Welcome all Med-Peds physicians, residents, and students to the AAP’s Section on Medicine-Pediatrics (AAP-SOMP)! Whether you’re a Med-Peds lifer or just starting your medical career, SOMP would like to be the rallying force behind all our colleagues within the AAP-SOMP family. Particularly today when there are many external influences that seek to divide us, SOMP hopes to be a unifying entity for all our section members. It is in that vein that I would like to call upon Med-Peds clinicians everywhere to consider joining our section. While our Med-Peds community may have differences in opinion, background, or interests, I believe it is our diversity that makes us stronger, more worldly, and ultimately, an igniting influence in the practice of medicine. As one of my colleagues would say, we are force multipliers!
Being a part of such an expansive array of physicians and brain trusts promotes tolerance and understanding. But we also want to foster each of our unique areas of expertise, and what better way to find our shared interests within the largest section of diverse physicians within the AAP!
Alongside leadership of the National Med-Peds Residents Associate (NMPRA), the Med-Peds Program Directors Association (MPPDA), and the newly formed Association of Med-Peds Physicians (AMPP), we hope to continue the advancement of Med-Peds physicians around the world and welcome all those interested in advocacy, education, research, and networking.
Some of the activities in which we are currently engaged include the following:
- Advocating on behalf of our physicians to our parent boards, especially around maintenance of certification.
- Improving the workforce pipeline by educating future physicians about careers in Med-Peds. This includes improving resources for trainees and early career Med-Peds physicians (especially mentoring).
- Active discussions and engagement toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. We want to ensure that we address the needs of the members, looking for opportunities to have the voice of Med-Peds represented in various AAP and ACP committees both nationally and regionally as well as supporting our Med-Peds colleagues.
- Continuing to survey and publish data on the Med-Peds workforce to inform employers, deans, and policy makers of our valuable contribution to the health system.
- Providing CME courses with topics of interest to Med-Peds clinicians and trainees.
- Having a newsletter platform that highlights our unique contributions to our various fields and encourages all AAP-SOMP members to contribute articles of interest to our community.
- Focusing on Physician health and wellness and to provide on the SOMP website and via the Physician Health and Wellness Booth resources or strategies to address the demands of our profession and factors contributing to burnout.
Please get in touch with us if you are interested in joining any of our initiatives or would like to propose any other mission for our Section to pursue. We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback about the direction of our Section, so please join us in improving healthcare across the ages!
Kristin Wong, MD, FAAP
Chairperson
Section on Med-Peds
Last Updated
12/13/2024
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics