August is Immunization month and a good time for everyone to consider their own vaccine schedules as well as children in preparation of back-to-school events. At ACPM, we continue to advance our Vaccine Confident campaign working with our current member ambassadors as well as collecting the intake surveys from those of you who signed up during PM22 to become part of our next phase. We are so excited to engage with these new ambassadors and to get you up to speed and trained for the next wave of our outreach (which hopefully will include pediatric vaccines under pending work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Last week I had the privilege of presenting our vaccine campaign to medical specialty society executives from across the country at the American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE) annual conference. There were many accolades about the campaign, our efforts and of course, great applause for the five national awards we won for the efforts. It was great to engage with colleagues from the American Medical Association Federation and national medical specialties as well as state and county associations who have been strained through the pandemic as well.
If any of you are working with your state or county medical societies, or engaged in other work with the AMA, please let us know. The more members we have that are also members of the AMA, the more seats (and voices) we get on the AMA House of Delegates which enables us to bring forward proactive policy for the house of medicine. Also, attending the local society meetings is also a great way to amplify and promote the specialty to their members and the many medical students who are also engaged with local efforts.
Other updates of interest include upcoming venues where staff will be presenting our work and showcasing the advances in vaccine as well as public health (e.g., American Public Health Association, Council for Medical Specialty Societies). If you are planning to attend any of these conferences, please plan to let us know so staff can be on the lookout to meet you onsite.
Finally, I am thrilled to share that our Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal Lecture and Award event is occurring on Wednesday, September 28 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm ET and will be followed by a sponsored reception by our Prevention Alliance member PhRMA. The lecture and reaction panel discussion will be live streamed for members to enjoy again this year. More will be shared on this exciting event next month, so for now, just mark your calendars to engage with us via the virtual platform.
Wishing you cool days for the remaining days of summer,
Donna
Donna Grande, MGA
CEO