For friends, family, and co-workers, I am always researching and finding resources for them. I search for the side effects of medications, where to receive free or reduced medical care, the meanings of medical terms.

I also look into resources for childcare, therapy, make lists of important phone numbers, find out how to do things and get advice wherever I can find it. Is there a career for this kind of thing which involves a lot of researching on the internet?

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Mary Joan's Response to this Question

Hi Salena,

It sounds like you might be describing the type of work that a Patient Advocate does.

I have a couple of suggestions that you can look into, in regard to the kind of things you are describing, that you like to do. While doing your research you may run across some other related careers that you can do further research on.

Here is something to start you off.
Patient Advocacy is an up and coming career. These are people who have a great deal of compassion and patience. And they have to do a lot of research to keep up with the latest information, in order to know what is best for their patients.

What is a Patient Advocate?
Patient Advocates can become health information specialists, who sometimes know more about a particular health concern and the resources needed to manage it, than some medical personnel.

With their wealth of knowledge and commitment to wellness, they negotiate the often turbulent waters, between the patient, health care providers and hospitals.

When someone is sick, it is often too hard for them to do the research, and to handle the complexities of the many personal interactions with doctors and staff, which are often necessary, during the course of treatment.

What kinds of things do Patient Advocates do?
The patient advocate gets to know the patient, what their needs and goals are, how they are being treated. They then follow, as closely as possible, the wishes of the patient.

Patient Advocates represent the patient, mediating the medical claims with insurance companies, coordinating appointments with appropriate medical practitioners, and keeping a close eye on the treatment plan for the patient.

They can supervise the many drugs that patients are being prescribed, to make sure the patient knows what they should be taking and why.

Busy doctors are not always aware of how the drugs their patients have been prescribed by other health practitioners can be incompatible with the ones they are prescribing, or how drugs and foods or herbs their patients may be taking are interacting.

Patient Advocates can watch the patients they are working with, to ensure the substances they take do not conflict with each other. This requires an extensive knowledge of how to research these substances and their effects on the body.

They are organizers and interpreters for the patient, and they speak with doctors and nurses and other health care practitioners on behalf of the patient.

They keep the patient informed, so it is not so bewildering and confusing, and they coordinate care between medical personnel.

As a Patient Advocate what areas can you work in?
Depending on what you are interested in, you can work in many areas of health care. Some lobby to change the laws or policies. Others work with those who are the victims of medical malpractice. These are patients' rights advocates.

Some work in long-term and geriatric care for seniors. Others help the mentally ill.

You can become a Case Manager working within the health care system, or you can work privately in Personal Health Assistance.

You can research diseases and treatments, and make suggestions to educate the patients, the families and caregivers, you are working with.

It all depends on which areas pique your interest. You choose the area you want to focus on, and become knowledgeable in.

You must have a passion for this kind of work, or it will wear you out. Having a passion for it will energize you and protect you when things get tough.

With the complexity of the current health system, as well as a rising population of seniors who are in need of medical care, patient advocates are ensured of a job that will be in demand for a long time to come.

How to get into this work?
You could start by volunteering to work one-on-one with patients in a medical setting. Once you get a little experience, you'll know if this is what you want to do, and which aspect of it, you'd prefer. There is nothing like trying it out on a temporary basis first, and talking to those who work in the field.

Besides offering themselves to private patients, as health consultants in their own private business, patient advocates can be employed in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, government agencies, insurance companies, or for private health groups.

Education and Training
Since this field is so new, there are not yet standards or guidelines available for licensing or certification. You can therefore, pretty much define how you want to work in this field.

Resources for Researching the Field
The Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy (SHCS) is a non-profit healthcare organization that is working with Patient Advocates.

Sarah Lawrence College in New York was the first in the country to offer a program in Health Advocacy. This program offers one direction that a person might choose to go. But it is, by no means, the only way to practice Patient Advocacy. Read what they say about it.

Here is how Jupiter Medical Center in Florida uses their Patient Advocacy Program.

You might like to call them up and ask to talk to several of the Patient Advocates working there, to get an idea of the kind of work they are doing. You might also ask if you could Job Shadow someone.

Because this field is so new, the best way to do your research is to talk to the actual people who are doing the work. You can do a phone interview or an in-person interview using the 20 Basic Research Questions List.

For a list of Advocacy Jobs in Florida see: Patient Advocate Jobs. Looking at the job descriptions can give you an idea of which direction you'd like to take in developing your education as a Patient Advocate.

For some books on Patient Advocacy, go to the Browse By Category Section of the: Recommended Books Page and look under the category called Patient Advocacy. You may find something there. There are very few books written on this area.

Best of luck in finding your niche in this field,

Mary Joan