Phranque Wright Reports on States & Membership

Howdy Members,

Recently, I have moved from the State Affairs Committee to the Membership Committee. So now, instead of working with the states, I will be focusing on the membership. As many of you may know, the states have all joined together on a discussion board such that the presidents (or other appointed “representatives of the state”) may all discuss pressing issues.

These discussions have helped to spread information between the state associations in ways that haven’t happened in the past. The discussions also foster information on creating, revamping and maintaining state laws on AOM, state association norms, by-laws, structures and other issues relevant to our profession and our voice in this nation.

I’d like to say that I was an important part of this process, but in reality it was all made possible because of the dedication, desires, drive, knowledge, support, insights, advice, inputs and true caring attitudes of your state association president/representative. This your points to any and all of you who belong to your state’s acupuncture association and has a link to the list. If you are a state association president and are not on this list, please contact the AAAOM and get on it. You can learn a lot, contribute whatever you feel is important, and get information you need from other experienced professionals in your position.

With that being said, I feel it is also important now to bring up the subject of belonging to your state association. As a member of the AAAOM, you are helping support your profession on a national level, but you must be sure to also support your profession on a local level. The money spent goes to lobbying efforts, to public education projects, to advertising for your business through websites and other venues, and helps to band practitioners together into one voice. Most state associations also offer extra benefits like reduced fees to CEU events, discounts on insurance or products, access to newsletters keeping you up to date on issues/laws/problems, and opportunities to be part of public awareness events.

Be both a part of the local scene and a part of the national scene. Help your state association presidents/representatives link the states to the nation through combined memberships of your state acupuncture association and the AAAOM. They are working for you, for each other, and for all of us. We can do more when we band together. At times it may seem like a financial burden or another hand asking for you to give, but remember that it is the work of these dedicated few who help keep your profession alive, legal, safe, and recognized by the public.

Remember my final goal; we want our voice to be as strong as the AMA and our profession to be as respected, accessible and financially successful as our allopathic counterparts. Spread the word that we need to join our state and national acupuncture associations. It’s what helps us stay together, communicate more efficiently, unite our goals and share our efforts and knowledge.

With that being said, remember also to join, rejoin, and maintain your membership in the AAAOM and make sure your friends, classmates, colleagues and associates are all members as well. Here’s the link to our member benefits page:

www.aaaomonline.org/?pagenumber=13

I look forward to working with the general membership to help our association grow and to help the individual states grow. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!

Phranque Wright – DAOM, LAc
Membership Committee Chair