Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Jun 30;8(3):e109-e116.
eCollection 2017 Jun.

The essential role of physician as advocate: how and why we pass it on

LeeAnne M Luft  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The essential role of physician as advocate: how and why we pass it on

LeeAnne M Luft. Can Med Educ J. .

Abstract

There is consensus amongst regulatory and certifying associations that the role of physician as advocate is a fundamental competency for Canadian physicians. Understanding what advocacy is and looks like in daily practice is integral to achieving this competency. Identifying barriers and exploring how we as physicians acquire the skills of advocacy are discussed. The current state of advocacy in medical education is reviewed as the starting point for exploring how best to foster the skills of physician as advocate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest for the author.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Andermann A. Taking action on the social determinants of health in clinical practice: a framework for health professionals. CMAJ. 2016 Dec 06;188(17–18):E474–E83. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gruen RL, Pearson SD, Brennan TA. Physician-citizens--public roles and professional obligations. JAMA. 2004 Jan 07;291(1):94–8. - PubMed
    1. Cruess RL, Cruess SR. Teaching medicine as a profession in the service of healing. Acad Med. 1997 Nov;72(11):941–52. - PubMed
    1. Earnest MA, Wong SL, Federico SG. Perspective: Physician advocacy: what is it and how do we do it? Acad Med. 2010 Jan;85(1):63–7. - PubMed
    1. Dharamsi S, Ho A, Spadafora SM, Woollard R. The physician as health advocate: translating the quest for social responsibility into medical education and practice. Acad Med. 2011 Sep;86(9):1108–13. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources