor’s office and the state Department of Health leading a discussion during a virtual session. Other sessions included hearing the advocacy experiences of two members of the WSMA board of trustees, Carrie Horwitch, MD, and Avanti Bergquist, MD.
To earn the certification, participants needed to complete eight hours. Sessions were recorded to accommodate schedule changes. An in-person advocacy day held on March 4 in Olympia counted for six hours and allowed students and residents to lobby directly with legislators. “We wanted something where all the participants could come together and exercise the skills that they learned throughout the program,” says Malorie Toman, lobbyist for the WSMA and one of the program’s instructors.
Lessons learned
Some program participants were new to policy or advocacy work. Prior to medical school, Nathaniel Giauque, a first-year medical student at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, worked as a firefighter in Utah and emergency medical technician in Yakima—experiences, he says, that highlighted the need for advocacy.
“I see a lot of things in medicine that aren’t set up well for our patients. They’re not set up well for anyone, really, including physicians,” says Giauque. “The people with the most influence ought to be the people who are making the biggest difference. I don’t want to wait until I’m done with all my schooling to get started.”
For many participants, the program offered an extension of prior policy or advocacy work. Throughout medical school, Manasvi Khullar, DO, had participated in the American Medical Association’s student advocacy, writing resolutions for consideration by the AMA House of Delegates. When Dr. Khullar started her neurology residency at the University of Washington she joined the WSMA to get more involved at the state and local levels.
“I wanted to learn how those [advocacy] relationships are formed, and how to effect change, not just through writing policy, but by meeting with elected representatives, by talking to other agencies, and advancing policy ideas forward in that way,” says Dr. Khullar, a first-year resident. Ana Chang, a fourth-year medical student at PNWU, had previously written a resolution for a family medicine conference. “I wanted to get involved with understanding how policies are shaped,” she says.
Advocacy in action
For most participants, the lobby day in Olympia was the first time they lobbied legislators face to face. “It was very exciting to meet with various lobbyists and legislators about what their current focuses are in health care,” says Mya Leonhard, a first-year medical student at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. Leonhard first got involved in policy work as an undergraduate at the University of Washington through the Communities for Colleges Coalition, a statewide coalition focused on closing racial and economic gaps for students attending community colleges. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Leonhard’s previous advocacy work was all done virtually.
The March 4 lobby day started with a briefing on WSMA’s legislative agenda, including presentations from Rep. Liz Berry (D-36) on her bill prohibiting noncompete agreements, and from Rep. Clyde Shavers (D-10), on the intersection of health care and artificial intelligence. Program participants then congregated outside the Senate and House floor doors. They were able to speak with several representatives from their districts, including Rep. My-Linh Thai (D-41), Rep. Beth Doglio (D-22), and Sen. Curtis King (R-14). One group had an in-office meeting with Rep. Dan Bronoske (D-28), chair of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. “We encouraged them to advocate on any of the bills that we talked about earlier in the morning,” says Toman.
One legislative priority discussed with Rep. Bronoske was the impact of the business and occupation tax increase, and WSMA’s advocacy for exemptions and tax relief. “It was cool to share that as a young doctor, I’m also hoping at some point to open my own practice. But having a high business and occupation tax can be really difficult to overcome when you’re a small business owner,” says Dr. Khullar. “Meanwhile our patients are asking for more competition and less corporatization of health care. Those two things are kind of intermingled [with the B&O tax].”
Students from PNWU met with all their representatives. “The biggest and most important thing about that day was just putting faces to names,” says Giauque, who hopes continued contact can help future lobbying efforts. “They’re going to know that I’m there to answer questions for them, or that I’m someone who they have had a good experience with in the past.”
“I’m a first [generation] everything … Before doing this, I always felt like politicians were so far out of my reach,” says Chang. “My time [that day] taught me they’re just human beings … They’re very open to talking. It’s not that hard to meet with them and discuss things. I realized there’s so many ways even as a student that I can get involved and my voice does have power.”
What’s next?
Dr. Hollon’s hope that the program would plant the seeds of growth within the WSMA has already taken root. Leonhard recently became a WSU student delegate to the WSMA and looks forward to next year’s WSMA Legislative Summit (scheduled for March 23, 2027 in Olympia). “I definitely want to keep working with the WSMA, and I’m excited to see what else is to come,” she says.
Chang, who matched in pathology at the University of Southern California, hopes to continue writing policy resolutions and participating in advocacy days during residency. “I would highly recommend the program to any med student who is passionate about health care and would like to learn more and network with other like like-minded individuals,” she says.
The WSMA hopes to offer the Medical Student and Resident Advocacy Program again this December. Dr. Khullar urges any medical student or resident to consider enrolling. “It would be great for people who see what’s happening to our communities to also be part of the solution,” she says.
Leonhard recommends it to all medical students, regardless of their policy background. “All the sessions on Zoom give great introductions so that everyone can get on the same page and learn the fundamentals from the start and grow from there,” she says. “The program definitely helped get rid of some of that intimidation of the process.”
“The louder we are, the more people we have who are involved, the better medicine is going to be for the rest of us,” says Giauque. “My peers have done some amazing things in life and have some really amazing ideas … If we all can come together and use our voices, I really think we can make a huge difference.”
Rita Colarito is a freelance writer specializing in health care.
This article was featured in the May/June 2026 issue of WSMA Reports, WSMA’s print magazine.