APHA Prep

The annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) starts this weekend. I have no qualms saying that it is not my favorite conference. Having 12,000 to 16,000 health professionals running around a conference center and back and forth among several hotels lacks intimacy. (Okay, that's understatement). And, the focus is very much on practice of public health which often lacks an intellectual edge. (Another understatement.)  Then, you might well ask, why go?

I go for a lot of reasons. I go to support my graduate students as they make their first national poster or oral presentations. I go to connect with colleagues with whom away-from-home seems to the only opportunity to meet and hug. I go to disseminate my own research and practice innovations, in the idealistic hopes of contributing to the betterment of the world. I go to cruise the huge exhibit hall in search of a freebie  I don't need but like and of a new book that will make me sound smarter. I go, sometimes, because I like the city where the conference is being held, such as this year.  I consider it a total bonus if I get an idea or insight from something I might hear or see.

Attending and presenting at APHA (or any other conference) is the culmination of very delayed gratification. We submitted abstracts back in Feb, learned of acceptance in May and are finally going to show off our ideas, study findings, and projects.  Both academics and public health professionals have to have come to terms with a long wait to see results of their efforts. But, as the saying goes, good things are worth waiting for.