My First Annual Federal Advocacy Forum: a PT Student’s Perspective

The Federal Advocacy Forum (FAF) is 275 of the most passionate leaders in the physical therapy (PT) community coming together in Washington DC to work toward a few specific legislative goals. This year, the American Physical Therapy Association hosted the FAF from April 29-May 1. We started with a day and a half of diving into the issues, advocacy, and the state of the profession as a whole. The third day involved a visit to the office of every single senator and representative by a group from their state or district to talk about the way that current legislation and issues affect their constituents and our patients.

On the ground, it looked like two and half very full, very long days of stretching your brain, prioritizing patients, forming new connections with the cream of the PT crop from across the country, brainstorming battle plans, celebrating successes, and casually looking up from your walk back from dinner to notice that you’re in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

In college, I was very involved in social justice, particularly issues surrounding diversity, racism, and representation on my campus. As I got to know the PT profession a bit better, I noticed similar patterns: access to care is far from equitably distributed or easily accessible for marginalized groups. On January 31, 2018, Dr. Eva Norman talked to my physical therapy program about advocacy at the federal level, and it clicked. Many of the issues facing the PT profession that I cared about most were answered, ignored or significantly limited by federal legislation! Participating in the FAF was a golden opportunity to impact that legislation, and I will always be grateful to the Minnesota Physical Therapy Association for making it possible for me to be there.

Back home in Minnesota, a friend asked, “What was it about your trip that really got you hooked on this advocacy thing?” The bait was getting to know my new #PTfam, but the hook was talking to Sen. Smith’s Health Legislative Aide about proposed legislation in our very first congressional meeting. Seeing her scribble notes as her eyes got wider and wider when I talked about a bill’s potential financial impact on my classmates and me was so empowering! Not every staffer was as transparent, but that moment sealed my life-long involvement in advocacy. I saw that personal, true stories could bridge the gap between policies and people, and pave the way for real change.

The other pivotal moment for me was in a different meeting later that day. I was the only constituent from Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District at the FAF, so I led the meeting with my congressman’s Legislative Director. As great as the rest of the trip was, the opportunity to have a conversation about our concerns and hopes, hear her response, and work together to find ways to address the congressman’s priorities while pushing for what our patients needed was really why I had flown to DC. I learned more about politics, policy, and negotiation from that conversation than in the other four meetings on the Hill combined!

Overall, physical therapy, the APTA, the impact of federal policy, and the Federal Advocacy Forum are each and together bigger and deeper than I could have wrapped my mind around without this experience. It doesn’t feel like an exaggeration to call the trip “life-changing,” although I never would have guessed it when Dr. Norman used that phrase last January.

Kate Zenker

Kate Zenker is a Doctor of Physical Therapy student at Concordia University St. Paul. She chose physical therapy as a way of turning her love of science, people, problem-solving and the sheer joy of helping someone achieve their potential into a job. Along the way, she discovered that physical therapy is far more than the sum of those parts and found a true vocation. When she isn’t studying, Kate is usually outside with her dog, traveling, having a glass of wine with her church small group, or catching up on physical therapy and soccer podcasts.