CHAPEL HILL -- Editor's note: This fall, The N&O is talking to people about the nation's health-care system, what works, what doesn't and what should be done to fix it.
Ask Rebecca Chasnovitz why she wants to become a children's doctor and she will say that she enjoys working with kids.
Talk with her a little longer and the fourth-year UNC School of Medicine student will reveal an experience that helped edge her toward her choice: As a child, she spent months in the hospital after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder. In later years, she switched doctors as her family switched insurance companies, something she keeps in mind as she thinks of reforming the nation's health-care system.
"When you're constantly changing insurance companies," she said, "it's really hard to figure out what's covered and what's not."
Chasnovitz wishes health insurance were not tied to employers, but sounds resigned to the fact that it will be. "That's the system that we have," she said. But she would like to see a government-run option to compete with private insurers.
Chasnovitz, 25, grew up in Cary. Doctors diagnosed her kidney disorder when she was 6, and she spent three months in Rex Hospital. The lifelong condition causes recurring kidney stones.
She graduated from Enloe High School and UNC before starting medical school. "I'm just one of those students who just always wanted to be a doctor," she said, as medicine allows her to solve problems while helping people. She was inspired, too, by the relationship she had as a child with her kidney specialist.
Now, as a medical student, she's approaching health care from a different angle.
"It's a confusing topic," she said, "even for someone in medical school."
To educate students on possible reforms and to provide a venue for sharing ideas, the UNC medical school is hosting a series of forums. The first provided an overview of the reform process, said Dr. Warren Newton, the medical school's dean of education, and future forums could delve into particular aspects of the proposals.
Changes in the nation's health-care policy could touch all parts of a doctor's job, Newton said, from the types of research conducted to the types of records that are kept and the ways doctors are reimbursed.
"We've tried to frame the discussion around what happens to patients as opposed to what happens to doctors," Newton said. "Ultimately, I think that's what the decision needs to be, not what makes doctors happy, but how will we improve the health of patients?"
Bring in the feds
Chasnovitz has ideas.
In addition to an optional government-run insurance program, she hopes the government spends more money on basic, clinical research. She thinks the implementation of electronic medical records, with some guidelines and oversight from the federal government, could improve efficiency among care providers.
The bottom line, though, is that she hopes more people will have access to affordable coverage.
"I'm hoping that my patients will have better coverage," she said, "and that helps my job."
