Towards a Greater AANP

As you have been hearing, there has been a flurry of new energy and activity going on at the AANP in the last few months. The recently formed Public Education and Media Outreach (PEMO) Committee is made of board members and general members who all have the goal of improving internal relationships within our profession, reinvigorating and increasing the AANP membership, and propelling the naturopathic profession into the public eye.

The PEMO Committee has been meeting regularly with great intention and strong goals to strengthen and unite our naturopathic community, reaching out to state leaders to foster communication and gain important feedback about how the AANP can better serve you. Our goal is that these efforts will create a ripple effect of outreach. We are encouraging everyone to start discussions among ND colleagues in your state, old classmates from naturopathic school, and general supporters of the profession. We are grateful for your membership in our national association and welcome all input as we work towards a better AANP.

We know that there is still much more to do! The PEMO Committee is paying attention to the branding conversations happening on Nat Chat and in other forums and conversations. We agree that increased awareness of naturopathic doctors across the country is the ultimate goal that will allow our doctors to see more patients and our profession to grow in number. We were equally inspired by the presentation given at last year’s AANP Convention by Dr. Rick Kirschner and encourage all members to watch, or re-watch, his lecture. Please do not wait to give yourself a brand such as “natural medicine expert” (coined by Dr. Oz when he referred to Pina LoGuidice, ND), or “America’s natural medicine doctors” per naturopathic doctor Dennis Godby’s advice. Add it to your business card, website, elevator speech, and state association website. Let us know what messaging is working and we look forward to coming together with renewed conversation and relationships to move our individual and collective agendas forward for our beloved profession.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2012 AANP Convention in Bellevue where we will be thrilled to introduce our new CEO, Jud Richland. As always, the convention will be a fantastic learning experience, community building event, and a hotbed of new ideas and energy about our future; you don’t want to miss it!

With gratitude and appreciation,

Drs. Carrie Runde and Holly Lucille
Co-Chairs Public Education and Media Outreach