Three somewhat random facts! We are now a month out from the AUPHA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, many of you attend the Annual Meeting with a work colleague, and we have discussed the challenges of change and need for innovation in healthcare leadership and health management education. Is there a link between these? I would argue yes. The meeting in San Antonio provides you with an opportunity to increase the value of your professional continuing education. One of the many benefits of membership in the Association of University Programs in Health Administration is the education and networking opportunities inherent in our Annual Meeting and other sponsored events. Those benefits unfold in a number of ways that you should be aware of and make sure that you take full advantage.
By this time you are all aware of what the Annual Meeting has to offer broadly.
- The high profile keynote presentations, including the Pattullo Lecture with David Rubenstein, the kickoff event that sets the tone for the entire meeting. His theme is the toolkit necessary for young healthcare leaders. His wisdom and insight will begin our thinking about what we put in our students toolkits and how best to accomplish this. Our closing Studer Group Forum will challenge us all to think about how our students need more than ever to design and implement innovative means of healthcare delivery.
- In between these events we offer many faculty defined and delivered educational sessions. These are formal presentations, discussions, panels, fishbowls and posters.
- Throughout we have formal networking receptions including the welcoming reception, the new member reception and ending with the closing breakfast.
- In the middle we have the awards and recognition luncheon.
The real question is how you maximize the value from this 3-day event. This might take some work despite the fact that the Annual Meeting is designed for members. How do you get the most from the meeting? Naturally, you must show up and eagerly attend all of the events. Over the years, I have observed three primary mechanisms to realize value that most pursue.
- Obtain knowledge – as mentioned above, the keynote presentations and the educational content sessions are rich with information salient to our work efforts.
- Provide knowledge - a huge number of faculty participate directly in developing and delivering the educational content. The effort involved in conducting an educational session, preparing a poster creates great value and during the delivery, participants will question and challenge you to extend your knowledge base even further. This year individuals are identified with presentations, panels or posters.
- Network– a value for many is the annual opportunity to meet with colleagues from sister programs around the country and the world during presentations, sessions, posters, breaks, receptions and free time. This enables you to share ideas, practical experiences and establish partners in the future.
The fourth mechanism is less obvious and needs some explanation. The Annual Meeting provides outstanding opportunities to have coffee or other liquid refreshment with the colleagues you work with day-to-day. This aspect of networking enables you to interact outside of the stresses and distractions of the office. You can easily discuss the presentations of the day and the educational content in your program’s context and even apply that content to your strategic needs. The ideas from the presentations and educational sessions are fresh in your mind and should have stimulated your thinking broadly. You and your fellow program faculty have the shared experience and the ready opportunity to formulate operational plans before you return to the office and forget the details of the ideas presented.
Did you know that at this point 69.0% of attendees this year will be in San Antonio with a professional colleague from their Program/Department? Further, 48.9% will attend with between two and four colleagues and 20.1% will be there with five or more colleagues. During my time at Rush University and then at UAB, I regularly attended with a large contingent and probably did not do a great job of using that time for external value for myself or for my affiliated program. Many of you will have a great opportunity but you need to develop a plan to extract value. I encourage everyone to examine the content of the Annual Meeting and develop a plan to get realize value from that opportunity.
See you in San Antonio.