It is November, a time when nights start to overcome daytime hours, temperatures start to drop, and the sights and sounds of the Holidays begin to surround us. As we get ready to prepare for Thanksgiving, we could think of no better time than this month to take a moment to thank an organization that many of our listeners may not even be aware of but one that does tremendous things in support of the osteopathic physician community, the Advocates for the American Osteopathic Association or AAOA. This amazing group is comprised of the spouses, partners, and significant others of osteopathic physicians and medical students. It serves as a support network for those people who are supporting osteopathic physicians throughout every stage of their training and career, as well as a fierce group of advocates for the osteopathic profession.

This month Scott and Jason sit down with immediate past president of the AAOA, Megan Maples of Colorado to discuss her journey as an advocate for her husband and children as he went from medical student in Fort Woth, Texas, to now co-owning their Still Point Osteopathic Care Center in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Megan discusses what it meant for her to serve as an advocate for the osteopathic profession, her accomplishments as the immediate past president as well as the future of the advocates under current leadership. She also talks about how other spouses and significant others can get involved in their activities. Make sure to stop by their table your next visit to OMED, DO Day on the Hill, or the AOA HOD and thank them for all they do… and maybe even buy a fun tie or brooch to support their cause.

If you are looking for more information about the Advocates or how to get involved, details can be found at their website at Advocates for the American Osteopathic Association. If you are in the Castle Rock area and are looking for osteopathic care you can find out more information about Dr. Maples and his center at Comprehensive Osteopathic Musculoskeletal Care in Castle Rock - Osteopathic Care.

Scott and Jason also want to take this time to thank all of our listeners for continuing to tune in each month and listen to our ramblings. We hope you will continue to like, subscribe, download and share the ACOPedscast with friends as we head into 2025. With the fourth Wednesday of December falling on Christmas Day this will be the last episode of 2024. We both want to wish you all a safe and Happy Holiday Season, and we will see you in January 2025. As always if you have any requests or have something you’d like to share on a future episode, contact us at pedscast@acopeds.org.

Happy Listening!

It’s the first episode since the ACOP got together in San Antonio as part of the annual AOA OMED Conference, and the ACOPedscast is celebrating a milestone as we reach our 40th episode, and what better way to commemorate all of that than with a celebratory episode with two leaders in the ACOP family. Each year at OMED, the American Osteopathic Foundation, AOF, presents a select number of awards and this year pediatricians were well represented. Fellow-in-Training Board of Trustee member Dr. MacKenzie LeMay was the recipient of the AOF/ACOP Pediatrics Resident of the Year Award, and Dr. Bob Hostoffer, a past President of the ACOP among many other roles, was awarded the prestigious AOF Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual AOF Awards Gala!

Scott and Jason were able to get both of them to sit down together in the “studio’ to discuss what it meant to them to receive this recognition from the AOF, and to talk a bit about their respective journeys to where they are now. With a great deal of reminiscing and a lot of looking forward, this month’s episode provides a double dose of inspiration for listeners in any stage of your training or career. If you need a dose of warm fuzzies to help get you through the change in weather this 40th episode of the ACOPedscast is just what the doctors ordered!

Jason and Scott are always looking for show ideas and guests who’d like to come on and share your achievements with the ACOP family. If you have an idea or would like to sit down with us, reach out at pedscast@acopeds.edu for more information! Also don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe to auto-downloads so you never miss an episode!

Happy Listening!

This month the ACOPedscast has its second “live on location” episode with Jason and Scott coming to you from the 2024 OMED Conference in San Antonio, Texas, and like the last on-location episode from DO Day on the Hill in Washington DC, the topic is how to serve as physician advocates. Jason and Scott also take advantage of being at the AOA’s largest annual gathering to pull a very special guest to the Pedscast, Sean Neal. Sean is part of the AOA Washington DC office and serves as the Vice President of Advocacy and Political Affairs for the organization.

In this episode we get a first-hand look at how the AOA advocates for our patients and our profession and how you can get involved in legislative advocacy at all levels. We also discuss the resources available to you as members of the AOA ranging from help for the novice advocate in getting in contact with your local representatives to getting prepared to run for public office yourself!

Sean explains the difference between the AOA, the American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA), and the Osteopathic Political Action Committee (OPAC), breaking down what each arm does in relation to healthcare advocacy and how you can get involved in each. He gives us a boots-on-the-ground evaluation of the current environment on Capitol Hill.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. Look for more episodes like this in the future as Scott and Jason sit down with other members of the AOA Policy Team to learn more about the various ways the AOA supports our profession.

See you in October!

If you are interested in learning more, links are provided below:

• AOA: osteopathic.org
• Osteopathic Advocacy Network: Osteopathic Advocacy Network - American Osteopathic Association
• AOIA/OPAC: AOIA-OPAC (osteopathicpac.org)