You're preparing for a patient advocacy interview. How can you convey your passion effectively?

To convey your passion effectively in a patient advocacy interview, share personal stories and experiences that highlight your dedication and commitment. Explain what inspired you to pursue this field, discuss any challenges you've overcome, and emphasize the positive impact you've made on patients' lives. This personal connection and genuine enthusiasm will resonate with your interviewers and showcase your passion for patient advocacy

I´ve always had health issues since my mom´s pregnancy. I clearly remember her always worried about the illness of the day. I have faced fractures, bleeding problems, and cancer among other sicknesses, but there was nothing I couldn´t overcome. So, the love and care I received widely from friends and family, and excellent science teachers, directed me to the care of others. I had, and still have the strength to recover even with a bad prognosis. Life is a great school, being a patient and a medical doctor, sometimes simultaneously, makes me understand that holding the hand of a lonely patient, is not strictly science. We all need kindness when we are in any sort of pain, it doesn´t matter if we can be cured or not. Feeling loved matters.

Every organization has its goals, not just the whole company, each part is different considering the type of illnesses as well as the personnel. Different characteristics are working on each side. Health services cannot be equalized, they are diverse as diverse are health and sickness, as diverse are too patient's and workers personality. Every organization needs a mission, vision, values, and specific objectives as general guides, indispensable, as the individualization of patients' conditions is necessary too, ideally the perfect match with health workers. Desiring to be the best we can be as health providers, knowing our patients' background, as well as their medical condition, can do the magic of the best health servers possible.

In a health organization, regardless of its size or orientation, the patients are the most important aspect of our work. I have had the privilege of working in public service, but the quantity of resources is not always sufficient. However, I´ve learned to persevere, recognizing that my work is not limited to a specific time frame. I believe I must provide support to anyone in a crisis, contemplating suicide, or scared. It is not uncommon for other medical professionals to be reluctant to inform a patient that they are going to die. It seems that may not be prepared to deal with the dying. I always offer to be present when difficult news is delivered. I am not afraid of other people's pain. I am trained in crisis intervention and support.

We live in groups called society, and this makes life easier or more complex. Managing to help a sick person is also teamwork. At the front, the patient and family too, are whose well-being is sought. Sometimes one can help individually, but this is an orthodox approach in countries like mine. Contributions of diverse actors are the best way to get an excellent job. As a team worker, I rely on the expertise of other disciplines, specialists, psychologists, nurses, and so on. When I asked myself who spends the entire day with a patient, surprisingly none of the above, it was the cleaning lady! Who assisted with basic needs and gave support through music, flowers, books, or a non-sickness conversation. In a team, we all contribute, or not.

I became a medical doctor and a psychiatrist because I wanted to help people. I love what I do! It's so rewarding to be able to improve someone's health and regain happiness. I've seen many happy sick people in my time as a health provider. It's all about how they perceive their illness, everyone's experience is different. Years ago, I asked terminal patients what their biggest worry was about dying. The answers I got were fascinating! First, not everybody has a problem with it, and second, the reasons for being worried were, varied. As health workers, we must understand they are living people, not dying ones, we must let them accept that they can live happily and with control, they can and should enjoy what they love, laugh, and be normal.

I am a voracious reader. Medicine has a wealth of valuable information about a wide variety of topics. Patient advocacy is not an exception. In my area, studying is always a common practice, as it is a group discussion where sharing information is the objective. Experience is invaluable, it feeds us all as a team. Patient advocacy is not a matter of study; it is a way of living my profession.