Recap by Shilpa Mistry, PA-C
If you haven’t attended the AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit, you’re missing out! This was my first time at LAS, and it was an incredible experience.
AAPA organizes LAS each year to have PAs advocate by so-called “boots on the ground” method to engage with our local legislators on issues affecting PA practice and patients’ access to healthcare. We started our conference day one by meeting up with our state representatives from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Although we did not meet directly with the Senators or Representatives, we had audiences with their staffers, who were very knowledgeable about PA issues and how they impact healthcare overall.
The conference featured a wealth of content, including additional speakers such as the Director of Medicare and staffers from the Senate and House of Representatives, who provided insight into how bills are passed. The event offered many networking opportunities with fellow constituent organizations and student representatives. We also learned strategies to engage our own constituent PAs to be more active in our state organizations. Overall, this was an amazing conference that showed how AAPA advocates for our ability to practice medicine.
