February 2005 Frontline - Commissioned Officers Association

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
(continued from p. 1)
Professional Conference and Global
Health Summit. Our National Board
Chair, Captain Tim Ames, is also
writing about the Conference this
month. The fact that both of us chose
the same subject should be at least
some indication of its importance.
I hope all of our members know that
COA will host the 40th Annual US PHS
Professional Conference from 6-9 June
2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
birthplace of the U.S. Public Health
Service. The Conference theme is
“Where In the World Are We…In
Global Health?” On June 5th, immediately
preceding the Conference, COA’s
affiliated Foundation is sponsoring a
Global Health Summit, which is
designed to set the tone and agenda for
the conference which follows. The
Summit is the Foundation’s most
important and ambitious undertaking
to date.
Surgeon General Carmona will roll
out his Global Health Call to Action at
the Summit, which is planned as a
venue to invite international feedback
on the document. We have invited
prominent public health figures from
around the world to participate in the
Summit and many have already
accepted. The Summit will feature a
panel representing key stakeholder
groups in global health such as NGOs,
national and international government
organizations, public and private
funding groups, and beneficiary countries.
The panel will respond to the
Call to Action. Four discussion groups
will address areas of primary importance
– Diseases, Environment,
Displaced Persons, and Global Health
Security and Infrastructure. The fact
that these four issues have occupied
much of our newsprint and nightly
news broadcasts since December 26th
should not be lost on any of us. There
is much more to the Summit agenda,
but not enough space here to detail it
all.
The annual Conference will be at
least as good and likely even better
than last year’s event in Anchorage.
Dr. Tony Fauci of NIH will deliver the
Luther Terry Lecture on the Monday
afternoon of the Conference.
Immediately following the opening
ceremonies on Monday afternoon, the
Conference will present an historic
panel discussion exploring the past
lessons learned in global health and
relating those lessons to today’s world
and the future. The panel is historic
because the panelists will all be former
U.S. Surgeon’s General. And we expect
five of the six living former Surgeon’s
General to participate, including Dr. C.
Everett Koop. This is something you
will not want to miss – ask anyone who
heard Dr. Koop speak at the Anchor
and Caduceus Society Luncheon on
January 4th!
Tuesday of the Conference is
Category Day and all of the planners
have done an exceptional job creating
exciting, informational, and interesting
agendas. Wednesday will be devoted to
plenary sessions on a variety of key
global health issues and a keynote
address by Surgeon General Carmona.
Thursday will be devoted to three
tracked sessions and a closing keynote
address. Availability of continuing
education credits is the main function
of the Conference and we will provide
our best ever scientific program in this
regard.
In addition to the exciting scientific
agenda, the Conference will also
include an all hands reception on
Monday evening, the Surgeon
General’s Run/Walk on Wednesday
evening, an Awards luncheon and
annual COA Meeting of the Assembly
on Wednesday, breakout lunches on
Thursday, and a closing dinner on
Thursday evening during which we will
present the COA Health Leader of the
Year Award. Other events planned are a
Local Branch President’s Breakfast
with the National COA Board of
Directors (Wednesday morning), and a
Retired Officers’ Breakfast (Thursday
morning). One of the Thursday lunch
sessions will be a working lunch for
Inactive Reserve Officers. We are also
working on a “Meet Your Regional
Health Administrator” event. A
Foundation sponsored charity golf
tournament is also being planned.
Other “happenings” in the works are
sessions on professional development
presented by the Office of
Commissioned Corps Operations and
the Office of Commissioned Corps
Force Management, and the Junior
Officer Advisory Group. We are planning
on a re-creation of the “Yellow
Fever Walk”, an historic tour of the city
in the context of the yellow fever
epidemic – one of the first great public
health events in this country. There
may also be guest appearances by
President John Adams and other
prominent figures, and a reenactment
of the signing of the Marine Hospital
Act which created the forerunner of the
U.S. Public Health Service.
Both the Summit and Conference
will be held at the Wyndham Franklin
Plaza Hotel in central Philadelphia.
Rooms at the hotel are filling up fast
with more than 1400 room nights
taken already. If you have not already
made your room reservations and
registered for the Summit and
Conference (a nice discount if you
attend both!), now is the time.
Don’t stop reading now, the important
part is next.
We need our members – you – to
turn out and support this Conference
and Summit. Improving the annual
conference is a key element of COA’s
Strategic Plan. The Conference is key,
not just because we want a better event
each year, but because the annual
conference is the best vehicle we have
for promoting the Commissioned
Corps and increasing the Corps’ visibility
in public health. It is our best
opportunity to get COA’s agenda out
each year. The Conference is the
largest annual gathering of Corps officers
– we need to have as many of you
there, in uniform, as possible. There is
strength in numbers.
This year we have partnered with the
local public health community in
Philadelphia – which is a large and
vibrant group of academic institutions,
regional organizations, and private and
corporate groups. The Philadelphia
public health community is incredibly
supportive of the Conference and
Summit. They are assisting with the
scientific program and speakers,
marketing, exhibitors and sponsors. In
turn, we are inviting and encouraging
the local community’s participation at
the Conference. It provides an excellent
opportunity to demonstrate, to an
important audience, the uniqueness
and cohesiveness that the
26 COMMISSIONED OFFICERS ASSOCIATION