HOD Win for PAs: It's a Big Effin Deal!

The AAPA HOD had it's own 'big effin deal" moment, harkening back to when the US VP said to the US Prez "This is a big f------ deal!" after a big Obamacare victory. They thought they were off-mike, but they weren't.

Nobody was swearing (at least that I could hear) at HOD, but there was celebration by many when the House voted to propose a shift from the use of the word "supervision" to "collaboration" when describing PA relationships with physicians. This was brought to House by the Association of Family Practice PAs, one of our model speciality organizations. They brought to the HOD a case-study in how to work a resolution. They were prepared, collaborative, reached out early to both those likely to support as well as those who might have problems with this approach. And when they ran into some bumps, they did more of the same.

The result was a policy that describes PAs as collaborative partners with our physician colleagues, rather than the increasingly outdated "supervision" terminology.

Hats off to AFPPA, and to the HOD for having the vision to pass this. Because this is a big goshdarned deal.

Conference Food: Don't Touch My Fruit!

Whew. This baby is really flying by. I feel like I got here five minutes ago, and in fact it's been two days. That's the thing about conference living, when you fully engage, it's like working 16 hour shifts. Only with beer.

I've kind of hit my food stride, foraging for nuts and berries in the morning, then hunting down an animal for dinner. Not really, but it kind of feels like that. For example, yesterday I had a big fruit cup and a bagel from one of those odd food stations in the convention center. I was running a little late, and when I picked up the coffee cup and filled it, I was faced with a terrible decision, one I may make into a movie called "Jim's Choice." There were big aluminum urns of non-fat and whole milk. But the half and half was in those little thimbles. Should I take ten minutes and open the nine thimbles required to meet my personal half and half requirements, or opt for the much quicker but much sadder use of regular milk. As I pondered this problem, I remembered how those little thimbles usually explode upon opening, often squirting cream on my shirt. I had a big day at HOD which would include reaching out to my fellow delegates regarding my run for office there. This was not time for milk stains. I knew what had to be done. I had to use the whole milk.

And so I did.

For lunch, I sold out to the man and went to Starbucks and got a Cobb Salad, which probably had about twice the calories of a double-bacon-cheeseburger, but at least it had lettuce. It was darned good! I washed it down with one of those ridiculous vitamin water things, picked up another fruit cup, and I was set for the rest of the day.

Speaking of fruit cups, fruit can become like gold at conferences. Back in my seat in the House of Delegates as we prepared to resume testimony, I dug in to the treasure trove of life-giving goodness, made even more valuable in the high-priced food desert of the convention center. A fellow HOD delegate walked by, paused, looked longingly at my fruit cup, and asked "where did you find that?" I told her where, noting that it was not far. She smiled sadly and moved on. And I will regret until the day I leave this earth that I did not just give it to her. Or maybe just until I leave Boston. But it was open and I figured she would not want my cooties. But still I should have offered.

Next: learn about my trip to the Brazilian Steak House, where handsome young men in ties sprint through the restaurant carrying giant spears of sizzling meat and knives.

House of Delegates Add Survival Training to Agenda

I'm pinned down in HOD as an alternate, as a committee chair, and as a candidate for the board (2nd Vice Speaker, see my platform if you dare at http://bit.ly/andersonhod14), and I only learned upon arrival today that this year's HOD would also serve as a Survival Training exercise, much like Outward Bound. With temperatures in the HOD room hovering around 36 degrees, dim lighting due to there being one 65 watt light bulb to light a room the size of a football field, no wifi, and removal of all sources of food and water, the decision to to try to toughen up what can be a pretty soft group served the purpose. The AAPA did hand out snow crampons to allow delegates to slog through the ice and make their ways to the megaphones, installed this year to replace the far-too-expensive microphone technology. Mental toughness was the order of the day, and those who survived the proceedings left tougher than when they came in. And isn't that the way it should be?

At day's end, word was that the AAPA was planning to have live alligators hidden under selected state tables, just to add another level to the effort to build a more mentally tough delegation.

Chilly HOD Delegates at 2014 Proceedings

If Convention Center Flashing Signage Noting AAPA Presence is Seen By No One, Does A Tree Fall?

I know that's not how the "tree falls and no one hears it etc" saying goes, but it did come up for me tonight. I'm staying at the stylish Seaport (because I was such a slacker and didn't get my res in earlier to stay in the Westin), and I walked across the bridge toward the over-the-top convention center to meet some friends at the Westin for dinner. As I approached the Convention Center, there were wildly flashing images of PAs, AAPA logos, a few AAPA luminaries and the like, but there was not a person around, except for me, to see it. I am not sure if it was just practice, but it was a little surreal, just me, the bridge, and 20 foot tall images of our AAPA president. But it looked good, and it got me pumped up for the action starting tomorrow. Kudos to the AAPA and the Convention Center for pumping up the AAPA, and I'm sure more people will see it tomorrow. I suppose that even if this sparkle only serves to make us PAs feel fired up, that it's plenty worth it. The bold architecture (http://www.rvapc.com/works/131-boston-convention--exhibition-center) is really a knockout, and architect Rafael Vinoly has it going on.

Hey Boston: Let's Do This!

l feel like Arlo Guthrie and his 70s song "coming in to Los Angeles, bringing in a couple of keys" only I have no keys, at least not the kind he had, but instead I have about nine mobile devices, four laptops, and a dropbox account bulging at the seams. I'm coming to #aapa14 for HOD, as an exhibitor (COPE REMS free CME from University of Washington about safe opioid prescribing, come see me at booth and I will give you a free pen, although it is not a COPE REMS pen), and to see all my PA peeps. HOD will be action packed, like it or not, and as chair of the AAPA Health Disparities Work Group, I'll be there working to represent all the underserved peeps who depend on us every day. I will be tweeting (www.twitter.com/jimeddypa), blogging here and at Clinical Advisor (which by the way is THE choice at my home for PA reading), and saying hey to all far and wide.

BTW, do you want to blog also? Send me your posts and I will post them here, as long as they are not super naughty, mean, or otherwise filthy. Shoot me an email at j.eddy.anderson@gmail.com