I am Catherine Nelson, DO, immediate past president of WAOPS and lead delegate for the AOA House of Delegates (HOD) for 2023. In July, I had the privilege of leading our state delegation of 6 representatives to help be the voice for Wisconsin DO’s with AOA policy. 

Thank you to Art Angove DO, Sarah James DO, Lezlie Painovich DO, Christopher Kordick DO and Jordan Paluch, OM3 for their wonderful advocacy efforts. This group spent numerous hours before HOD and during the meeting to ensure we were a unified voice representing Wisconsin.

During the meeting we had the honor of hearing from Dr. Bill Anderson one of the first African American Osteopathic Physicians. He has devoted his life to advocacy for physicians, patients and civil rights. He reminded all of us “If you come to this world and leave just as you found it, you could have stayed where you were.” We used this as our rallying cry to keep working hard!

We also had the privilege of honoring Jordan Paluch, OMS3 as she was selected for the AOIA OPAC Award: James M Lally, DO Scholarship Award. Jordan was selected amongst many candidates and stood proudly before the entire HOD to receive her award. She also received a standing ovation from all in attendance for her incredible advocacy efforts. 

We also spent our time advocating on behalf of Wisconsin Osteopathic Physicians. Topics included: equity in GME programs, prior authorization paperwork, physician workplace safety, physician noncompete clauses and several others. We also worked as a team to reword several resolutions that were then adopted on the floor. 

Moving forward our team hopes to write several resolutions for next year. If anyone has something that they feel strongly about, please reach out to myself or any member of the WAOPS board and we will work together on writing a resolution. Wisconsin is being recognized at AOA for our hard work and we want to continue this momentum. I am already looking forward to next year!