Abbreviations and Mandates and Bills, Oh My! (Link to Government Primer)

So on Thursday it was time to get to work. I dressed in my brand new winter clothes and new coat (remember, I live in Phoenix) and took the Metro to the ACOG office so excited to start my learning experience. I was beaming and smiling at the passers-by until I realized none of them were smiling back. In fact, some of them looked at me like I was selling them crack. I realized that I am not in the midwest/southwest anymore and pondered this as I walked two blocks in the wrong direction.

When I got to the office everyone was very friendly (most of them are from Ohio- go Midwest!). I did take note at first that they are all young! At the welcome breakfast I thought, "I could seriously be the oldest person in here." They are all bright, professional, and hard-working, and are quite an impressive group. I have my own desk and computer and I share an office with Joe, who is one of the two lobbyists. Bless his heart! All day I am calling out over the partition between us and patiently he answers all my questions.

I already had a pretty fully schedule for my first full week (if anyone knows how to load a word document, I'll post it.) I was overwhelmed on Day 1. I sat in on a conference call with Joe with some other womens' organizations and he had us on mute while the call took place.... Global Gag Rule.... "Do you know about that?" He asked me.
"No" I replied. And he explained it. Prevention First...
"Are you familiar with that legislation?"
"No."
And it kept going. I didn't know about any of this stuff. My goodness! It's a whole different world. Yet this world controls my practice, my salary, my malpractice, how I treat my patients... I had a lot to learn. I went home and looked up every acronym and abbreviation I had heard during that call.

FOR ALL YOU OB/GYNS - get this primer from ACOG. (It's free!). It will give you a refresher of your high school US Government class and get you acquainted with some topics that ACOG is focused on. It's a quick read too.
http://www.acog.org//departments/govtrel/LegislativePrimerPromo.pdf

Do I Really Want to Eat the President's Head?

Yes, that is our President on a cookie. I've never seen so much stuff with one person's face in all my life! Obama water, Obama cookies. You can get a hat with Obama's face in rhinestones. You can get t-shirts, scarves, posters, postcards, buttons, calendars, letter openers, chocolate bars, key chains, pencils, and much, much, much more including a picture of yourself next to an Obama cut out... for a fee of course.

Inauguration Day!

First I'm going to start with the craziness that was at the front door in the morning.

There were busses and people and more busses and more people. All the other house guests got up early and stood out in the COLD- and it was cold- for the inauguration. I chose to hang out at the church with Alisa and watch it there.



There were probably 100 people who gathered in the basement of the church to watch the ceremony. Many were part of a large group that had bussed down the previous night from a church Alisa had worked with in Charlotte, NC prior to moving to D.C. this summer. They arrived at about 3am and slept in the church.

During, and more importantly, after the inauguration Alisa opened the church doors to anyone who needed a bathroom, a warm up, a cup of coffee, or a bowl of soup. Several members of the South Tryon Church from Charlotte as well as many members of CHUMC manned the church and served the visitors. I got the lucky job of greeting people at the door. There had to be 500+ people through that door! They were cold, many had been standing outside for 7+ hours. They were weary. One family had their 79 year old grandmother with them who'd been outside all day and had walked blocks and blocks. Some of the metro stations had closed down due to overcrowding and people falling on the tracks, leaving these visitors with no option but to keep walking. The busses weren't running on the hill and there were many chartered busses that could not get back into the city. There were two groups who sat in the sanctuary of the church until after 8pm because their busses weren't permitted back into the city. I have no idea where these people would have waited had CHUMC not been there and open. Carol, the CHUMC member who I was greeting with would throw the doors open when she saw someone with an elderly person in their party, or a child, or a person with a cane and call out to them to come warm up. There were droves of people. I talked with people from the Bahamas, Canada, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and more... And everyone was so thankful. It was so touching to see America come together in this way. People chatted with strangers, helped people they had never met with directions and information. They shared what few cabs could be obtained late in the day. I heard multiple times, "This is what the house of the Lord should look like." It was truly an honor to serve my fellow Americans that day and see a glimpse of all sorts of people gathered in hope, peace, and joy.

Monday Morning- The New York Times

I arrived late in the evening Sunday, January 18th. I was ecstatic to see Alisa and when I saw her pull up at the airport I realized that I would get to hang out with her for FIVE whole weeks! It just so happened that my time here in Washington (that was scheduled for me last April or May) fell over the inauguration. So, not only was I staying with Alisa but the other closest friend that I have (Melissa) who was my roommate for four years was here as well with Aileen, a friend from work. They were visiting DC in order to attend the inauguration. What a great time to be in Washington!

So like I said, Alisa is the pastor of CHUMC and there is another United Methodist Church a block away that is traditionally a predominantly African American church. The churches have a long history of having separated and segregated more than 180 years ago. In light of the inauguration of our first African American president the New York Times had followed Alisa (and subsequently Melissa and Aileen) for three days as they were running a story about the churches, racial reconciliation, and the work that these two churches are doing together now. So Monday morning as us girls were lounging around laughing and catching up, the New York Times photographer dropped by to take some photos! Seriously..? Yes. And just so you know, if the NY Times calls or texts and you don't answer, they will find you. It was surreal.

And on Monday morning there was the article on the FRONT page of the NY Times.

To read it, click on the link below and near the bottom left of the page where it says "Multimedia" and "Anticipation on a City Block" is the interactive piece that is very, very well done. The first picture is Aileen. When you click to advance to the next set of pictures, Alisa is the second one. Click on each picture to hear their statements.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/us/politics/19block.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=alisa%20lasater&st=cse

That afternoon I attended a Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service at Ebeneezer Church, which they held along with CHUMC. It was amazing to feel the hope in the air and the buzz of excitement for the following day's inauguration. Though the group was small, there were people in attendance from all over the nation. This is truly a historic time in our nation.

Then we dressed Alisa up for the Illinois state inaugural ball. She did not get to see President Obama, but she sure looked gorgeous! The photo above is Alisa with a parishioner from her former church in Charlotte, NC who came to visit for the inauguration (yes, there was a very full house!)

My Internship in Washington

Greetings! Thanks for checking me out. I'm a third year ob/gyn resident in Phoenix, AZ and I am using my selective time to go to Washington, D.C. for five weeks to work with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). I am working with the government relations department and will be visiting Capitol Hill talking with Congressmen about....."doctor stuff", I guess. This is a whole new world for me but I am really excited because I know NOTHING about how the government works (okay, okay, I DO know there are three branches, two houses in Congress, etc. I learned a little something in junior high) but I certainly don't know enough to speak on health care politics in any intelligent manner. However, these laws and systems that are decided in a large part by people who have never seen a patient, affect the way I practice, what tests I can order, who I can see, and how and when I get paid. So off I go!

During my time in Washington, I will be staying with Alisa, my best friend from college. We've known each other *choke* going on 15 years. She is currently the pastor at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church (CHUMC) and is an amazing and talented woman, friend, preacher.
http://www.chumc.net/
I know we are going to have an amazing time staying together and I'm so excited! I will also preface this first blog with the following... I am a Christian and some of my posts will be about faith. I do have great hope for changes in our nation, and I do believe we NEED health reform. I'm not here to argue politics (I probably don't know enough yet to put up a really good argument anyway). You're welcomed to disagree and even to post comments of disagreement but my plan is not to turn this into a forum for debate. Rather, to share my experiences away from the 80 hour work weeks in the desert and to provide links/tools to fellow residents who might be interested in this information.

Hugs!