Your Chance to Make Change: An Internship with Impact

By Jett Murray, OMS III, Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2023 AACOM Osteopathic Health Policy Intern

My time as an American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Osteopathic Health Policy Intern (OHPI) has been extremely rewarding. As a student who is interested in healthcare advocacy, there has been no better opportunity to accumulate hands-on experience with the federal policymaking process. Throughout my time with AACOM, I have been privileged to participate in meetings with congressional staff, leaders in the osteopathic profession and others. I have been able to observe congressional healthcare policy discussions as well as provide feedback about the student experience on AACOM’s policy initiatives.

During my internship with AACOM’s Government Relations team, I researched and developed strategies to strengthen the relationships of colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Currently, only 0.1 percent of total NIH funding is awarded to COMs to perform research, which may limit osteopathic student opportunities to learn how to translate an ever-growing library of biomedical sciences to the bedside as well as potentially limit their competitiveness in the match process. Increased funding to COMs may positively impact patient outcomes in the future, as 25 percent of all medical students are currently training at osteopathic medical schools. As part of my efforts as an OHPI, I have been able to work through published literature to understand the historical mechanisms underlying this funding deficit, as well as design proposals to improve NIH funding to osteopathic medicine in the future. I was recently able to present my data and proposals to the entirety of AACOM, which, in addition to my everyday contributions to the team, was my chance to make a lasting impact. Historically, AACOM OHPI proposals have helped inform the strategies used to address policy challenges.

In addition to my primary project, I had many opportunities to engage with lawmakers and the osteopathic community to support healthcare expansion in general. I was able to support AACOM’s 2023 Advocacy Day initiatives, gather data on student outcomes and work to understand how federal agencies such as the Health Resources and Services Administration contribute to and improve public health. Overall, my internship greatly increased my awareness of the many stakeholders and challenges facing healthcare, and also demonstrated how coordination and collaboration may be used to address these challenges.

I would recommend the AACOM OHPI program to any student who is interested in developing the skillset to have discussions about healthcare initiatives with lawmakers. Over the eight-week internship, you will learn how federal policymaking works on Capitol Hill, liaise with AACOM leadership and lobbying partners and engage in thoughtful discussions with Members of Congress and their staff. The initiatives that you will work on will not only benefit the field of osteopathic medicine and its students, but population health and patient outcomes as well. This is an environment that I thrived in, and the skills that I learned here will certainly serve me throughout my career as a physician and patient advocate.