T.R. Ruxin is project manager, Vot-ER, Boston, Massachusetts; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1883-214X .
Y.P. Ha is MD-PhD student, Perelman School of Medicine, trainee, Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics, and associate fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3525-1697 .
Acad Med. 2022 Jan 1;97(1):89-92. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004381.
Voting affords citizens a direct say in the leaders and policies that affect their health. However, less than 20% of eligible U.S. citizens have been offered the chance to register to vote at a government-funded agency like a hospital or clinic that provides Medicaid or Medicare services. Medical students are well positioned to increase voting access due to their interactions with multiple actors in health care settings, including patients, visitors, colleagues, and others.
Vot-ER, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to promote civic engagement in health care settings, launched the inaugural Healthy Democracy Campaign from July 20 to October 9, 2020. As part of this national, gamification-based competition, medical student captains were recruited to lead teams of health care trainees and professionals that helped eligible adults start the voter registration and/or mail-in ballot request process before the November 2020 elections. Post competition, medical student captains were surveyed about their motivations for participating and skills and knowledge gained.
In total, 128 medical student captains at 80 medical schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia formed teams that helped 15,692 adults start the voter registration and/or mail-in ballot request process. Eighty-two (64.1%) captains responded to the post competition survey, representing 56 (70.0%) of the participating schools. The top-ranked motivation for participating in the campaign was the desire to address social and racial inequities (37, 45.1%). Respondents reported gaining skills and knowledge in several aspects of civic engagement, including community organizing (67, 81.7%) and voting rights (63, 76.8%). The majority of respondents planned to incorporate voter registration into their future practice (76, 92.7%).
Future Healthy Democracy Campaigns will aim to continue closing the voting access gap and promote the long-term inclusion of hands-on civic engagement in medical education and practice.
投票使公民有机会直接参与影响其健康的领导人和政策的决策。然而，在美国，只有不到 20%的符合条件的公民有机会在政府资助的机构（如提供医疗补助或医疗保险服务的医院或诊所）注册投票。由于医学生在医疗保健环境中与包括患者、访客、同事和其他人员在内的多个行为者互动，他们在增加投票机会方面处于有利地位。
Vot-ER 是一个无党派非营利组织，旨在促进医疗保健环境中的公民参与，该组织于 2020 年 7 月 20 日至 10 月 9 日发起了首届健康民主运动。作为这场全国性、基于游戏的竞赛的一部分，招募了医学生队长，领导由医疗保健实习生和专业人员组成的团队，帮助符合条件的成年人在 2020 年 11 月选举前开始选民登记和/或邮件投票申请流程。竞赛结束后，对医学生队长进行了调查，了解他们参与的动机以及获得的技能和知识。
共有 128 名医学生队长在 31 个州和哥伦比亚特区的 80 所医学院校组建了团队，帮助 15692 名成年人开始选民登记和/或邮件投票申请流程。82 名（64.1%）队长对竞赛后的调查做出了回应，代表了参与学校中的 56 所（70.0%）。参与竞选的首要动机是解决社会和种族不平等问题（37 人，占 45.1%）。受访者报告说，他们在公民参与的几个方面获得了技能和知识，包括社区组织（67 人，占 81.7%）和投票权（63 人，占 76.8%）。大多数受访者计划将选民登记纳入他们未来的实践（76 人，占 92.7%）。
未来的健康民主运动将继续努力缩小投票机会差距，并促进在医学教育和实践中长期纳入实际公民参与。
