Residents Try to Impact Federal Legislative Process

They may be only at the start of their careers in psychiatry, but two young residents are showing legislators on Capitol Hill just how far their burgeoning passion and dedication can take them when it comes to standing up for the rights of Americans with mental illness and others needing access to health care.

The residents—Michael D. Barnett, M.D., and Andrew J. Kolodny, M.D.—made the trek to the Hill by way of the American Psychiatric Foundation’s Daniel X. Freedman Congressional Fellowship. The fellowship began in January and wraps up in June.

Barnett is working in the office of Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.). He is a graduate of New York Medical College and a resident at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

“The amount I have learned in a mere few weeks on the job is enormous,” he told Psychiatric News. “Being able to be politically active on behalf of psychiatry and having a chance to work with congressional and senatorial offices on the mental health parity bill that’s being named in honor of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone is an incredible honor to me.” That bill was introduced in the Senate in January (see Original article: page 1).

Kolodny is working in the office of Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.). He is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and a resident at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Kolodny also said that he appreciates the opportunity that the Freedman fellowship is giving him to learn about the development of health policy at the federal level.

“My primary responsibility is to advise Sen. Lieberman on health care legislation. I’ve been invited to numerous briefings and conferences on Medicare reform, Medicaid, prescription drugs, and the uninsured. In addition, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with many of the nation’s foremost experts on health policy, as well as many constituents who have described firsthand the effects of the health care crisis our country is facing.”

If timing is everything, then Kolodny hit the jackpot. With Lieberman’s recent announcement that he intends to make a presidential bid, Kolodny said that the atmosphere in the senator’s office is particularly exciting and intense. “Staff members joked that they could all benefit from having a psychiatrist in the office,” he said.

Both Barnett and Kolodny strongly advise other psychiatry residents interested in advocating for people with mental illness and the profession of psychiatry to apply for the Freedman fellowship.

“It is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Barnett.

The fellowship is supported by Eli Lilly and Company and the American Psychiatric Foundation. More information is available by contacting Matos at [email protected]. ▪

Ms. Matos is administrative director of the American Psychiatric Foundation Inc.