Advocacy

On January 20th, as part of President Donald J. Trump’s day-one executive orders, the Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to eliminate “gender ideology” from employee resource groups and grants and replace the term “gender” with “sex” on government forms. As a result, vital public health information and data have been erased from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, including HIV testing information, the Social Vulnerability Index, contraceptive eligibility guidelines, the largest adolescent behavioral health monitoring program, multiple resources addressing health disparities among LGBTQIA+ communities, and more. 

National APAMSA denounces the draconian censorship of science, public health, and medicine in federal policy to further disenfranchise marginalized communities. Regardless of federal mandates, we will continue to advocate for the dissemination of evidence-based, culturally competent care and support initiatives that combat health disparities among sexual and gender minorities. We affirm that gender-affirming care is life-saving care, as discussed in our previous statements and policy compendium, and affirmed in the stances of the World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American Academy of Family Physicians.

We urge all healthcare professionals to adhere to the evidence-based clinical recommendations and guidelines that have ensured quality care for all communities. We urge institutions to support their employees and patients by continuing to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in their resources and programs. Lastly, we urge community leaders and policy makers to prioritize the health of the public and act against censorship of medical terminology and public health institutions.

To our colleagues in medicine, we stand with you and fight alongside you. We affirm that diversity is what makes our communities strong.

To our patients, please know that there is an overwhelming majority of healthcare workers that will fight to provide the highest level of care possible. Please continue to share your stories and seek the care you deserve. It is our highest honor and privilege to care for you and your loved ones. 

“It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”

― Angela Y. Davis, Freedom Is a Constant Struggle

For questions about this statement, please reach out to Nataliyah Tahir at rapidresponse@apamsa.org. For local support, please contact your region director. To get more involved with National APAMSA’s diversity initiatives, please visit www.apamsa.org/diversity or contact Sandra Kumwong at diversity@apamsa.org.

On Monday, January 20th, President Donald J. Trump issued a slew of executive orders disrupting public health and safety, including actions related to health care, Covid-19 and emergency preparedness, diversity, equity, and inclusion, LGBTQ+ protections, immigration, climate change, reproductive rights, and the death penalty. 

National APAMSA condemns these overwhelmingly unconstitutional policies aimed at disempowering marginalized communities. As discussed in previous statements and our policy compendium, we will continue to uphold health care reform; protection of migrants, refugees, and undocumented immigrants; and advocacy in favor of dismantling racial, ethnic, and gender disparities. 

While these recent events may be discouraging, we encourage our community to practice resilience, center optimism, and remain energized. In memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, we offer a reminder: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.” 

We urge community leaders, lawmakers, and judicial systems to challenge these executive actions and fight for justice, equity, and inclusion for all. Find and contact your representatives in Congress by visiting www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member. 

For questions about this statement, please reach out to Nataliyah Tahir at rapidresponse@apamsa.org. For local support, please contact your region director. 

On October 27, 2024, 71-year-old Lich Vu was brutally assaulted by police during an arrest in Oklahoma City, which resulted in severe injuries requiring hospitalization. Body camera footage released by the Oklahoma City Police Department reveals a language barrier between the officer and Vu, who is Vietnamese and speaks English as a second language. The incident brings to light dual issues of police brutality and increased violence against Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in the wake of COVID-19.

National APAMSA strongly condemns the assault on Lich Vu and reaffirms our stance against police brutality and violence against AANHPI communities, as discussed in previous statements. Police violence is not only a criminal justice issue, it is also a public health crisis. The immediate physical harm inflicted in such incidents is accompanied by long-term psychological and emotional consequences, not only for the individuals directly affected but also for their families and communities. For elderly individuals like Vu, these effects are compounded by the vulnerability that comes with age and the challenges many immigrants face in navigating systems that often fail to protect them.

The health of our communities is deeply intertwined with how institutions like law enforcement uphold—or undermine—public safety and trust. Yet, these harms are preventable, and addressing them requires systemic change.  Accountability must be pursued at every level to ensure justice and to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Our thoughts are with Lich Vu and his loved ones as they recover from this traumatic event. We continue to urge community leaders, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies to take decisive action to ensure accountability and enact reforms that prioritize the safety and dignity of all individuals, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Written by Hugo Zhou and Nataliyah Tahir.

As future medical professionals, we see the real-life consequences of political decisions in emergency rooms, hospitals, and clinics. Despite a growing recognition that voting is directly linked to better health outcomes, however, health professionals are voting at lower rates than the national average. It’s time that we make a change this election.

We see patients denied essential services due to bureaucratic hurdles, such as insurance coverage gaps for life-saving medications or underfunded social and mental health service programs. As medical students and leaders of health in our communities, we have a responsibility to vote—not just for ourselves but for the people we serve.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recognizes voting as a social determinant of health. Communities with higher voter turnout often experience better health outcomes, yet many health care providers, including medical students, face challenges in turning out to vote. Busy schedules, unexpected emergencies, and the demands of our profession can create real barriers. We must break this cycle, and the remedy is early voting. By casting our ballots ahead of time, we can ensure that our voices are heard to better the health of our communities and patients.

Many of us have celebrated our family members finally gaining citizenship, only to see them struggle within a health care system full of obstacles. These are not isolated incidents; they reflect the broader experiences of disinvested communities whose voice at the ballot box can have a meaningful impact. The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities face the brunt of harmful anti-immigrant narratives, echoing xenophobic sentiments that have long afflicted our communities that contribute to social isolation and negative health outcomes.

Yet, AANHPI advocacy has a rich history in the United States—from Japanese American activist Yuri Kochiyama, who fought for civil rights alongside Black leaders, to Native Hawaiian scholar Haunani-Kay Trask, who advocated for Indigenous sovereignty. In honoring their legacies, we recognize that voting is one of the most powerful tools we have to shape healthier communities and, in turn, a healthier democracy.

At the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), the largest student organization of AANHPI medical students and pre-medical students, we’ve made civic engagement a priority this year. Partnering with the non-partisan, non-profit organization Vot-ER we’ve implemented training among our over 4,000 members and participated in programs to help medical professionals get ready to vote and help their patients to vote. Today, we are calling on medical students and professionals, particularly within the AANHPI community and beyond, to close our voter turnout gap by voting early.

Health is always on the ballot, and this election provides a critical opportunity to create a health care system that works for everyone. By voting early, we take an essential first step toward realizing that vision of healthier and more equitable communities. Our role as future physicians extends beyond the clinic walls. During this election season, we must show up—not just for ourselves, but also for our patients and communities. Let’s ensure that our voices are heard by voting early in this and every election.

Make your early voting plan today.

Alexander Le, Annie Yao, and Victoria Shi are medical students.

Find the original posted OpEd here.

On Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, those at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, witnessed a shooting that took the lives of four individuals and injured nine more. This is the 385th mass shooting and the 45th school shooting of the year in the country.

APAMSA remains staunchly opposed to gun violence (Resolution 40.006) and demands stricter gun control, and yet again emphatically states that there is a need for gun reform and control to prevent such acts from occurring. Underaged individuals, especially those with a history of threatening a mass shooting, should not be able to obtain assault weapons. We urge legislators to keep this pressing issue in mind as the 2024 election draws closer, to prioritize their commitment to such reform, and to listen to the voices of their grieving constituents. 

We mourn with the nation for the lives lost and interrupted by this tragedy. We offer our support to those affected and we encourage you to reach out if there are specific ways in which we can assist you.

For local support, please contact the Region 4 directors at region4@apamsa.org. 

On April 18th, 2024, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested over 100 peaceful student protestors at Columbia University’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in response to orders by university President Nemat Minouche Shafik. The arrests have ignited a nationwide movement of college students setting up similar encampments to protest US support for Israeli military action in Gaza and to call for divestment of school endowments from corporations that profit from war. 

Alarmingly, however, college administrators have continued to escalate against peaceful student protests with violent police suppression, disproportionate disciplinary action, and undue censorship. Administrator-ordered police intervention on several campuses has led to more than 800 arrests of students nationally, with many police officers using excessive force. At the University of Texas at Austin, Governor Greg Abbott called on state troopers clad in riot gear to stop peaceful student demonstrations, while at Emory University police officers and state troopers reportedly used pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas on students, tased attendees, and wrestled faculty to the ground. Since November 2023, administrators have employed multiple intimidation tactics to censor pro-Palestinian voices, including suspending students to facilitate police arrests, banning student chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and even terminating physicians-in-training from residency programs.

National APAMSA condemns the brutal crackdown on academic freedom and free speech on college campuses across the country. We support statements made by organizations such as Asian Texans for Justice, Rise AAPI, Emgage Action, Stop AAPI Hate, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Human Rights Watch (HRW). As a national medical student organization whose mission is rooted in principles of health advocacy, we stand in solidarity with all students exercising their constitutional right to free speech to advocate for human rights. As stated in a previous statement, National APAMSA unequivocally upholds the value of human life everywhere. We remain committed in our demand for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza in light of the thousands of innocent lives lost, numerous attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, and restricted access to humanitarian aid.

We call on college administrators to resist political pressures to censor student voices and instead uphold academic freedom––encouraging students to engage in civil discourse on campuses without fear of punitive and disproportionate punishment. Removing peaceful protests using police violence under the guise of improving campus safety further endangers students and creates hostile learning environments. Reiterating previous statements, we likewise continue to condemn accounts of anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia reported amid the protests. 

On March 19, 2024, Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC) introduced the Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act (H.R. 7725) to Congress. The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-329) to prohibit graduate medical schools from receiving federal funding, including student loans and federal research grants, if such schools adopt policies and requirements relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These policies include the maintenance of DEI offices and affinity groups, as well as the use of diversity statements. Rep. Murphy, the author of the bill and a practicing urologist, claims that DEI is a divisive and discriminatory philosophy that undermines medical education and results in a less qualified physician force. The bill comes amid an alarming nationwide political assault on DEI, as more than 80 bills restricting or regulating DEI in higher education have been introduced in 28 states and the US Congress since 2023. 

As an organization committed to addressing the unique health challenges of AANHPI communities, National APAMSA condemns the EDUCATE Act and will continue to support DEI policies in healthcare and health professions education alongside leading medical associations from across the country. APAMSA affirms that DEI neither exists in opposition to merit, nor does it jeopardize the quality of medical education––these are myths propagated to fuel a political agenda. While by no means perfect, campus DEI structures provide physicians in training the tools to address the health needs of an increasingly diverse population, providing learning environments that help students from various backgrounds overcome implicit biases that contribute to disparities in treatment and health outcomes. The evidence is abundantly clear: diversity in healthcare improves patient outcomes, and in effect creates a more qualified physician force.

National APAMSA unequivocally supports DEI initiatives in our policy compendium (Resolution 40.002) and in recent statements. Attacks on DEI in medical education clearly contradict a core tenet of our mission. We therefore reiterate our opposition to the EDUCATE Act and urge legislators to oppose HR 7725.