Greetings,
Here’s wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year. I am pleased to inform you our professional organization is doing well.
Thanks to our commitment to our future, our medical students are getting more involved with our organization than ever before. I have personally met with entire second and third year of class medical students and your organization welcomed the incoming class as well, advocating for our organization and for their futures as Osteopathic Physicians. Our great medical school is once again fully engaged with our professional organization, as the two are working together with our joint fall conference at Kalahari Resorts once again this year. RowanSOM will also be bringing their medical students to our annual AROC convention in April. The symbiosis between our organization and our state Osteopathic school is vital to our organization as well as the future of the school’s alumni; the sooner we all see that, the better it is for everyone.
Our social media presence, thanks to the skillful work of our Executive Director, Tajma Kotoric, is a real force multiplier. Now thousands are aware of what your organization is doing on a regular basis through social media. As the saying goes “it’s not who always goes, it’s who really knows” and more people know the vital job we are doing with ongoing tweets, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as email updates. Great job Tajma!
We have had a challenging session with our Legislature but are pleased to announce that thanks to the efforts of our Executive Director and our awesome Legislative Counsel, Laurie Clark, the
APN Independent Practice Bill and the PT Dry Needling Bill
failed to become law again in the two year session that just ended. We are proud to be a member of the
Physicians’ Coalition
, and we work together with all who share our views in allocating our resources toward achieving shared goals and objectives.
This is a win for all in health care, as the advancement of this ill-advised legislation is an ongoing issue. Every person in health care has a position based on training and experience and
it is this organization’s stance that a shortage in one position is not a reason to advance another, rather we need to address the shortage and why it exists.
Our students understand that this is vitally important to their futures as well and if we fail many will ask why they devoted their lives to becoming a clinician when there are shortcuts available. Well the truth is there are no shortcuts to clinical competence and no one can mimic what physicians’ do but it rather takes years of hard work to actually accomplish this.
NJAOPS will never stop the fight to recognize the dedication every student, resident, and attending puts forth to becoming a clinician, not a provider!
Nine months down, 3 months to go!
Hope you all say hello at AROC.
Best regards,
David Bollard, DO
2019-2020 NJAOPS President
