Sara “Sally” H. Goza, M.D., FAAP, was examining a newborn in her Fayetteville, Ga., office when she learned she had won the election for AAP president-elect.
“I’m probably going to get pulled out to go answer a phone call,” she warned the baby’s parents. “And they were very excited for me,” Dr. Goza said. The staff bought flowers, and families congratulated her throughout the day.
Dr. Goza will serve as president-elect in 2019 and will take over as president on Jan. 1, 2020, following Kyle Yasuda, M.D., FAAP.
She reflected on various priorities that she sees as interconnected, including access to care, poverty, gun safety, immigration and physician wellness.
“My main priority is going to be advocating for children,” Dr. Goza said. “We just had the report that said the number of insured children dropped for the first time in many years. We have to be vigilant to make sure that access to care for children does not drop. We’ll still be dealing with Medicaid and … all of the programs we know help keep children out of poverty.”
Physician wellness also will continue to be a major concern, she predicted.
“I don’t think that the practice of medicine and the way medicine is changing are going to make it any easier for physicians … so we’ll really be trying to figure out how can we still advocate for children. How can we keep practices viable, and how can we keep pediatricians healthy?”
Gun safety is an issue in which Dr. Goza believes progress can be made in the next two years.
She also is looking toward the 2020 U.S. election. “We’re going to have to be out there making sure that everyone running understands what’s at stake for children and the practice of pediatrics going forward. That will be a big push during my year as president.”
The issues are complex but intertwined, Dr. Goza noted. “And I think if we don’t work on all of them, we’re not going to get where we need to go for any of them.”
The AAP election also saw changes to the AAP bylaws , and Dr. Goza is excited that three new members will be added to the Board of Directors, allowing a broader representation of the membership.
Results for additional AAP national offices, effective Jan. 1, are as follows:
District I
Vice chairperson
Patricia J. Flanagan, M.D., FAAP (re-elected)
National Nominating Committee representative
Janice L. Pelletier, M.D., FAAP
District III
Chairperson
Margaret “Meg” C. Fisher, M.D., FAAP
District IV
National Nominating Committee representative
Kimberly A. Boland, M.D., FAAP
District VI
Chairperson
Dennis M. Cooley, M.D., FAAP
Vice chairperson
Claudia K. Preuschoff, M.D., FAAP (re-elected)
District VII
National Nominating Committee representative
Eve H. Switzer, M.D., FAAP
District IX
Chairperson
Yasuko Fukuda, M.D., FAAP
Vice chairperson
Paula J. Whiteman, M.D., FACEP, FAAP
There were no vacancies in Districts II, V, VIII or X.
