Webinar: Physicians’ Ethical Obligations for Public Advocacy

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, 6-7 p.m. via Zoom; earn up to 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™

Register here

Clinical advocacy on behalf of individual patients is a long-standing core value across health professions, and physicians often spend extra time and effort helping their patients. Meanwhile, professional societies are clearly tasked with advocacy in the public arena. But in recent years, multiple organizations and leaders in the profession have taken up the call for individual physicians to engage in public advocacy, too. In response, training on advocacy is increasingly included as part of medical school, residency, and fellowship training programs.

In this webinar, Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, takes on an increasingly unavoidable question: given rising mistrust, political divisions, cynicism toward medical research and evidence, and open attacks on the concept of professional expertise, on core professional values like empathy, compassion and altruism, and on public health, health equity, and human rights today, when are physicians not merely ethically encouraged to engage in public advocacy, but ethically obligated to do so? This thought-provoking session, based upon a recent piece he co-authored in The Lancet, will challenge attendees to consider the role of public advocacy in protecting their patients and their profession.

About the speaker

Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, is a professor of medicine and of public health at the University of Colorado, where he directs the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities. Focusing on issues related to the social roles of health professionals, he is a clinician-researcher and leader in bioethics with a history of exploring some of the most contentious ethical issues in health care. Prior to his current role, he spent 18 years at the American Medical Association, where he led the AMA Institute for Ethics, the Center for Patient Safety, and was Director of Patient and Physician Engagement for the Improving Health Outcomes team.

Learning objectives

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Describe the historical and ethical foundations for physician involvement in public advocacy.
Analyze current challenges to scientific integrity, public health, and health equity that may drive physician advocacy.
Evaluate ethical arguments for and against clinician engagement in policy and political debates.
Reflect on professional responsibilities and identify appropriate ways to advocate for patients and the medical profession.

ACCME Accreditation Statement

The Colorado Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA Credit Designation Statement

The Colorado Medical Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.