What Advocacy, Governance, and Research Work Does AAPA Carry Out?

Updated

AAPA (the American Academy of Physician Associates) is the national professional society for physician associates. Its work in the three areas you asked about breaks down as follows: advocacy runs through a dedicated Advocacy Central hub and an annual Leadership and Advocacy Summit; governance is structured around a Board of Directors, a House of Delegates (HOD), and a Student Academy with its own board and student delegation to the HOD; and research is carried out through publications and data briefs, salary and cost-of-living tools, fellowship and grant funding, and the peer-reviewed journal JAAPA. The sections below explain each area and how to find the relevant resources on aapa.org.

Advocacy: Where AAPA's Policy Voice Lives

AAPA describes itself as advocating and educating on behalf of the profession. On the site, advocacy is organized as a standing area ("Advocacy Central") alongside the other member hubs (Education, Career Central, Member Central, News Central).

A concrete, recurring advocacy event is the Leadership and Advocacy Summit, listed among AAPA's events and also offered in an on-demand format. This is the natural entry point if your goal is to follow or participate in the association's policy work rather than just read about it.

What to do if advocacy is your interest:

  1. Start at Advocacy Central to see current priorities and calls to action.
  2. Check the Events section for the next Leadership and Advocacy Summit and its on-demand recordings.
  3. Use News Central for updates tied to advocacy positions.

Note that the site's public pages describe that advocacy happens and where; specific policy positions and legislative agendas are not detailed in the homepage material, so plan to browse Advocacy Central directly for current stances.

Governance: How AAPA Is Structured

AAPA's governance is documented under a "Governance" section that lays out the bodies, their rosters, and the rules they operate under. The main components visible on the site:

Body Role on the site
Board of Directors Roster and bios published under Governance
House of Delegates (HOD) Policy-making body; has "HOD 101," a Speaker's Update, elected delegates, officer compliance, forms, and policy review
Reference Committee (RefCom) Reports and a Summary of Actions are published
Student Academy Student Board of Directors, student board committees, and a student delegation to the HOD
Constituent Organizations State chapters, federal service chapters, specialty organizations, caucuses, and special interest groups

Supporting governance documents include Governance Documents & Policies and Endorsed Clinical Guidelines, plus a Volunteers and Elections area.

If you want to engage with governance, the practical path is: read HOD 101 to understand how policy moves through the House, review the Board roster to see who leads which area, and watch the Elections and Volunteers pages for openings. Students should look at the Student Academy Board and the Assembly of Representatives (AOR) as their entry points.

Research: Publications, Data, and Funding

AAPA's research activity is spread across several named programs rather than a single lab:

  • Publications & Data Briefs — the core output for data-driven content.
  • Harris Poll – The Patient Experience and the AAPA–Morning Consult Survey — survey research on patient and public perspectives.
  • Salary Report, plus tools to Calculate Your Cost of Living and Negotiate Your Employment Contract — applied research for career decisions.
  • JAAPA — the association's journal, listed as a research/publication resource.
  • Fellowship and Grant Funding — including the AAPA–PAEA Research Fellowship, AAPA Research Funding, External Funding, and Grant Funded Programs.
  • Research Requests, Support, and Partnerships — the channel for proposing or partnering on research.
  • NIH All of Us Research Program and How Tos and Statistical Support — resources for researchers.
  • Digital ePosters and Research Events at AAPA Conferences — venues for presenting findings.

If you are a researcher, the sequence is: check Research Requests, Support, and Partnerships before proposing a study, review the funding options (AAPA–PAEA fellowship vs. external funding) to see which fits your project stage, and submit through the conference ePoster or research events track to present results.

Choosing Where to Start

The right entry point depends on your goal:

  • Follow or join policy efforts → Advocacy Central, then the Leadership and Advocacy Summit.
  • Understand or influence how the association decides things → Governance section, beginning with HOD 101 and the Board roster.
  • Use data for a career decision (salary, cost of living, contract) → Salary Report and the cost-of-living and contract-negotiation tools.
  • Conduct or fund research → Research Requests, Support, and Partnerships, then the fellowship and grant pages.
  • Students → Student Academy (board, committees, AOR, and HOD student delegation).

One practical caution: the site notes scheduled maintenance on Sunday, October 26, from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time, during which logging in, purchases, and some information access may be affected—so avoid planning time-sensitive member tasks in that window.