Professional Organizations

Professional Organizations The American Public Health Association has 28 different sections, each dedicated to a specific branch of health care, some examples being chiropractic, aging, epidemiology, law and mental health. Within the framework of these sections, the APHA promotes dialogue and advocacy, conducts research and produces publication with the objective of improving the state of health care in America through its programs (APHA, 2014). The hallmark event for the APHA is its annual meeting, where members can attend from 1000 different roundtables, sessions and panel discussions.

At the annual meeting, upwards of 5000 papers are presented as well, making the meeting the single most important event for medical practice in America. Looking at these, it is not difficult to find sessions that interest me. One such section of interest is Food & Nutrition. The food and nutrition section is focused on dietary considerations, and has the mission of providing leadership and to advocate for policies, practices, environmental changes and research that supports healthful eating and physical activity (APHA, 2014).

For the 2013 meeting, the Food and Nutrition section featured a number of talks. One that interests me because of its social connotations is "Nutrition disparities and food insecurity, which discusses some of the socioeconomic variables that affect nutrition, including urban food deserts. I find this an interesting topic because I never really understood it until I visited New Orleans and stayed in an area where the only place to buy groceries was Walgreens, with one aisle of mostly junk food. I've been interested in this topic ever since.

The Law section also had some interesting topics that were available for discussion at the 2013 Annual Meeting. I was thinking they would talk a lot about Obamacare, but it seems that the discussions were focused in other directions. One that I would be particularly interested in is "Regulating for the public health: Food and beverages, drugs and emerging technologies" I actually think this is more than one topic, and maybe a bit too much for a single discussion, because these are fascinating emerging issues.

I have watched with interest laws passed in places like New York banning giant-sized portions, and seen that laws are either in place or being proposed with respect to things like trans-fats, salt and genetically-modified foods.

There were four speakers at this event, and none were really delving into this topic, but they did cover opioid abuse, and prescription drug abuse is an interesting legal area because employers are severely limited in their ability to deal with this, in stark contrast to the rights they have to deal with illegal drug abuse. It's an interesting issue with a lot of legal and social ramifications, highlighting where business interests, the law and public health intersect. I enjoy learning about complex concepts like this.

These different meetings in the APHA Annual Meeting illustrate the value that professional organizations have in advancing dialogue and medical practice. There are hundreds of important emerging issues in health care, and the people in the industry need to have an opportunity to learn more about such issues. The APHA through these meetings and through the papers that are published, provides a valuable service in gathering and sponsoring the research that makes the health care business better. To me, this is.