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Greetings everyone!
We are eager to provide you with an update on Chapter activities
and plans for future projects.
We attended our combined Annual District I and X
meeting in Burlington,
Vermont in July. We presented a half-day plenary session
entitled “Pediatrics in the Military.”
LCDR Erin Balog
presented the introduction, outlining the history of military pediatrics,
as outlined in the 1999 article in Pediatrics
written by Callahan, Bass, Person, and Shira. We also highlighted the adoption of
Resolution #54 into the coveted “Top Ten” out of 94 total
resolutions. This resolution,
written by MAJ Keith Lemmon, was put forth by Chapter West and the
Uniformed Services Section, focusing on meeting the needs of children and
adolescents of deployed military members.
COL Kevin Creamer then
described the role of the military pediatrician in operational
assignments. CAPT Devon Kuehn, the Assistant District I Coordinator for
the Resident Section, presented the results of a survey sent to all of
the members of District I. The
survey highlighted how military dependents may not be screened for
deployment-related issues when seen at civilian pediatric clinics. In addition, her data suggests that most
civilian pediatricians are not aware of the current resources available
to help them counsel families in the military. Maj
Tom Newton reviewed the role of the military pediatrician in caring
for dependents while stationed at a military base. Finally, LT Alex Holston, District I Coordinator for the Resident
Section, reviewed the current efforts being made to improve dissemination
of resources and suggestions for how the AAP can provide ongoing support
to the needs of our military families.
Check out the entire presentation on the website.
Several Chapter members also received special
achievement awards at the annual District meeting. Maj
Tom Eccles received an award for reviving the Chapter’s CATCH program
as grant facilitator and for serving as the Chapter Secretary/Treasurer
while LCDR Greg Gorman was
deployed. CDR Tim Porea received an award for serving as the 2006 USPS
chairperson after Hurricane Katrina forced a last-minute change in
location.
In addition, we are proud to announce that CAPT Joseph O. Lopreiato was
selected as a winner of the prestigious AAP Education Award. This award recognizes a member of the
AAP whose educational contributions have had a broad and positive impact
on the health and well-being of children and adolescents. He will accept the award at the AAP NCE
in October of 2007.
Most recently, we supported the nomination of CAPT Dalila Lewis to attend the
“Pediatric Leadership Alliance” sponsored by the AAP in November, 2007.
This conference serves to develop future leaders in pediatric advocacy.
As a Chapter, we continue to support the Student
Pediatric Society at USUHS. In
collaboration with Chapter West and the Section, we also financially
support resident dues to the AAP for all military pediatric residents at Portsmouth and the
NCA. In addition, we support CATCH
grant applications from our members and act as the administrator for
those grants. Recently, CAPT Jen Kicker, a resident in
the NCA, received a CATCH grant to study the impact of pedometer use in
overweight adolescents.
This year, we will continue to support pediatricians
interested in starting Reach out and Read programs at their local
commands. Based on our experience
at the District Meeting, we would also like to develop a “speakers
program” of interested pediatricians who can advocate to civilian
pediatricians about the needs of children and adolescents of military
members.
In addition, we plan to send out a “Chapter East Needs
Assessment” survey to better identify the needs and interest of our chapter
members. We will keep you updated
as the AAP responds to the resolution with a clinical report as well as
educational materials for pediatricians regarding the effects of
deployment on children. If you
have an idea for a resolution that you would like the Chapter to support,
please let us know. An idea is
enough for us to help you draft a resolution. You can review previous resolutions at www.aap.org/moc/chapters/res2006.htm.
Finally, encourage other pediatricians at your base to
become chapter members. We look
forward to seeing our members at our Annual Chapter Luncheon at USPS in
March, 2008 in Hawaii. Don’t forget to bookmark the Chapter
East website for updates and initiatives! www.pedsedu.com/usce or
our new web address www.useastaap.org
LCDR Erin K. Balog, MD, FAAP
Ebalog AT usuhs.mil
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