Cedric Dark, MD, MPH of Policy Prescriptions participated in a panel discussion during the Student National Medical Association’s Annual Medical Education Conference held March 31- April 4, 2010 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers in downtown Chicago, IL.
The theme of the 2010 conference was Healthy Impact 2010: Educate. Advocate. Empower. In alignment with the 2009-2010 executive agendas of President Franklin-Ford and Chair Carmen Robinson and a special focus on Healthy People 2010, this year’s events focused on education of innovations in medicine, advocacy of medical needs for underserved communities, and student empowerment to becoming successful physicians who impact their surrounding communities. In doing so, the national convention encompassed five major components of membership development: academic excellence, advocacy in our communities, career development, leadership development, and research.
Panelists included:
Linda Rae Murray M.D. MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Cook County Department of Public Health: an affiliate of the Cook County Health and Hospital System
Biography
Dr. Murray has spent her career serving the medically under served. She has worked in a variety of settings including practicing Occupational Medicine at a Workers Clinic in Canada, Residency Director for Occupational Medicine at Meharry Medical College, Bureau Chief for the Chicago Department of Health under Mayor Harold Washington. More recently Dr. Murray served as Medical Director of the federally funded health center, Winfield Moody, serving Cabrini Green Public Housing Project in Chicago. Dr. Murray has been an active member of a wide range of local and national organizations including serving as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Board of Directors of Trinity Health ( a large Catholic Health system). In 2009 Dr. Murray was elected as President-Elect of the American Public Health Association.
Dr. Murray served as Chief Medical Officer – Primary Care for the twenty three primary care and community health centers comprising the Ambulatory & Community Health Network of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. The Cook County Bureau of Health is one of the nation’s largest public system of medical care and operates three hospitals, the public health department for suburban Cook County, health services a County Jail and the network of health Centers (ACHN) operated by the County. Today she serves as the Chief Medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health of the Cook County Health & Hospital System , the state certified public health agency for suburban Cook County. She practices as a general internist at Woodlawn Health Center , is an attending physician in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Cook County Hospital and is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health (Occupational & Environmental Health and the Health Policy & Administration Departments). She plays a leadership role in many organizations including NACCHO’s (National Association of City & County Health Officers) Health Equity & Social Justice Team, the national executive board of American Public Health Association and serves on the board of the Chicago based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group .
She has been a voice for social justice and health care as a basic human right for over forty years.
Dr. Damon T. Arnold MD, MPH
Director of Illinois Department of Public Health
Biography
Damon T. Arnold, M.D., M.P.H., was named the 16th director of the Illinois Department of Public Health on October 1, 2007. Dr. Arnold has hosted International delegates from the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Taiwan. He also was appointed Adjunct Professor with Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine; University of Illinois, School of Medicine; University of Illinois, School of Public Health.
Prior to his appointment to director, Dr. Arnold was the medical director for bioterrorism and preparedness for the Chicago Department of Public Health. He has served in the Army National Guard for 25 years, holds the rank of colonel and, currently, is the guard’s commander of the Joint Task Force Medical Command in Springfield and the Illinois State Surgeon.
Dr. Arnold received his M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of Illinois, and has completed several law courses at DePaul University College of Law. He began his career in public service by volunteering nearly 2,000 hours of community service during high school, taking care of hospitalized patient’s needs.
Over the years, he has had a distinguished military career and received many military awards, including Army Commendation, National Defense Service and Humanitarian Service medals. He has served missions to Iraq, Kuwait, Central America, South America, Africa and Europe, as well as participated in relief efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He was the American Red Cross Military Hero of the Year for 2007.
Dr. Arnold has served in the role of a medical director for St. Francis Hospital, Blue Island, Illinois; LTV Steel Company in Indiana; and Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago.
He has received training and certification in holistic medicine, for massage therapy and acupuncture, and the martial arts. He currently lives with his wife Sharon Johnson-Arnold in Chicago.
Mark Liebow MD, MPH
Mayo Clinic
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Objectives
1) Describe the three roles of medical student advocates
2) State how to develop strong relationships with policymakers
3) Explain what the key steps of a legislative visit involve
Biography
Dr. Liebow has studied, written about, and taught about health policy since his undergraduate years in the 1970s. His health policy activism began as a member of the University of Illinois-Chicago American Medical Student Association chapter. He went on to a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics before returning to the Chicago area to practice in a multispecialty group practice. He left that practice to earn an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1986. He again returned to the Chicago area to serve as an associate director and director of residency programs at a community teaching hospital before moving to Mayo Clinic in 1994.
He has been involved with health policy committees in many professional organizations, most notably the American College of Physicians, where he has served on both of the health policy committees, and the Society of General Internal Medicine, where he had a leadership role on its Health Policy Committee for a dozen years.
He is also involved with general political activities and has worked on campaigns off and on since the summer before he started medical school. He now is the campaign manager for his wife’s campaign as she runs for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives. He and his wife are writing a chapter on state-level political activism for health care professionals for a book coming out in 2011.
Cedric K. Dark, MD, MPH
George Washington University, Emergency Medicine resident
Founder and Executive Editor of Policy Prescriptions, LLC
Objectives
1) Describe the meaning of evidence-based health policy
2) Update SNMA members on the current state of health reform in the United States
3) Describe how young physicians and medical students can become advocates
Biography
Cedric K. Dark, MD, MPH is founder and executive editor of Policy Prescriptions. A summa cum laude graduate of Morehouse College, where he received a B.S. in biology, Dr. Dark earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. During medical school, he obtained a master’s degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University as a Macy’s Scholar. He is completing his Emergency Medicine residency training at George Washington University and serves as Chief Resident in the 2009-2010 academic year.
Dr. Dark has worked for the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and the Kaiser Family Foundation. He is interested in the study of health reform, advocacy, and the performance of public health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. He endeavors to assure that all Americans possess health security through a universal health care system in the United States.
