So You Want to Be a Patient Advocate?: Choosing a Career in Health or Patient Advocacy

This is the description for the Third Edition, published September 2022.

Choosing a new career, the next chapter in your life, is never easy. So many questions, and difficulty finding answers....

Until now! If health or patient advocacy or navigation has been on your radar, you'll find this book to be a handy resource with answers to your questions, including a few you probably didn't even know to ask.

No matter what form of advocacy you think you might want to choose, get started with your decision-making here!

Patient advocates, health advocates, care managers, navigators, representatives, ombudsmen, care coordinators... the many names for advocates highlight their importance, yet cause some confusion at the same time.

If the concept of helping people manage their journeys through the healthcare system is of interest to you, then this is the book to help you sort out what you need to know, then how to approach your own decision-making about choosing this career.

• Learn why the field is wide open and why it needs you.
• Determine if your personality is a good fit for advocacy.
• Evaluate your own skills and find resources for improving them.
• Learn how to find patient advocacy jobs and how much they pay.
• See how the Allegiance Factor can affect your job satisfaction and patient outcomes.
• Decide if private, independent advocacy is a good choice for you.
• Learn about advocacy certification and why it is good for the profession.
• Find resources to support your choice.

So You Want to Be a Patient Advocate? Choosing a Career in Health or Patient Advocacy is the first in a series of books about health and patient advocacy careers. The others support the business of advocacy. Find them in the Health Advocate's Career Series.

When Trisha Torrey was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive lymphoma in 2004, she was a marketing consultant who knew almost nothing about healthcare. She was also naïve to the dysfunction of the American healthcare system that was tasked with treating her.

But she got smart, fast. She learned that the possibility of excellent care was too easily and frequently eclipsed by miscommunication and mistakes. She also learned that if she didn't stick up for herself, and insist on the help she needed, she would not get it. The more empowered she became, the more she realized there was a possibility she had no lymphoma. Eventually she proved she was right; she had no cancer.

Once Trisha put that "no cancer" odyssey behind her, she decided it was up to her to apply her skills to teaching others how to navigate the dangerous landscape of American healthcare. She sold her marketing company in 2006 to devote herself full time to the cause.

Today Trisha calls herself "Every Patient's Advocate." She is the founder of AdvoConnection.com and the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates which support the business aspects of a health advocate's work. She writes regularly for a number of online outlets, speaks to groups of patients and professionals, and teaches workshops. She is the author of six books including this first book in the Health Advocate Career Series. Learn more at her Amazon author page.

Trisha has been quoted by CNN, MSNBC, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, O Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, NPR, Scientific American, Angie's List Magazine, Bottom Line Publications, and others.