Stakeholder #1

A stakeholder is someone who is personally involved in an issue and has something to potentially lose or gain. To further understand the sides of the controversy, it is important to analyze the big stakeholders.

My first stakeholder is the University of Washington Housestaff Association (UWHA).

"City Skyline". 9/26/06 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain.

The University of Washington Housestaff Association  is a non-profit group that advocates for the University of Washington residents. They want to help make the voices of staff heard. The members of the organization are willing to go the extra mile to help the residents at affiliated hospitals. Members are residents and fellows who volunteer their time. They are in the middle of a complicated and tiring experience as medical doctors. They work strange hours, often heading into the hospital when the night falls or when the sun is barely starting to shine. They spend around 80 hours a week running around hospitals, becoming accustomed to the smell of disinfectant and sound of medical supplies. The organization is peaceful, yet firm. It appears as to others as a branch of residents who are seeking change in the system not only for themselves, but for others. As a group, the organization appears like the kid on the playground who you know is just trying to make recess more enjoyable and relaxing for others. Individually, members are scrub-wearing heroes who save lives regularly.


Specific Claims

• Mission statement excerpt: "Fair compensation for physicians in training, recognizing their collective and extensive education, their debt, their cost of living in a large metropolitan city, their level of responsibility, and hours of providing care to their patients"

• Another excerpt: "Knowledge, skills and information that may be useful to our members either now as physicians in training or later as attendings, especially regarding debt management, retirement planning, or any other personal or professional issues viewed as helpful to our member physicians" 

• Except from article published from UWHA President, Jacob Sunshine: "Residents are doing this not because they are dissatisfied with their training. Indeed, we are not asking to work one moment less than our roughly 60 to 100 hours per week (not more than 80 averaged over a month), nor trying to usurp control over how our teachers want to train us"

 Validity of Claims

• Addresses the financial and education aspects of issue, no facts involved, but directly claims what they wish to get out of an agreement, credible because this is a primary source

• Addresses the time frame of the changes they want to see, presents as credible because coming from direct source, broad focus 

• Addresses that residents are reasonable, they do not want to work less, just work under conditions they believer are fairer, this establishes them as logical and credible

Similarities and Differences from other Stakeholders

• Both the UWHA and the medical residents at affiliated hospitals (stakeholder #2) want to work towards better and safer environments for patients 

• The UWHA is making demands that the UW administration does not seem entirely possible, such as the parking fees

• The UWHA and UW administration both want to come to an agreement to end dispute

What else should I research about this stakeholder?