MARCH • 2019
In March, We Are Mindful
By Isra Uz-Zaman, MS

In March, we are Mindful
Educational, vocal, and insightful
With CATCH and COPE
And our State of the Chapter Report.
Reflection on Mindful Intention
By Zoey Goore, MD, MPH, FAAP
Immediate Past President

I am currently taking a class on mindfulness and meditation to see how it might fit into operations in a health care system. We talk a lot about intention and being true to your values. Part of the intention piece reminds me of a speaker I heard last year where she spoke a bit about burnout, intention, and values. The point that resonated with me the most was when she talked about people saying , "hi, how are you?" and not really waiting for the answer. People frequently say, "hi, how are you" as one statement - both pieces are part of one salutation and the how are you isn't really a question. She said this frustrated her, "why do people ask if they don't wait for the answer." I have had similar thoughts. She said that she started answering, "FANTASTIC" whether or not she was fantastic because regardless of whether or not she was feeling fantastic at that moment, it reminded her to BE fantastic.

I have adopted a similar practice. Now when people say, "hi, how are you," I am not frustrated by their seemingly lack of caring, I answer with a superlative to remind myself to be fantastic or great or super or wonderful and sometimes it is the nudge I need to stop my perseveration, or doldrums, or funk or sometimes just allows me to reinforce my feeling fabulous!
Pediatric Mental Health Day Spring CME
Registration is Now Open!

1 in 5 children ages 13-18 have, or will have a serious mental illness. 1 The 2019 Spring CME conference will provide pediatricians, family practitioners, nurses, and nurse practitioners with information and knowledge necessary to identify, address, and appropriately refer , in the absence of a mental health professional, the most challenging conditions that present. Register HERE .
Community Access To Child Health (CATCH) Grant
By Judy Lin, MD, FAAP & Aparna Kota, MD, MPH, FAAP
CATCH Coordinators

Happy 25th Birthday to CATCH! Over the past 25 years, CATCH, Community Access to Child Health, part of Community pediatrics has supported over 1800 grants and over 18 million dollars in grants. Pediatricians and residents have partnered with the community to improve the lives of children in numerous ways. We have been very fortunate in Northern California to have had grants submitted and approved almost every cycle. We have had innovative grants that started a dental surgery clinic, health care for incarcerated youth, development reminder apps, healthy eating and lifestyles, domestic violence and teaching teens advocacy and so many other programs that are still providing services. Many started with one idea, one pediatrician in one community and serve thousands of children and families.

Moving forward, the heart of CATCH remains unchanged - for pediatricians to engage their communities and work together in strengthening and promoting the health of all children. We encourage pediatricians to look outside the walls of their clinic as we consider the current issues that our children face. This year, CATCH is expanding its scope and welcoming all projects that increase access to optimal child health and well being. By looking beyond the medical home, it allows for innovative approaches to receive support and serve populations with unmet health needs. CATCH is excited to support new projects that align with our mission, without requiring any additional components to qualify for funding. We want to see pediatricians developing broad community partnerships and working together to create programs that are meaningful and sustainable.

As the next cycle of grant proposal opens up in May, we encourage you all to look at your communities and identify the challenges that many of your patients face. If you have an idea, see a need, know a community partner that could use some leadership and seed money, or are supporting a colleague, visit the National AAP CATCH page .

Technical assistance is available nationally, and locally -- our CATCH facilitators for Northern California, Judy Lin, MD, FAAP and Aparna Kota, MD, MPH, FAAP and our district facilitator Janice Kim, MD, MPH, FAAP who bring energy, enthusiasm and wonderful leadership to our statewide CATCH. Thank you fellow pediatricians for all you do every day! You make a difference in so many lives.
National Committee on Pediatric Education (COPE) Update
By Jolie A. Limon, MD, FAAP

The Committee on Pediatric Education (COPE) held its annual meeting on January 12-13, 2019 in Itasca, Illinois. Despite a very wintery weekend, it was well attended and we made great progress on plans for the educational charge of the AAP. Hilary Haftel, MD, MHPE, FAAP was recently named the Senior Vice President of Education and co-led the meeting along with Susan Guralnick, MD, FAAP and Chairperson for COPE. Members from all over the country gathered to brainstorm and share ideas of best practice for education.

Our main agenda for the meeting was to set priorities for AAP and the educational mission. The key areas identified were continuous professional development, teaching, use of technology, assessment, interprofessional education, and wellness. We also identified the issue of vertical integration of these areas across the educational continuum, beginning at the pre-med stage through medical training, career advancement and eventually, retirement. The meeting took place over two days and was very much a working meeting with collaboration, group activities and idea sharing. Going forward, COPE plans on having quarterly virtual meetings and twice yearly in-person meetings to keep the momentum of the work that was done in January.
Advocacy Committee Upcoming Event
By Lisa Patel, MD, FAAP & Annie Kaplan, MD, PL-1
Advocacy Committee Co-chair & Member

The Advocacy Committee is excited to announce an upcoming day of training to broaden and strengthen the pediatrician's advocacy tool kit. Although many residency programs in California offer opportunities to learn advocacy skills, there is a need to offer more opportunities for learning advocacy skills for both residents and practicing physicians in the community. Building on the training the AAP-CA has developed, we will offer a day-long workshop that will be a mix of the "old school" (effective strategies for contacting your representatives, helping to craft/testify for legislation, writing op-ed pieces) with “new-school” methods through social media (the importance of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. in having your message heard by legislators and in helping influence public opinion). The day will start with short talks from regional experts in advocacy and social media use with deep-dive workshops in the afternoon on how to use these skills. If you are interested in learning more about the day of training, or would like to help with planning, please contact Lisa Patel, MD, FAAP ( lisa.patel@gmail.com ).
Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP Sworn In as First Surgeon General
By Isra Uz-Zaman, MS

On the morning of February 11, 2019, Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP was sworn in as the first Surgeon General of California by Governor Gavin Newsom. The room was filled with excitement and positive energy as family and close friends of Dr. Burke Harris gathered for the ceremony. In a moment of pride, Dr. Burke Harris’s young son yelled out, “that’s my mom.” After being sworn in, Dr. Burke Harris gave an inspirational speech on her dedication to the health of California, highlighted the importance of addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and promised to continue her work. It was an honor to be present at this historic event as a representative of the AAPCA and AAPCA1.
President's Column
State of the Chapter Report
By John I. Takayama, MD, MPH, FAAP

AAP California Chapter 1 is doing well! We weathered a series of executive leadership changes over the past 2½ years and propelled ourselves forward from financial deficit to profit. We achieved this by practicing fiscal restraint and responsibility; yet we also expanded our highly successful CME offerings. Our leadership at all levels remain dynamic and passionate; this year, we are updating our communications system to more nimbly address crises that impact children and the pediatricians who care for them.

Chapter Health
In 2016, our chapter expenses were greater than income; we increased our chapter dues, streamlined chapter administration and shortened the spring CME meeting (given high cost and decreasing attendance) from a 3-day to half-day event. By 2018, chapter income was greater than expenses and CME events were generating both revenue and excitement. We therefore invested in two major projects, one to revise our chapter bylaws to remain consistent with changing state laws on nonprofits; and the other to update our chapter website to keep members informed and create opportunities for collaboration. We hope to roll out a new website by May 2019. Our sincere gratitude goes to Zoey Goore, our immediate past president, who initiated the change; to Mika Hiramatsu and Yasmin Carim, co-chairs of the CME Committee, for leading tireless efforts to produce successful CME events; and to board members and committee chairs for keeping the spirits up while embracing belt tightening. We have now started to re-invest in our future.

Child Health
A primary objective in our strategic plan is to improve access to mental health care. We have heard from pediatricians, again and again, how difficult it is to find child friendly professionals to provide evidence-based mental health care. Barriers include an overall lack of qualified mental health professionals as well as a complex and piecemeal referral process that often leads to dead ends. Our newly formed Mental Health Access Committee, under the patient leadership of Diane Dooley and Janice Kim, has focused on building pediatrician capacity and advocating collaboratively to assure better mental health care. Mental Health Day, scheduled for May 4, 2019, will provide participants with tools, resources and connections to improve care capacity. With input from Dr. Dooley and AAP California (District IX), the state now mandates Medi-Cal managed care plans to report availability of paneled mental health professionals with expertise in providing care to children.

Member Health
Chapter 1 is one of four chapters in District IX (AAP California). Dr. Damodara Rajasekhar, Vice President of Chapter 2 (Los Angeles), spearheaded a successful campaign to increase Medi-Cal reimbursement for primary care clinicians (including pediatricians); he did so by collaborating with the CMA (California Medical Association) and reminded us of the importance of enlisting powerful partners. We have begun chapter-wide endeavors to equip pediatricians with skills to improve clinical practice and prevent burnout. In 2017, we enrolled practices in the District Hub and Spoke HPV Immunization Quality Improvement Project, to raise immunization rates and simultaneously initiate practice transformation (small scale). In 2017-18, we were able to offer chapter members resources to better prepare themselves and practices for natural disasters. Our commitment is to continue to disseminate information and build capacities for pediatricians so that they can continue to provide high quality care to all children and their families.
 
For Our Future
In the last 6 months, Isra Uz-Zaman has joined us as Interim Executive Director, Janice Kim as Communications Director, and Nivedita More as Treasurer. We are currently building a new website that better publicizes our mission and assures streamlined navigation to improve communication and collaboration. We also want to strengthen our board so that all regions of Northern California are represented; to that end, we encourage any pediatrician who lives in or practices in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yuba counties (North County) or in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz counties (Monterey Bay) to contact us at  office@aapca1.org .
Upcoming Events for Your Benefit!

116 th Congress New Representative Scholarship Program for Legislative Conference (TIME-SENSITIVE)
AAP Legislative Conference is on April 7-9, 2019 in Washington, DC
Scholarship Application Deadline: Monday, March 4th @ 9PM PST
Fill Out Scholarship Application Here
These scholarships will be awarded to a group of AAP members who are represented by newly-elected members of the 116th Congress. You are eligible if you are registered to vote in California Districts 10 and 21 (look up your representative here ) . The Scholarship Program will allow AAP members to introduce themselves and the Academy to their new members of Congress and/or their congressional staff and encourage them to advance policies that are most supportive of children's health. The scholarship will cover the conference registration fee for awardees (registration fees range from $500-$825). The scholarship does not cover travel or lodging expenses. For questions, email LegislativeConference@aap.org

2019 California Immunization Coalition (CIC) Summit:
"Today's Vision, Tomorrow's Reality"
April 8-9, 2019 in Riverside, California
Information and Registration Here
December 7, 2019:   Pediatric Puzzles Interactive CME Conference, SF
April 7-9, 2019:  National AAP Legislative Conference, Washington D.C.

May 20, 2019: AAP California Legislative Leadership Day, Sacramento

October 25-29, 2019:  AAP National Conference & Exhibition, New Orleans

November 21-24, 2019: AAP California 41 st Annual Las Vegas Seminars

Our mission is to promote the optimal health and development of children and
adolescents of Northern California in partnership with their families and communities, and to support the pediatricians who care for them.


President: John Takayama • Vice President: Raelene Walker
• Secretary: Janice Kim • Treasurer : Nivedita More Past President: Zoey Goore
Interim Executive Director: Isra Uz-Zaman