AAAOM Dysfunction — finally getting the attention it deserves. Thank you, Acupuncture Today, for finally taking a closer look at what is going on behind the scenes.
AAAOM Dysfunction — finally getting the attention it deserves. Thank you, Acupuncture Today, for finally taking a closer look at what is going on behind the scenes.
Interesting! AT has the recorded interview w/Mr. Jabbour as supporting evidence. Mr. Jabbour works full-time for the New York City dept. of health and mental hygiene and practices part-time. Does this mean he is a hobbyist? Interestingly enough, his LinkedIn page does not list his acupuncture practice. Does this mean that he knows the challenges in making a living in this profession? I’m actually quite surprised (and somewhat insulted)…here’s someone who supposedly represents this profession, but is not on the ground working in it!
It’s kind of like have a physician run the AMA who just graduated from med school and/or has not actually devoted time on the ground to practice. Interesting indeed.
It probably wouldn’t be the most awful thing in the world to have an individual with limited time in the profession as the president of a board — as long as 1) the individual understood his/her limits, 2) there was a strong board where those with experience were respected, 3) there was a management system given the resources and direction to take care of the details, 4) there were strong committees full of qualified individuals who met regularly and reported to the board — and so on.
We’ve had a series of leaders who have put their own desires and agendas first, who have been unwilling or unable to put systems in place to make sure that they serve the greater good. Some of them have even been experienced practitioners.
After reading the AT article, I’m left with these thoughts:
1) Perhaps well-deserved, this was an old fashioned hit piece on Michael Jabbour. Plain and simple. It was ugly in this way.
2) There didn’t seem to be any mention by the authors or those interviewed that for the average LAc, the AAAOM has been a useless organization for well over a decade; offering no real, useful support for the acupuncturist on the ground.
It may be the case that the Jabbour-led AAAOM has run itself into the ground, but for Pete’s sake let’s not kid ourselves that this course was only set since 2011 or so. This ship has been sinking since I was a student in the late 90’s.
I hear you, Andy. I would have loved to see a longer and deeper look back. The problem pre-dates Jabbour and focuses on governance issues rather than vision issues.
I suspect more may come out in coming weeks. Sadly, too many LAcs have been fooled into thinking the big political issues are what is important.
The current board is already trotting out the usual “the board resignations will create openings for more like-minded people to step up” line. And in the article itself Will Morris gives the old “we need to sit down together and find consensus” helpful advice.
I don’t know what will happen next, but, at least in the moment, I prefer this to the status quo.
There are far worse AAAOM leaders for whom AT has praised inappropriately and/or ignored over the years. At least with Jabbour there have been no laws since passed like Delaware or South Carolina, both of where barriers were imposed against health workers putting needles in ears of the poor, both states of whose acupuncturist’s legislative efforts were supported by the AAAOM (prior to Jabbour).
I’m not sure it is useful or helpful to argue about who is the worst. No doubt there have been actions that under previous leaders that had a worse impact on patient access, perhaps the current leadership is the worst in terms of financial management and governance. The only thing we can do anything about is what is going on in the present. And judging from comments on Facebook and at AT, I’m not at all confident that this expose will change anything. I’ve seen posts about whether to offer discounts for Veterans get more attention that the AT piece. Add together the mistakes of the past and the problems of the present and you have a mess. Now, what can be done about it.
Just read this. Disturbing and I want to know more.
I hear there may be follow-up articles. In the meantime, what would you like to know?