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Second OUWB Advocacy Day in Lansing highlights impact medical students can have outside of clinical settings

Monday, Oct 13, 2025
An image of the OUWB cohort on the capitol building steps
The 19 second-year students and Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, pose for a picture on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol.

Future physicians from OUWB spent a day in Lansing last week learning directly from elected officials and administrators about the critical roles they can play in government and policy.

For the second year in a row, a cohort from the medical school travelled to the state’s capital for OUWB Advocacy Day.

The 19 second-year students and Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, met with officials from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS), and Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA). They also met with three state senators.

Topics discussed throughout the day included maternal health, Medicaid, and anti-tobacco legislation — all with a running theme that physicians can have important roles in development of policies and laws.

Several officials noted the high level of engagement shown on the part of the OUWB cohort, and Carpenter said the students were “inspiring.”

“I’m very proud,” he said while walking to meet with one of the senators. “You can see the issues we’re talking about really matter to them … even with the large amount of coursework ahead of them, they want to matter, want to engage, and want to make an impact now.”

The first half of the day was spent at the MHA Lansing office in the shadows of the Michigan State Capitol building.

Dawn Shanafelt, director, Division of Maternal & Infant Health, gave an overview of maternal and infant health in Michigan. Shanafelt shared statistics from around the state as she provided a deep dive into topics like social determinants of health, infant mortality, and maternal morbidity.

She also talked about initiatives developed by the state aimed at providing comprehensive support services. Shanafelt encouraged the OUWB medical students to listen, learn, and engage because they can help drive good policy.     

“It’s amazing that these medical students are here for advocacy,” she said after her presentation. “Because if they stay in the mindset of advocating for their patients — not only at the bedside but in the broader systems political realm — they can really create amazing change.”

Meghan Groen, chief deputy director and Medicaid director, DHHS, provided an informative overview of Medicaid’s structure, challenges, and policy considerations.

She was followed by Adam Carlson, senior vice president, Advocacy, MHA. Carlson focused primarily on the importance of health care professionals engaging in political advocacy — on everything from proposed funding cuts to the need to protect health care workers from assault.

“We need medical students and physicians to get involved and they are extremely well-positioned to do that,” Carlson said after he spoke to the students. “Lawmakers need to hear from them so that they understand the impacts of their decisions on health care.”

An image of OUWB students and Dean Carpenter talking with Mike Webber
Michigan Sen. Mike Webber (R-Rochester Hills) (right)
met the cohort on the Senate Floor and provided an
overview of how government works in the room.

A similar message was then delivered by Amit Ghose, M.D., an internist and president of MSMS. He offered several key points on how medical students and newer physicians can have a role in advocacy. Overall, he was optimistic about the potential of medical professionals to drive meaningful transformation in health care.

“It gives me encouragement that the younger generation is thinking about these things in a very committed manner,” he said. “You will see them serving as patient advocates in the future.”

State Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) was the first of three elected officials to spend time with the OUWB team. Hertel is the Senate Health Policy Chair, and talked about challenges faced by programs like Medicaid, the rising cost of prescription drugs, and the need for affordable health care. He called for better conversations and policies to address the challenges and urged the future physicians to engage with elected officials.

“I always say that young people are going to be the ones that fix all of the problems we’re experiencing in policymaking today,” he said afterwards. “What these folks will find when they talk to elected officials, hopefully, is that they’re willing to listen, take time to understand the issues, and try to do the job that we’re elected to do.”

The group then moved to the Michigan Capitol Building, where Michigan Sen. Mike Webber (R-Rochester Hills) met the cohort on the Senate Floor and explained how government works in the room.

“A lot of people are somewhat intimidated by the process so getting comfortable in this setting — knowing that they can talk with their elected officials, understanding that they have the right to go to committee meetings and testify and voice their feelings on certain bills — that will help improve their advocacy when they’re doctors,” said Webber.

After one more meeting to talk about anti-tobacco legislation with Michigan Sen. Paul Wojno (D-Warren), the group concluded the day by taking pictures in front of the state capitol building.

An image of Meghan Groen speaking to OUWB students
Meghan Groen, chief deputy director and Medicaid
director, DHHS, provided an informative overview
of Medicaid’s structure, challenges, and policy
considerations.

Bonnie Bochniak, state relations director, Oakland University, worked with students Zubaida Azeeza and Vereena Salib to coordinate the day. She noted how impressed everyone was with the OUWB group.

“You saw the questions being asked, the high level of engagement,” she said. “You could tell the other people saw it too…it made them smile on the inside because these students are our future and it looks bright.”

While touring the Capitol Building, Mary Show said she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to participate in the OUWB Advocacy Day.

“The speakers today showed us how we can be an advocate for our patients not just in the clinics and hospitals, but also by engaging in the legislative process,” she said. “It helped provide better understanding that there is a space for us as future physicians.”

Annabel Shaffou shared similar feelings.

“Having a day where you get to have honest conversations, hear from leaders in the field who have a lot of experience, and connecting with peers in your class who care about the same things as you do is really powerful,” she said. “It can open a lot of doors and help to shape the kind of physician one hopes to be.”

Overall, Arjun Bhaduri said the day made him realize the impact he can one day have as a physician.

“Now that we’ve seen the process and who’s involved, it definitely has motivated me to get more involved,” he said.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.