When USF College of Public Health (COPH) professor Dr. Karen Liller was approached by the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine to write an article on injury prevention, she switched gears and decided what was really needed was an article on the importance of physicians advocating for injury prevention measures. 

In October, the journal published “The Important Role for Physicians as Advocates for Firearm and Road Traffic Injury Prevention.” Liller wrote the piece along with Dr. Amber Mehmood, a trained surgeon and COPH associate professor.

“Physicians are typically trained to treat sick patients and focus on their health problems,” Mehmood explained. “The notion that gun control and traffic safety are not health problems has some role to play in physicians’ willingness to partake in gun safety and road injury prevention. Fortunately, this attitude is changing, and physicians are more open to looking beyond the traditional spectrum of ‘diseases.’ Our goal is to seize this opportunity and give them necessary tools that help them speak about public health, injury prevention, gun safety and other issues connected with individual and public health.”

Part of the problem, Liller said, is the lack of advocacy training students embarking on medical careers get.

“I believe that pre-med, medical school and internship/residency training needs to include coursework on how to be an advocate and participate in policy change,” commented Liller, who also directs the COPH’s Activist Lab. “Physicians are among our most trusted health professionals and their involvement would do much to enhance advocacy efforts. Recently I and the Activist lab led an interprofessional experience with medical and other health students on how to advocate for various environmental issues. This type of training needs to increase and be expanded. Physicians need to be comfortable asking questions of patients about injuries and injury prevention.”

What are some steps physicians can take to address public health issues like firearms safety and traffic injuries? Liller and Mehmood suggest that physicians:

• Take time to advise patients about preventing injuries, including counseling them about firearm safety and risks associated with firearm usage during in-office exams.
• Advocate for legislation and policies that—among other things—can improve access to mental health services and reduce access to high-capacity magazines and firearms.
• Intervene with education and counseling when treating patients in trauma centers.
• Promote safe roads practice and research.
• Form interprofessional alliances that tell the stories of injury survivors and highlight the dangers involved.
• Promote multidisciplinary research into injury prevention.
• Use evidence to inform public policy.

“Advocacy seeks to change upstream factors like laws, regulations, policies and institutional practices. These factors are the drivers of market availability, prices, and product standards that influence personal health choices. Bringing physicians with commitment and skills into the helm of health advocacy would be a huge win for clinical medicine as well as public health,” Mehmood said.

Liller said “Working with colleges of public health on developing academic coursework and practice experiences for physicians will allow their comfort level to increase in being advocates for change.  Our work together then will have much stronger results.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health