Medical Network

Medical Conservation or Advocacy Groups

• Locally, contact Physicians for Social Responsibility offices. If you cannot locate your local office by looking in the phone book, check the PSR web site, www.psr.org, or call the national PSR office at 202-898-0150. The environmental issues it has dealt with in the past have centered on pollution and pesticides.
• Call local board members of the National Association of Physicians for the Environment. NAPE's web site is: www.napenet.org and its national office phone number is 301-571-9790. NAPE is not an advocacy group.

Professional Associations

• Call the state medical society and ask whether it has an environmental health committee or something similar. If so, ask to speak to the person who staffs this committee. It is also helpful to speak with the state medical society's public policy staff person. Ask staff for names of a few medical personnel who are concerned about the loss of biodiversity and related biological/medical impacts.
• If the medical society has an environment-related committee, ask if it would be appropriate and helpful to make a presentation to the committee, ask the committee to approve a resolution or policy statement, or find people who are interested in working with you. Similarly, call the American Veterinarians Medical Association, national office at 800-248-2862. Their web site is www.avma.org. Also, call the American Nurses Association, national office at 202-651-7000. Their web site is www.nursingworld.org.

Working with Interested Medical Personnel

• Do not get discouraged. Most MD's and other medical personnel are reluctant to help on conservation issues. All you need is one and it becomes contagious.
• Be aware of their time limitations.
• Give contacts background information. They may need some background information such as a list of medicines and the plants from which they are derived to prepare for a congressional meeting or other activities.