Doctors as delegates and health reform activists

In this pair of stories, Medpage Today offers the view seen from the Democratic convention floor by two physician delegates as well as a look at a doctors' group dedicated to supporting the health law.

Medpage Today: Doctor Delegates 'Hot' Wired After Clinton's Talk
The life of a delegate at a national political convention involves attending a lot of rallies and caucus meetings -- but the "thrill" of the event is having a ringside seat for the speeches delivered by party luminaries like former president Bill Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama and, of course, the acceptance speech by President Barack Obama. As the convention's final day dawned, Charlotte and the conventioneers were still riding high Clinton's keynote speech Wednesday night, and two doctor delegates from the host Tar Heel state were no different (Pittman, 9/6).

Medpage Today: Doctors' Group Pushes For ACA Support
Of all the physician groups with a presence at the Democratic and Republican conventions, only one -- Doctors for America -- exists solely to push a political message: support for health reform. Doctors for America was started in 2009 with the mission to "advocate for our patients and for the common goal of creating a better health care system." The group currently boasts 15,000 physician and medical student members nationwide, from a variety of political viewpoints. Although members generally advocate for health reform through letter-writing, testimony, and other common political activism, the group wanted to do something a little different for the conventions. So it embarked on a 12-day bus tour starting in Tampa and ending in Charlotte and stopping at a few other towns in between (Frieden, 9/6).