Committees

Chapter committees are made up of active and affiliated physicians and health professionals who have the goals described in each committee title. Committees generally meet on a quarterly basis in person or by conference call.

Advocacy Committee

The Advocacy Committee works in conjunction with the District AAP to review legislation affecting child health in California. The Chapter committee handles grassroots efforts on statewide legislation based on District policy and positions. The Advocacy Committee will disseminate information via online and email in support or opposition of regulations, bills, resolutions and other legislative formats which the District does not have the staff time to consider.

Co-Chairs and Resident Co-Chairs

Stephanie Fong Gomez, MD, MD, FAAP, Morgan Leighton, MD, MPH, FAAP, Chandni Jain, MD, and Josten Overall, MD, MPH

Contact: info@aapca1.org

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Child Abuse Prevention, Education and Treatment Committee (CAPET)

The AAPCA1 CAPET Committee aligns with the AAP Resilience Project and COCAN to improve care and outcomes of children and families through the prevention, education, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The committee will engage our local providers, families, and communities to build partnerships with child- and family-serving organizations, educate the pediatric community, support policy and research activities, and promote a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach.

The committee will utilize a trauma-informed, strengths-based, public health approach to Prevention, Education and Treatment:

Primary Prevention: “Prevent”
- Awareness campaigns, family-focused, family strengths, resilience, social/community connectedness/supports, parenting support (Period Purple Crying, Triple P), Home Health/NFP, corporal punishment (“Hit No More”, “No Hit Zones”), SDOH/ACEs screening
Secondary Prevention: “Protect”
- “Pink flags”, high risk children/families, siblings/contacts with abuse and/neglect, family violence, high SDOH/ACEs
Tertiary Prevention: “Heal”
- Identify children with suspected maltreatment, community and family linkages, prevent future maltreatment (therapy, community and family support and engagement, high-risk behaviors)

The committee meets quarterly.

Chair(s):
Casey L. Brown, MD, MPH, FAAP & Melissa Egge, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

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Mental Health

Climate Change and Child Health Committee

The Climate Change and Child Health Committee seeks to work closely with our state government representatives to identify and lobby for climate-conscious legislation, continue to work closely with allies such as the American Lung Association on important climate change work, and organize educational and skills training sessions on climate change to become more effective advocates.

Co-chair(s):
Naomi Bardach, MD, FAAP , Amanda Millstein, MD, FAAP, & Sonja Swenson, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

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Climate Change and Health

Committee on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Chair(s):
Renee Wachtel, MD, FAAP

Contact:
info@aapca1.org

The Committee on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics is composed of AAP Fellows who are subspecialists with expertise in developmental and behavioral pediatrics or neurodevelopmental disabilities and primary care pediatricians. The Committee is dedicated to the optimal care and development of children with disabilities and special health care needs and to the support of their families. Children with special health care needs are those who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional condition and require health and related services beyond those required by children generally. Committee issues include early intervention, developmental screening, access to developmental and behavioral services, childhood behavior problems, physician education regarding developmental and behavioral screening and referral to resources, medication management of developmental and behaviorally related disorders, biopsychosocial issues, genetic disorders related to impairments in sensory function, development and behavior, and advocacy issues.

Committee on Substance Use and Prevention (COSUP)

The Committee On Substance Use and Prevention (COSUP) is concerned with the prevention, early recognition, and appropriate management of substance use by young people; initiates professional and public education in this area, including best screening, assessment, and treatment practices; makes appropriate policy recommendations to the membership; and is involved in state-wide advocacy efforts.

Chair(s): Seth Ammerman, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

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Mental Health

Continuing Medical Education

The Committee on Continuing Medical Education coordinates, monitors, and evaluates the Continuing Medical Education (CME) program and its individual activities to ensure quality and consistency in the content development and design process as well as to provide oversight for the accreditation of the AAP CME program. The primary role of the committee is to ensure that the AAP CME program remains on the leading edge of pediatric continuing medical education. Thus, a critical function of the committee is to recommend new directions and/or initiatives for the AAP CME program in consideration of sound educational practice based on the principles of adult learning theory and the most current and evidence-based CME research.

Chair:
Mika Hiramatsu, MD, FAAP

Vice Chair:
Yasmin Carim, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

Physician Practice & Wellness

Early Career Physicians

This committee provides valuable guidance and resources for physicians who are transitioning out of residency and fellowship. The Committee’s primary focus is on advocacy, mentoring and education. We are currently working on developing sub-committees on a nationwide level that include: Connectivity, Work/Life Balance, Improving Member Value, Personal Finance Management, Leadership Skills/Development, and Workforce Policy.

Chair(s): Bhavin Doshi, MD, MPH, FAAP

Contact:
info@aapca1.org

Physician Practice & Wellness

Immigrant Health Task Force

As physicians, we are privileged to provide care to families from diverse populations and countries of origin. Unfortunately, our country’s current immigration policies have incited fear as well as established systematic efforts to remove basic healthcare and social support for immigrant children and families that is detrimental to their health. Fifty percent of California’s children have at least one immigrant parent. Many counties in our chapter have populations where one-third of the residents are immigrants. Making healthcare facilities a safe space for immigrant families as well as optimizing care is an important goal for the chapter and its members.

The AAPCA1 Immigrant Health Task Force is a coalition of physicians from community and academic institutions working together in order to create a cohesive effort at promoting immigrant health in Northern and Central California. It is housed within the Advocacy Committee and includes members from all levels of training including residents and fellows that meet on a monthly to bi-monthly basis in order to discuss and implement strategies that benefit and protect the health of immigrant children and their families.

Chair(s): Bhavin Doshi, MD, MPH, FAAP and Shazeen Suleman, MPH, MD

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Immigrant Health

Mental Health Committee

The California Chapter 1 Mental Health Committee is composed of pediatricians, mental health practitioners and researchers dedicated to improving both prevention and treatment of mental health issues for children and teens. Our committee members work together to enhance the mental health and behavioral health skills of practicing pediatricians, advocate for improved access and quality of services for behavioral health concerns, and connect pediatricians to available resources relevant to behavioral health issues. Our recent initiatives include putting on two sold-out Pediatric Mental Health Day CME conferences supporting providers in San Jose and Madera and making legislative and regulatory recommendations for California AAP advocacy in the field of mental health access. We are also exploring quality improvement and training initiatives to integrate ACEs screening and screening for other social determinants of health into pediatric practice.

Chair(s): Diane Dooley, MD, MHS, FAAP

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Oral Health

The Oral Health Committee seeks to prevent the most common chronic condition of childhood, dental caries, as well as other oral conditions. It focuses on educating pediatricians, parents and children about the importance of good oral hygiene on overall systemic health, and how pediatricians can help families with preventive care (through sustainable workflows with referrals, fluoride varnish, education, billing, etc).

Chair(s):
Susan Fisher-Owens, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

Practice Support Task Force

The California Chapter 1, AAP Practice Support Group recognizes and acknowledges that pediatricians in many different practice settings need support from their peers in answering clinical, business or management questions. Keeping pediatric practices open and financially stable is necessary to preserve access to care for children in all our communities. We respect the diversity of pediatric practice models within our chapter, ranging from large multi-specialty groups and employed models to solo practitioners, with a great deal in between. Families should have a choice in which type of practice they want for their children, and pediatricians should have a choice of practice environment that allows them to deliver the best care for their patients. We also acknowledge that the COVID pandemic has created unique challenges that threaten our profession and the stability of our practices.

Our goals include:

Providing information and resources to assist members with practice management and development. This may via the Chapter newsletter, webinars, educational events, networking opportunities, seminars or member forums that allow pediatricians to share best practices and ideas.
Advocate on behalf of our members, in order to carry their voices to the table and make sure their needs are being heard.
To be a trusted source of information, useful to all members.

Chair(s):

Amita Saxena, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

Join the Practice Support Task Force by clicking the button below or email info@aapca1.org. You will be added to the Practice Support Google Group listserv where questions can be posted and discussed among chapter members throughout Northern California.

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School Health

The School Health Committee works with the local First 5 Commissions, the public school system and other health care professionals to ensure that school children have appropriate medical care and a safe learning environment in their schools. The committee advocates for proper nutrition, physical exercise, mental health services, and a positive learning experience for all children.

Chair(s):
Renee Wachtel, MD, FAAP

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info@aapca1.org

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Mental Health

Vintage Docs

The focus of the Vintage Docs committee is to provide information on life transitions for senior pediatricians, both professionally and personally and to provide an opportunity to participate in child advocacy and mentorship programs for young pediatricians.

Chair(s): Harvey Kaplan, MD, FAAP

Contact: info@aapca1.org

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Physician Practice & Wellness