I just recently returned from the AAPA conference in Boston. I honestly didn't think I would have such a good time, especially as a student. I was wrong! I really had a great time making new friends, getting to speak with PA students from other programs and hearing their stories.
The main reason I went was to represent my school in the Assembly Of Representatives (AOR). This is a basically the governing body for the Student Academy of the AAPA. We voted on resolutions that were brought forward from ordinary PA students like you and me in order to create a focus and schedule for the student academy in the upcoming year.
Anything that students have an opinion about can be brought up to make changes, even to be brought up with the House Of Delegates in order to make changes for students with the AAPA.
I never really understood this before attending the AAPA conference.
For example... A student from a PA program resolved to speak with the ARC-PA about developing a "standard set of PA school pre-requisites" in order to remove the frustration of different pre-reqs with each program. This way students could complete the "standard pre reqs" and focus on how they fit with whatever program instead of focusing if they can even apply or not.
I never realized how much of an impact we can make for current and future PA students. My suggestion is, if you have a complaint or want to make changes for PA students, figure out who your class AOR rep is (for us it was the class vice president) and submit a resolution to make it better. Then they can bring it with them to the AOR meeting at the AAPA conference and make a difference.
Boston was really beautiful and was fun to explore for the short time I visited.
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| This is the AOR meeting where we voted on resolutions |
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| One of the Keynote speakers |
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| This is where the knowledge bowl took place |
I highly encourage everyone to attend the AAPA conference as a student, the knowledge bowl was a really cool experience to watch and I bet it would have been fun to be a part of. Its only a short amount of time that you are a PA student... enjoy every minute of it!
