AFPPA shut down

[TWR]

This was a blow.  How was this allowed to happen?  Poor management, etc.?  What happened and no warning.  Email went out yesterday from Jenna Dorn to AFPPA members.

[MedicinePower]

This was a blow.  How was this allowed to happen?  Poor management, etc.?  What happened and no warning.  Email went out yesterday from Jenna Dorn to AFPPA members.

Can you provide any additional information? Perhaps the email you received? I saw their website is down.

[CAAdmission]

I heard it was Russian hackers hired by the NPs.

[UGoLong]

Their facebook page is up and includes the email. Sounds like a money issue.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[TWR]

CJAdmission, your response to this topic is not funny.  I know you meant no harm but still wrong IMHO.

[Boatswain2PA]

It was funny, completely left field (or, rather RIGHT field), a perfect mixing of today's political discord and the perennial conflict between PA and NP profession.

 

Relax, it was a joke.

[True Anomaly]

TWR- care to share and post said email and more information?

[AliB]

I didn't receive this directly, but this was shared with others as being the content of the notification from Jessie Dorn:  

 

Dear Members,

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that AFPPA will be closing its doors. This has been a long-term struggle that the Board of Directors has been battling for years. Unfortunately, due to uncontrollable circumstances, we can no longer afford to exist. As you can imagine, the Board of Directors is extremely disappointed and have spent years trying to avoid this fate, usually at the expense of our own wallet. We understand that many of you will be disappointed as well.

AFPPA has historically relied on membership dues and CME profits to survive and support our advocacy efforts. As many organizations are also discovering, there is less revenue in live CME. We know that we offer high quality medical education but we still cannot fill the seats at our conferences. We suspect that this may be due to the plethora of free online options as well as smaller stipends for medical education.

We have also suffered from poor membership renewal. Many other organizations are facing the same, including our national academy. Yet the Board of Directors has many questions: is this due to less compensation from employers, less interest in joining organizations, or are we no longer serving a viable purpose to our members?

The Board of Directors earnestly believes in the significance of a primary care PA organization. We are the foundation of medicine and our profession has its roots in primary care. We want to continue to serve our profession but will unfortunately be unable to continue to do so under the mantle ofAFPPA.

This is a call for all PA leaders and primary care professionals. If you would like to join us in reviving and renewing a primary care specialty organization then please reach out to me directly. We will begin meeting to discuss future ventures at the AAPA conference in Las Vegas. You are all welcome to a year of free of membership in any such future organization. 

And lastly, thank you to our members that have been loyal and steadfast throughout the years. We would not have survived as long as we did without you all. I cannot help but feel that we have failed you. 

Sincerely,
Jessie Dorne
Jessie Dorne, MHS, PA-C
President AFPPA, 2016-2017
afppa.org 
jessie.dorne@icloud.com

 

[rev ronin]

I know they had a problem in the 2012 era with their conference organizer cloning their CME stuff and offering elsewhere for profit.

 

I've never belonged, never seen the need.

[overthehorizen]

I don't see the need for Physician Assistant organizations that have CME and conferences when the many Physician centered organizations have well organized programs in CME and conferences. I subscribed to Audio Digest for one year recently and was shocked at how good the lectures and CME were. They made my PA school professors look like amateurs. I realized that I had been cheated out of a lot of tuition money in PA school. I would much prefer to pay to join the ACP than to pay to join the AAPA. The only reason that would justify supporting a Physician Assistant organization of any type would be if they had a clear plan that demonstrated how they would win practice independence and how to stop unnecessary reboarding. As for education, the Physician organizations are superior so why duplicate it with something that is inferior. I continue to say that the PA profession itself may not be in existence in ten years because there is no dedicated advocacy for the primary issues that are going to eliminate us.

[TWR]

I am sticking by my guns on my comment.  Yes I know you were making a joke.  But having practiced Family Medicine for 31 years, and going to at least one AFPPA for its entire inception  I look at this a lot differently than someone who may practice in a specialty.   The lectures were given by PA's,  the topics timely and not esoteric and I felt it was better than AAPA conference IMO.  Like it or not, it is devastating like any "death".  I would skip the jokes. IMO.

[rev ronin]

[...] The only reason that would justify supporting a Physician Assistant organization of any type would be if they had a clear plan that demonstrated how they would win practice independence and how to stop unnecessary reboarding. [...]

The AFPPA was on board with PAFT and helping drive full practice authority, so you should be mourning their loss a bit on that score.

[overthehorizen]

Rev Ronin, can you explain how PAFT Full Practice Authority lets a PA start his own practice with the same freedom that NPs enjoy in 21 states? The Physician is an anchor around my neck at this point. He incurs substantial costs, presents a dangerous threat of walking and adds no value. If I am missing something here, the PAFT should sell this more. The dialogue in the recent Michigan thread seemed to indicate that the Physician is still bound to the PA like a fungus.

[jwells78]

Overthehorizen- you remind me of a poster from awhile back. His name was Contrarian.

 

Any relation?

[Reality Check 2]

Rev Ronin, can you explain how PAFT Full Practice Authority lets a PA start his own practice with the same freedom that NPs enjoy in 21 states? The Physician is an anchor around my neck at this point. He incurs substantial costs, presents a dangerous threat of walking and adds no value. If I am missing something here, the PAFT should sell this more. The dialogue in the recent Michigan thread seemed to indicate that the Physician is still bound to the PA like a fungus.

I beg you to find another profession.

[EMEDPA]

I know the past 3 presidents of AFPPA. they have really worked hard with PAFT to advance the profession over the last 5 years. this is an unfortunate blow for the profession.

[SHU-CH]

This is really unfortunate. There is so much competition for CME revenue it is hard to put on a very profitable event these days.

 

A lot of PAs spend money on CME activities from physician groups that are either ambivalent or outright hostile toward PAs. We need to look out for our own.

[UpRegulated]

I am sticking by my guns on my comment.  Yes I know you were making a joke.  But having practiced Family Medicine for 31 years, and going to at least one AFPPA for its entire inception  I look at this a lot differently than someone who may practice in a specialty.   The lectures were given by PA's,  the topics timely and not esoteric and I felt it was better than AAPA conference IMO.  Like it or not, it is devastating like any "death".  I would skip the jokes. IMO.

 

Really? Really???  You are likening the potential end of an organization to a personal death???  Devastating???  Really??? Maybe you could use some personal relationships in your life. You have gone to "at least one" meeting and you are likening the folding of a professional group to a death???

[overthehorizen]

A lot of PAs spend money on CME activities from physician groups that are either ambivalent or outright hostile toward PAs. We need to look out for our own.

I have never witnessed this and was really surprised to hear it exists. The majority of my CME has been Category I through recorded material that was delivered at a live event. I've never heard a disparaging word about the PA. I have attended several live events at work (a large healthcare system)delivered by Physicians. Again, during the event, there was nothing but gracious collegiality. Finally, I have had several physicians as patients on my panel. I have been invited to the educational meetings of their medical society. If you read my posts, I am rather contentious about certain issues regarding physicians but I can say that in my experience, our physician colleagues have been inviting for education. I admit that others may have had different experiences. I wouldn't mind hearing about them hear without naming anyone specifically.

[TWR]

UpRegulated,  My misprint about the number of AFPPA conferences attended.  I have been to over15.  Yes, I consider it a "death" not likening it to a human death.  

 

PS  nice picture and nice comments about yourself.  Do you kiss the mirror in the morning too?

PPSS:  It is "Nurse Practitioner not "Murse"  Mr. perfect!!

[UpRegulated]

UpRegulated,  My misprint about the number of AFPPA conferences attended.  I have been to over15.  Yes, I consider it a "death" not likening it to a human death.  

 

PS  nice picture and nice comments about yourself.  Do you kiss the mirror in the morning too?

PPSS:  It is "Nurse Practitioner not "Murse"  Mr. perfect!!

 

Lighten up, Francis.  Just a joke.  My comments about myself are tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the nurses (especially the academic types) that list 16 million credentials, degrees, awards, etc. after their names (see my lab coat in this thread - post # 20). 

 

And no, that's not really my lab coat.  It's photoshopped.  And no, my avatar is not really a picture of me.  That's a picture of a fictional NBC page.  But I really am a murse.

[Contrarian]

Overthehorizen- you remind me of a poster from awhile back. His name was Contrarian.

Any relation?

Nope...

Not even related.

 

Carry on

 

YMMV

 

Contrarian

[sas5814]

I became aware of and interested in AFPPA a couple of years back. I went to their conference in New Orleans met their leadership and talked about what I thought they could become (a national force representing FP PAs). They were somewhat in crisis mode having suffered financial problems due to malfeasance of a prior administrator and their focus was on not sinking. They didn't have the time, energy, or desire to attempt a grand vision at that point so I backed away.

They were a great bunch of folks and their CME was excellent but their vision was small (in my opinion) and I gave them a low chance of survival because they wanted to concentrate on providing high quality CME which they did very well. However the CME market is flooded and using CME as your prime money maker was doomed to failure. I am sad to see they came to this.

That said it could be an opportunity for some driven young (read not me...I'm old and cranky) people to resurrect the organization and rebuild it from scratch. I see a representative organization for FP PAs nation wide as having huge potential to get good things done.

[runforhotdogs]

UpRegulated,  My misprint about the number of AFPPA conferences attended.  I have been to over15.  Yes, I consider it a "death" not likening it to a human death.  

 

PS  nice picture and nice comments about yourself.  Do you kiss the mirror in the morning too?

PPSS:  It is "Nurse Practitioner not "Murse"  Mr. perfect!!

 

 

I thought the joke was funny too. Maybe your beloved AFPPA went out because of corruption or poor management. I see that they offered a scholarship when they can barely keep afloat? Some orgos just have to go. Inefficient and meaningless orgos are just fat that needs to be trimmed. I really agree with the nurses putting every little degree and certification after their name too. Talk about an inferiority complex. No wonder they aren't content to being independent. Now they want to be called "doctor", as in PhD, just not that kind of "doctor", MD. So to add salt to injury, um, it should be "PPS". Postscript of a postscript. One too many "S". I doubt the guy was trying to be perfect, more than just being funny.

 

 "But having practiced Family Medicine for 31 years, and going to at least one AFPPA for its entire inception  I look at this a lot differently than someone who may practice in a specialty."

 

I hate when politicians walk back, take back, misspoke, or have untruths. Just own up to it when you lie or screw up. At least Rick Perry said "oops" my bad when he screwed up. It's near impossible to "typo" a spelling of a numerical value don't you think? How does one misprint "one" with "1" and a "5"???  :p~

 

Methinkst the funny guy made some shrewd observations that cut the ego deep....what, having 31 years of experience and all must mean something. Reminds me when people say, the panel has 80 years of combined experience from 4 guys in the room. Does 100, 2 year olds have more experience than a 20 year old college student? Dang whippersnappers. Thirty-one years and you smug faced, The Office, watching punk... (It's a joke BTW.)