Natalie Hale, a first-year student in the Alaska WWAMI Biomedical program, represented Alaska as part of a Doctors for America meeting at the White House on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009. Representatives of the Doctors for America group also met with Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. The White House Web site includes a story on the meeting.

Doctors for America is an organization that works to convey the ideas and experiences of physicians to achieve health care reform based on four key pillars: affordable coverage, expanded access to care, high quality care, and practice environments that allow physicians to focus on patient care.

Hale began medical school in Alaska WWAMI in 2009. She graduated from Yale University in 2008 where she was the editor of the Yale Journal of Public Health. She also worked as the coordinator of the Yale Undergraduates at Connecticut Hospice, and interned at the Brigham and Women's Hospital Connors Center for Women's Health Policy and Advocacy. In addition to her many accomplishments, Hale was chosen to represent Alaska as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. After graduating from Yale, she pursued her interest in public policy as an Urban Fellow in the Office of the Mayor in New York City.

"I believe that access to health care is a fundamental human right. Over the past few years my long-running interest in medicine has become a passion shaped and driven by my love for patient care, my frustrations over health care inequity, and my desire to combine medicine and policy work in order to advocate for patients and broader social change," said Hale. "As a physician in training, I am dedicated to working for meaningful health reform because I believe that I have a responsibility to advocate for the recognition of patients, their rights and the importance of their health."

Hale was born in Florida and moved to Juneau when she was 11. She has always been interested in science and medicine and was involved in a biomedical research project as an undergraduate. Recently, she wrote an opinion piece, "Health care system in U.S. badly needs repair," that was published in the Juneau Empire and the Anchorage Daily News.

Hale hopes to work in primary care and plans to pursue a Master of Public Health degree in conjunction with her medical education.