The Advocacy Ambassador Program provides residents and those in fellowship training an opportunity to attend the Academy’s annual Mid-Year Forum with seasoned advocates and mentors.
They participate in Congressional Advocacy Day, including scheduled visits to Capitol Hill and programs in leadership, engagement, advocacy and practice management. Advocacy Ambassadors are sponsored to attend the Mid-Year Forum by societies — state, subspecialty or specialized interest — and/or the participants' training programs.
Program Goals
- Engage and educate members-in-training early on about the importance of advocating for their profession by training future advocates for patients and for the profession
- Help members-in-training understand the importance of membership and active involvement in their respective state ophthalmology and subspecialty societies
- Expose members-in-training to critical issues in medicine being discussed by leaders in ophthalmology during the Mid-Year Forum and Academy Council sessions. The council is the policy advisory body to the Academy’s Board of Trustees.
Advocacy Ambassador Program
- Congressional Advocacy Day dinner briefing
- Briefing/reception for program participants
- Congressional Advocacy Day visits (scheduled by the Academy’s Washington, D.C., office)
- Policy, practice management and politics sessions
- L.E.A.P. (Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy, Practice Management) Forward session for program participants
- Capitol Hill wrapup session for program participants
- Invited guests at Academy Council meeting