Join Academy leaders in Washington, D.C. for Mid-Year Forum 2017, April 26 to 29. Follow these meeting-preparation tips to help shape our profession’s future and sharpen your ability to advocate for those who rely on our care.
1. Attend the April 13 Congressional Advocacy Day webinar: The Pre Fly-In Checklist. Prepare for Congressional Advocacy Day by attending this free webinar, hosted by the Congressional Management Foundation. During this hour-long presentation, you’ll learn an easy, step-by-step process to prepare for your meetings with members of Congress and their staff.
When: Thursday, April 13* | 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET
*Note the date has changed from the originally publicized date of April 11 to April 13.
2. Download the Academy’s advocacy app. Get the tools and information you need to successfully advocate on behalf of ophthalmology and your patients on Capitol Hill or at home. Download the app today to access:
- Talking points;
- A map of Washington, D.C., with key locations identified;
- Information on your lawmakers;
- Advocacy tutorial Videos on advocacy;
- Pre-written letters to your lawmakers anytime, anywhere.
To get the free app, search “AAO Advocacy” on the Apple app store or in Google play.
3. Get social with the official meeting hashtag, #myf2017. Share and follow live updates from the Mid-Year Forum on Twitter. See your peers’ tips and photos from Congressional Advocacy Day in real time, find colleagues to share a cab with or even use it to publicly thank a legislator you met with..
4. Review the Program. See all the program and event details so you’re prepared to make the most of your time in Washington, D.C.
5. Meet and welcome the 2017 Advocacy Ambassador Program participants. Do you know the Advocacy Ambassador Program participant(s) your society and/or training program in your state sponsored? Councilors of societies sponsoring residents or fellows to attend Mid-Year Forum 2017 through the Advocacy Ambassador Program have the unique opportunity to provide guidance and mentorship during Congressional Advocacy Day visits.
Invite your society’s sponsored advocacy ambassador(s) to join your table at the Congressional Advocacy Day dinner briefing, the Q&A breakfast and/or the Mid-Year Forum banquet. Your electronic agenda book will include a photo roster of 2017 Advocacy Ambassadors that outlines respective sponsors and training programs.
2017 Advocacy Ambassador Zachary Balest, MD, is being jointly sponsored by the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology and Emory University School of Medicine. “I look forward to the opportunity of participating in the Mid-Year Forum,” he said.
6. Welcome and congratulate winners of the Academy’s EyeWiki contest. Three residents and one retina-vitreous fellow won trips to Mid-Year Forum 2017 for outstanding EyeWiki submissions. During the April 26 briefing and reception for advocacy ambassadors, Academy President Cynthia Ann Bradford, MD; CEO David W. Parke II, MD; and Secretary for Online Education Rob Melendez, MD, MBA, will recognize the EyeWiki winners. Congratulations for the winning EyeWiki submissions:
7. Review this year’s Council Advisory Recommendations before the April 29 CAR Hearing, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
8. Plan to attend keynote address by Michelle Bernard. The MSNCBC political analyst and founder of The Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy will speak during the Mid-Year Forum 2017 welcome reception and awards banquet, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 27. She will speak on “The View from Washington.”
9. Contribute to the Surgical Scope Fund and OPHTHPAC Fund. This year, the Academy is collaborating with an unprecedented number of state societies to ensure quality patient eye care. Join your colleagues in contributing to the Surgical Scope Fund either before or during the Mid-Year Forum. Developing key relationships in Congress is also critical. OPHTHPAC committee members will be on-hand in Washington, D.C., to ask you to join them by contributing.
On March 21, Academy President Cynthia Ann Bradford, MD, advocated on behalf of quality patient eye care at a news conference in Raleigh, N.C. Optometrists there want to add hundreds of procedures to their scope of practice. North Carolina Ophthalmologists Susan Burden, MD, and Leon Herndon, MD, joined Dr. Bradford, along with John Kauffman Jr., DO, dean of the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine; and Jennifer Williamson, MD, a 2016 advocacy ambassador and UNC chief resident. North Carolina Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, a practicing surgeon and urologist in Greenville also participated. “We ought to keep surgery for surgeons,” Dr. Murphy said.
Not Registered for the Mid-Year Forum Yet? There’s Still Time
Join Academy and ophthalmic leadership in Washington, D.C., for Congressional Advocacy Day, the spring Council meeting and the Mid-Year Forum. Preregistration ends on April 11. Register today.