March 14, 2005
Student Scene
Med Students Take Environmental Concerns to Washington
In medical school, our professors often name environmental factors as possible etiologies of diseases like asthma, interstitial lung disease, Parkinson’s disease, and lymphoma. Yet in our discussion of the prevention and treatment of these diseases we rarely talk about environmental interventions. Too often, the unspoken message is that physicians do not have a role in that level of disease prevention. In fact, physicians may have a unique and crucial ability not only to advise patients about risky environmental exposures, but also to advocate for environmental protection on behalf of the public’s health.
Above are seven of the nine HMS students who traveled to Washington, D.C., in February to explore ways that physicians can counter environmental threats to human health. They are (from left) the author Christine Pace, Anna Chodos, Molly Perencevich, Jeremy Smith, Sunshine Dwojak, Mary Berlik, and Joseph Ladapo. Not pictured are Cathryn Christensen and Zachary Morris.
This was the belief that drew together a group of HMS students in 2002. Inspired by the annual course taught by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at HMS on environmental degradation and human health, these students formed an organization called Students for Environmental Awareness in Medicine (SEAM). At the center of SEAM’s mission was drafting a petition that identifies some of the central health effects of environmental threats such as air pollution, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Its goal was to demonstrate to the public and legislators that medical students are concerned about environmental degradation and the health implications of environmental policies.
A Critical Mass
Two and a half years later, SEAM is a nonprofit organization with connections
to medical-student groups across the country. Besides collaborating with local
organizations including the Boston Urban Asthma Coalition and the Food Project,
we collected close to 3,000 signatures from medical students at schools in 38
states.
On the afternoon of February 5, 2005, nine of us found ourselves on a plane to Washington, D.C., where SEAM and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) co-sponsored a conference for 30 medical students, titled “Medical Students for Environmental Health: Educating Ourselves and Our Leaders.” The first set of goals of the conference was to learn about how physicians can integrate environmental advocacy into their careers, to understand the pathways through which environmental policy is made, and to review current issues in environmental legislation. The second aim was for us to meet with members of Congress and their staffs to talk about these issues.
Speakers on the first morning included Michael McCally, co-director of the Center for Children’s Health and the Environment, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Jerome Paulson, associate professor of medicine, pediatrics and public health, George Washington University Medical Center; Susan Marmagas, director of the Environment and Health Program, PSR; and Elizabeth Blackburn, Office of Children’s Health Protection, Environmental Protection Agency. Our lively discussions revealed the students’ commitment to environmental health and their willingness to think critically about it. We addressed not only the current epidemiological and political controversies in the field, but also the nature of physicians’ obligations to patients and society.
We presented our medical student petition, using it as evidence that medical students are concerned about environmental health and as a tool to educate Congressional staff about some of the most pressing effects of environmental change. |
Petitioning Congress
On Monday, we brought this information to 30 meetings that PSR had arranged
for us on Capitol Hill, at the offices of our senators and representatives.
We presented our medical student petition, using it as evidence that medical
students are concerned about environmental health and as a tool to educate
Congressional staff about some of the most pressing effects of environmental
change. We then discussed our concern about the Clear Skies amendment. The
Massachusetts students were lucky to have an audience with Senator Edward Kennedy,
who shared his own interest in environmental health and advised us about directions
for environmental-health advocacy by medical students both in Boston and across
the country.
Not surprisingly, students had a range of different experiences on the Hill, based on the meetings they had. But regardless of which legislators and staff we met, many of us were struck by the respect with which we were treated and how legitimate our voices seemed to be. While physicians may be hesitant to speak up in political settings, particularly about environmental health, we learned that there are people in D.C. who are ready to listen. For me, this realization is an inspiration and a challenge. I feel inspired by the chance we have as future physicians to make a difference in environmental policy; I feel challenged to think critically about available data and to craft fair, compelling arguments about environmental legislation on behalf of my patients.
—Christine Pace, HMS ’07
Copyright 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College