Background/objective: We sought to determine baseline physician advocacy knowledge and attitudes of resident and fellow trainees at our institution to inform future graduate medical education (GME) activities.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was developed and administered to all house staff in 2014 at Lifespan Hospitals, affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Results: The response rate was 24% (134/558). Eighty-eight percent reported voting in the 2012 presidential election, with lower participation in regional elections. Less than 25% felt comfortable explaining the Affordable Care Act, communicating with media, or influencing legislation on a health care issue. The majority (94%) agreed that "as a physician I have a duty to advocate." Few reported receiving adequate advocacy training in medical school (18%) or residency (12%).
Conclusions: House staff agreed that physicians have a duty to advocate, but this did not translate into knowledge or action. GME should increase curricular efforts for trainees in the health care advocacy domain.
Keywords: advocacy training; graduate medical education; physician advocacy.