Psychiatrist Climbs the Hill and Finds Her Passion

Political advocacy came late to Akua G. Asare, M.D., who had never envisioned working in the halls of Congress. Last year, however, as the 2011 APA Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., Congressional Fellow, she had the opportunity to do just that.

But first she had to navigate the questions from friends and colleagues such as “Don’t you want to see patients anymore?” or “Does that mean you don’t want to be a doctor anymore?” Asare noted that one person accused her of “wasting” her psychiatric skills because she wouldn’t be seeing patients during her Capitol Hill tenure.

“To each query, I explained that working on the Hill did not equate with abandonment of medicine or psychiatry but a broadening of my understanding of health care within a larger national and international context. It meant that I could be a change agent from within— learning about and advocating for issues that are germane to doctors and patients alike. It was just a matter of perspective,” she said.

After being notified that she was chosen for the Spurlock Fellowship, she arranged to work on health-related issues in the office of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Asare said that she worked on a wide spectrum of legislative proposals—including researching health issues related to a bill to ban flavored cigarettes and one supporting the goals and ideals of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

“My work in tracking and analyzing legislative initiatives on a variety of issues, including prescription-drug abuse and misuse, artificial-pancreas research, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis and malaria research provided the senator with valuable background data to finalize his decision process,” Asare said. “Because of my medical and psychiatric knowledge, the staff and the senator were able to turn to me on both domestic and global health care issues.”

In addition, Asare said that she helped arrange a meeting between Brown and David Wellstone, son of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, about the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which Paul Wellstone cowrote, and conducted follow-up phone calls with the secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.

Another project on which Asare said she was proud to work was to revamp the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance Act (STAAR) legislation, in the hope that it will be introduced in this Congress. The goal of that legislation is to push for development of a strategic plan to address concerns about the rapidly increasing resistance to various microbes.

In addition, Asare noted, she was able to meet with more than 200 constituency groups and to review funding and appropriation requests. “I was also integral to Sen. Brown’s decision to sign onto S. 539, the Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, which allows behavioral health practitioners and the facilities where they work to access funding to develop information technologies and integrate them into their systems,” she said.

“Were there times of frustration with the politics that can hamper proper policy development? Yes. Were there individuals and beliefs that I did not agree with? Yes. But were there moments of true satisfaction and enlightenment? YES! But I have come to realize how vast our government is and that we do it and ourselves a disservice when we speak of it as some monolithic entity that strives to frustrate our lives.”

She emphasized that while not every physician can afford the time to be an advocate at the national level, it is not difficult to be involved at a local level. “I’m the first to admit that doctors are stretched and sometimes feel helpless about their circumstances,” Asare said, “but the only way we can individually change those circumstances is to be at the forefront of the discussion. After all, the ‘system’ cannot change if those affected by it do not become well-educated advocates for their patients, their families, their colleagues, and eventually, themselves. As I always say, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu!’ ”

“Because of APA’s efforts and the Spurlock Fellowship, I discovered that the Constitution and the government, for all its faults and failures, is a most elegant example of vision and balance. I leave having learned just how complex and intricate our health care system is. I leave more passionate about helping others find and use their voices to change the landscape of this country’s political destiny. Above all, I leave more hopeful than when I came.”

The 10-month fellowship is named for the late Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., who for many years headed the APA Office of Minority and National Affairs. It provides a resident or early career psychiatrists with the opportunity to work in a congressional office on federal health policy, particularly that related to child and/or minority issues. It is administered by the American Psychiatric Foundation in conjunction with APA.