Health Advocates

Experience as an intern, volunteer, or part-time employee at a hospital or health care facility is recommended for aspiring health advocates.

The most important trait advocates can bring to this field is a sincere desire to work for the health and well-being of others. You can develop this commitment through community service, volunteer positions at hospitals, or caring for a loved one who has a serious illness. Because health advocates need to submit reports and interact with patients and peers, it is also essential to be an analytical thinker and have strong writing and oral communication skills. You must be able to communicate with a variety of people, including patients; doctors and nurses; hospital administration; and insurance representatives. Though knowledge of the health care system is important, you can't do your job as an advocate unless you have the skills to convey that information in a convincing way to your audience, whether that audience is a medical ethics board or an insurance company clerk.

For health advocates, getting results requires not just persistence but also strong problem-solving skills. Advocates must combine their medical and health administration expertise in creative ways, devising new negotiation strategies all the time. Often, obtaining the best possible outcome for patients means developing a specific plan for each new situation.