Meet the MSS GRAF
Hey there! I am honored and excited to serve as your 2012-2013 Government Relations Advocacy Fellow (GRAF). By means of introduction, my name is John Corker, I was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and I am a proud graduate of The Village Pre-school (Class of 1990!), Guardian Angels Elementary, St. Xavier High School and the University of Notre Dame (Love Thee, Notre Dame). After braving the real world for two years in order to pay off my impressive undergraduate debt, I enrolled at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, OH, where I am currently in between my 3rd and 4th years. At this point, I am considering both Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine, and I no longer consider my undergraduate debt to have been that impressive. In my elusive free time, I love to exercise, play sports, write (http://nextgenjournal.com/author/john-corker/) about health care and health policy and make podcasts (http://www.radiorounds.org/) about cool stories in medicine.
While living and working in Washington DC this year, it will be my daily mission to ensure that you have the information and insight you need to be as informed about (and active in) health policy as you desire. I am committed to working with your MSS leaders to make sure that the medically-related goings-on in Washington are readily accessible to all who are interested, especially during an exciting election year!
I will be posting regular updates to the AMA Website, tweeting important information along with your Governing Council (@AMA_MSS), and sending out a weekly digest of Health Care Happenings on Fridays to those particularly interested in DC’s daily grind (a tradition started by my predecessor, Abby Daniel). If you are interested in receiving my weekly email, please let me know at John.Corker@ama-assn.org.
Aside from informational updates, I hope to help you actively engage in health policy through assisting in the development of your MSS policy resolutions and especially through YOUR involvement in the student lobbying conference on Capitol Hill. This conference is an opportunity for you to bring your concerns about health care in America to Washington, and to meet with your elected officials to discuss what we’re going to do about it. Before we send you out on The Hill, though, we’ll put you up in a free hotel room and make sure that you’re well-prepared with the knowledge and skills you need to be an effective advocate for your patients and colleagues. It’s an exciting and unique opportunity, and I’ll look forward to seeing you there!
In the meantime, please do stay in touch! Feel free to email (above) or call (202-789-7424) at any time with questions, concerns, a funny joke, or just to tell me about something cool that happened to you that day. I am at your service, and I can’t wait to hear from you.
