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| Conferences: Attending Really Can Change Your Life |
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by David Mittman, PA - June 7, 2011
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 Provided by Clinician 1
I just came back from the AAPA conference. It is something that has marked every Memorial Day in my life for many years. I tend to come back energized about the profession. First the full disclosure. I think the AAPA can and must do a much better job at promoting and advancing the profession. I think that at times the Academy has even held the PA profession down. I hope very much that those times are changing and will be gone. We all will never agree but there needs to be much more give and take. That being said, I have gone to over 35 AAPA conferences. The first 15, because I was an involved leader. The next 20 or so because I had a business that forwarded the PA profession and I needed to be there. I all cases, every year I fill up my gas tank with love for my profession and especially love for the people who chose to be PAs. Conferences are also the weddings and Bar-Mitzvahs, the Confirmations and Retirement parties of our profession. They mark life passages. I see people who I have not seen for years. I hear about people’s children, lives, marriages. I hug and kiss, worry and commiserate. Conferences are a time to catch up and to remember. All of these relatives who are part of my life were met at conferences.
Sadly for us, over the last years the conference have become too big. It is not like the beginning when everyone fit in a large ballroom. One met people who they would have never met. Parties were thrown by state organizations (not generally done anymore). NY and California sponsored a joint party where lifelong friendships were made. You could not help making friends at these get-togethers. All were welcome. I am sure it was the same in the NP profession. The fact that the conference has become so large is great for the AAPA but not so much for the individual. Today, there are still receptions. Most are by PA programs and if you did not go to that program, you obviously are not invited. Another is a large awards dinner to honor PAs who are really the heroes of the profession but it is black tie and costly to the average new PA or student. Usually the “leaders” attend but the rank and file do not.
So why am I telling you this? Because conferences really make a difference in your professional life. You can choose to attend Pri-Med, but IMHO it will not change your life. Our PA and NP conferences can, and do. Lately AFPPA comes closest to what I think a conference should be. They are small enough to remind me of the old days. They ask for people’s opinions. People are encouraged to network just by being at the conference. They have open sessions to discuss politics. And the best thing is that PAs and NPs attend together. How can the AAPA (and even the AANP) start bringing back that old feeling? I would suggest that we start by going out of our way to meet each other again. The AAPA and AANP should ask for volunteers to pair up, possibly two or three graduates with students or even graduates in the same specialty who do not know each other over lunch or dinner. Have many more group learning experiences of about 100 people who have something in common. That will help people connect. Not just clinical lectures. Maybe a group of PAs who have started businesses. Another round table on volunteering during disasters. Another on working with NPs as residents together. Maybe one on how to get involved on a state level. Another by specialty or topic. Another on how to respond to physicians who say nasty things about our profession. We shared those things years ago, especially with younger people who could just walk in and ask questions. We need this interaction more than ever. Not just for leaders but for all.
Conferences shaped my life. I have made life-changing friends at them. I am an optimist and I think they can do the same for you.
Thank you AAPA, AFPPA, AANP, NYSSPA, NPACE, CAPA and all of the other conferences I have attended over the years. They all fill me up.
I hope you get to feel the same way. See you soon somewhere. Come say hello and make a new friend.
Dave
Dave has been a PA, and later NP, leader for thirty years. He strongly believes that NPs and PAs must work together to insure a better future for both professions. Most recently Dave has been busy launching another dream; Clinician 1, the first internet community for PAs and NPs. In October 2008, Dave was honored by the New Jersey State society of PAs with its “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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