AOR, my AOR

Our Future!

(This is excerpted in part from the April 2011 JAAPA Inside the AAPA Policy Manual)

While the House of Delegates proceedings and the whole conference experience can feel frenetic and fast-paced, no delegate or fan of HOD should miss the opportunity to take in some of the Student Academy (SAAAPA) version of HOD. Called Assembly of Representatives (AOR), this compact and turbocharged 2-day session is an amped-up version of HOD that's just plain fun to watch.

This year's Las Vegas SAAAPA AOR takes place all day on Tuesday and Wednesday, with proceedings going on simultaneously with HOD. That can make it a challenge for the HOD-goer, but stepping out of HOD for a moment or taking advantage of an HOD break and checking out AOR will be most instructive to anyone interested in policy-making.

What's so compelling about the SAAAPA version? It's the discipline, the intensity, and the restraint, two of which can admittedly be in short supply in the much bigger House of Delegates proceedings usually going on nearby. We PAs, delegates, alternates, and interested parties can flap our lips like nobody's business, and we'd all be well-served to watch how they do it in AOR. While student delegates are well-prepared and speak strongly for or against whatever the issue may be, leadership at the front of the room moves things along with a firm hand, which is almost always met with cooperation on the part of the delegates. At AOR, they start on time, finish on time, and take care of an absolutely amazing amount of business in an efficient, almost buzz-saw fashion.

In my regular visits to AOR, I'm always struck by the collegiality of the student delegates, even when discussing “hot-topic” issues. Certainly those who run the show at HOD do a superlative job at herding around high-energy cats during HOD proceedings, and this is no knock on HOD, those who direct it, or the rest of us delegates, alternates, and interested PAs. But the precision of the SAAAPA AOR proceedings are a good lesson to us all about what how much work can get done in a short period of time, and attending part of AOR should be required duty for all delegates.

Of course, the other reason we should check out AOR is to honor and congratulate the students who have shown the commitment and even courage to jump into leadership in the midst of what can be an overwhelmingly demanding schedule for PA students. While HOD proceeds in the brighter lights, bigger room, and with refined and sophisticated leadership from the house officers with years of expertise running such a proceeding, the AOR is where our future leaders are being formed. This year, take a minute, go over to AOR, watch the action, and shake the hand of a delegate or two. Congratulate them on their commitment to the future of our profession, and invite them to stay in leadership as they move in the not-too-distant future to our sides as colleagues and future leaders.