July 15, 2025
Dear APA Community,
I hope everyone has been able to take some time off to enjoy the summer so far! On the home front, our oldest daughter recently graduated from high school. It has been a time of joy mixed with some melancholy, nostalgia and reflection. Reflection on how time has flown by during these past 18 years and seeing our daughter and family grow; and reflection upon the power of education. Education that allowed our family to achieve the American Dream despite our humble roots in colonized India just a couple of generations ago. Ours is not an uncommon story but the American Dream is harder for families to attain today.
To help us help you navigate this difficult time in child health, we recently sent out a membership survey. Thank you to those who completed it! Overall, the majority of respondents felt that the APA was meeting their professional needs. However, more than 60% agreed or strongly agreed that they are feeling very stressed in their career. Members noted the following areas for APA’s growth:
- Expanding financial support including pilot grants and career awards;
- Strengthening mentorship and networking opportunities;
- Amplifying advocacy and public message including rapid response teams to address misinformation;
- Enhancing professional development opportunities such as webinars on topics such as promotion, leadership, funding strategies; and
- Communicating proactively
I, along with the Board, am grateful for this feedback. I’d like to share several ways we plan to support our members by addressing these critical domains:
- APA is expanding its Young Investigator Awards program. Through partnerships with other societies and further investment, we plan to fund more early investigators and research projects.
- APA is expanding its New Century Resident Mentoring Program and strengthening its Speed Mentoring Program. The ABP has awarded the APA additional funds to expand the NCS program. We are collecting data to consider a revision of our cornerstone Speed Mentoring Program to ensure its providing mentorship to those that need it most.
- Amplifying advocacy. The Public Policy and Advocacy Committee (PPAC) has been actively working with the Pediatric Policy Council (PPC) to continue to advocate on behalf of children, families, pediatrics, research and science. We have sent many PPC alerts given the legislation that has been before Congress. It has been intense and disheartening. Nonetheless, we will be undeterred in continuing to advocate for issues that align with our values and mission. Additionally, we are excited to launch the Advocacy Skills-Building Campaign which will run over a year with the goal for members to gain skills in community engagement. Please join us!
- Enhancing professional development opportunities. We are planning Catalyst programming for the academic year in the coming months. The webinars will aim to provide foundational skills in academics for early-career pediatric academicians.
- Communicating proactively. We will continue to send time-sensitive emails. I am also dedicated to communicating with you in this forum every 6-8 weeks.
Additionally, and as promised, we are going to continue to celebrate the APA’s 65th birthday this year! Fun fact, do you know all the names that our organization has had over the years? We started as the Association for Ambulatory Pediatric Services in 1960, then became the Ambulatory Pediatric Association in 1969 and finally the Academic Pediatric Association in 2007. Other potential names including the General Academic Pediatric Association and Association for General Pediatrics were voted down by membership in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Please try and get some respite this summer. Also, please reach out to me anytime with your ideas, suggestions and/or concerns.
In community with you, our colleagues and the children, families, and communities that we serve,
Arvin Garg, MD, MPH
President
Academic Pediatric Association
