Physician Assistant (PA) Student Emphasizes the Importance of Advocacy

Weilong Li ‘23PA understands his impact on future generations of Physician Assistants (PA) and has decided to use his personal platform to promote advocacy to advance the PA profession. It’s even more important as PA Week, which recognizes the profession and its contributions to the nations health, just concluded. 

Li serves as the director of Student Communications for the Student Board of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA). As a result of his involvement in this organization, he had the opportunity to recently attend the AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C.

“At the Summit, we talked about what advocacy means as a healthcare professional and how we can incorporate advocacy, on a local or institutional level, into our practice as PA students or practicing PAs,” said Li. “We were able to go up to Capitol Hill and talk about two specific bills that we are trying to get through Congress before the election year.”

The two bills discussed were:

H.R. 6087 is Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act, which gives PAs and nurse practitioners the ability to see patients who are utilizing Federal Workers' Compensation. Currently, if a federal worker is injured at home, PAs are able to see and treat them, but if injured on the job, only doctors are able to provide services. This act allows federal workers to receive care from PAs and nurse practitioners, preventing delays in patient care.

H.R. 1956/S. 1986 is Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act of 2021, which allows PAs, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists to order and supervise cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. The act will go into effect in 2024, but Li and fellow AAPA representatives want it to go into effect sooner, as the need for increased accessibility of these services has escalated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“PAs benchmark is being able to expand access - there is a shortage of physicians and we want PAs to be able to see patients and work closely with physicians to be able to provide optimal care to patients,” said Li.

At the Summit, Li had the opportunity to meet the legislative director of Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who is a U.S. representative for Pennsylvania’s 4th congressional district, which includes most of Montgomery County, in which Salus University is located. She also served as the keynote speaker for the University’s 122nd commencement in May 2021. “Representative Dean is a big supporter of PAs and Salus, and has always been involved in the advocacy discussed at the Summit,” said Li. “It was really interesting to see that the people who make these laws for us are not just people we see on TV, they are people that care about the things we care about and we can have an honest fruitful conversation with them. It really humanized the law-making process.” 

Li left Washington, DC. excited to share what he had taken away from the Summit, and more motivated than ever to promote advocacy on Salus University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus.

“One big thing about advocacy is that it’s not passive. It is something we do have to put a little bit of effort into, but it impacts every single thing we do. If we don't advocate for ourselves, no one is going to,” said Li. He also stressed the importance of students advocating for jobs and the profession, which in turn is essentially advocating for themselves, future students and professionals and will ultimately advance the profession as a whole.

Advocacy can happen in a multitude of ways, whether it entails sending a quick email to a local congressperson, or joining a national organization, like Li. It is important to become involved and make an impact, no matter how big or small the commitment. 

“Everything we as healthcare professionals are allowed to do, such as writing prescriptions, ordering labs, and wearing a stethoscope is because someone before us fought for it,” he said. “Most national and state organizations are looking for volunteers. There are always opportunities to get involved, and it is not something you have to have experience in. I highly encourage students to learn more about these opportunities and take advantage of them.”