Virtual Trainee Terri: Trainee Futures

December 5, 2007

Greetings, fellow Trainees! A few weeks ago I returned from the AUCD 2007 Annual Meeting & Conference in Washington, DC. What a great experience! I got to meet Directors and faculty from UCEDD and LEND programs all across the country, and even some international folks. The plenary and concurrent sessions were incredibly interesting, and I learned a lot. The opportunities for trainees to connect with the AUCD network were amazing.

Terri Abrams (center) with trainees at the AUCD Annual Meeting Trainee Reception

There were about 50 trainees at the conference. Trainees participated in several different ways. There were presentations and panels that included trainees, and there were trainee posters in the very lively and informative poster session. A special reception was held for the trainees and attended by the Executive Director of AUCD, George Jesien, the new President of the AUCD Board of Directors, Bill Kiernan, and the Past-President, Royal Walker as well as the directors of several UCEDDs and LENDs. It was a great chance for all trainees to meet each other and some Directors even announced positions that were open at their centers for trainees to consider. There were also opportunities for trainees to hear from and meet leaders of national organizations and federal agencies that address various disabilities.

One of the concurrent sessions was planned just for trainees. Entitled "Trainee Futures," the session included a panel of four former AUCD trainees who discussed the paths their careers have taken and how the AUCD network has influenced those careers.

AUCD Trainee Reception 2007

We heard from Dr. Cate McClain, MD, PT, FAAP, who is the Director of the Center for Development and Disability UCEDD and LEND at the University of New Mexico. Cate was a Physical Therapy LEND trainee before attending Medical School. In part because of her experience as a LEND trainee and her membership in the AUCD network, Cate was selected to be a Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation Public Policy Fellow, which allowed her to spend a year in Washington, DC working in the offices of a US Senator. When asked by a trainee how she was able to balance such a successful career with having a family, Cate shared that she relied on not only the support of her family, but also on her relationships with other professional women with families, many of whom are also a part of the AUCD network. She stated, "Family centered care is my life philosophy, not just my clinical philosophy. The values I hold for my patients are the values I hold for my own family." Cate stated that she felt her LEND training was instrumental in her career, as it provided her with a system-oriented, family centered, interdisciplinary perspective, and opened doors to many opportunities and experiences she would not have otherwise found.

The second panelist was Dr. Georgina Peacock, MPH, MD. Georgina was a Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics LEND trainee at the Developmental Disabilities Center at the University of Kansas UCEDD/LEND during her pediatric residency. After completing her training, Georgina recently spent time working at the Centro Ann Sullivan in Lima, Peru with parents, primary care providers, and child care workers to identify and care for children with autism and other special health care needs. In February of 2007, Georgina applied for and was awarded an AUCD Fellowship to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA where she is working with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) on the ‘Learn the Signs. Act Early.' Campaign. She said she also depends on support from her husband and their 4 children and their commitment to taking on the next adventure that presents itself. "I don't really make any long-term plans!" she stated.

Aaron Velez, Crystal Pariseau, & Tony Antosh (Director, RI UCEDD) at the Trainee Reception

Aaron Velez, MSW, was the third panelist and he is from the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) and NY Medical College in Valhalla, NY. Aaron told the group of trainees in attendance that he went from being a high school drop-out to completing Community College and graduating from the Columbia University School of Social Work. Aaron was a LEND trainee at WIHD in 2005. Today, Aaron is the Manager of WIHD's Health Information Technology Department and an instructor for NY Medical College. He is also co-leader in coordinating LEND research projects for WIHD. Aaron was enthusiastic about the value of the AUCD network, not only for the people that you meet while involved, but for the projects and the leadership potential offered by the wealth of expertise among the members.

Trainees in attendance at the concurrent session also heard from two individuals at AUCD's Central Office: David Morrissey, MPS, and Crystal Pariseau, MSSW.

 

Job Board at AUCD 2007

David is finishing a one-year fellowship with Central Office as the AUCD Disability Policy Fellow, and will be staying with AUCD as a full-time staff member working on AUCD's contract with the CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early" Campaign. David became aware of the AUCD network while he was a LEND trainee at the University of Arkansas. Through his LEND experience he was able to participate in a 12-week internship in Vietnam.

Crystal is the MCH Technical Assistance and Materials Development Coordinator at AUCD and is intimately involved in the activities of all LEND programs across the network as well as working to develop experiences and connections for UCEDD and LEND trainees. Crystal was a social work trainee at the Waisman Center LEND and UCEDD in Madison, WI. Crystal stated that she strongly believes in the value of the network and the opportunities it has to offer. "Many of our AUCD members literally ‘wrote the book' on various disabilities, interdisciplinary care, family centered care, cultural competency, and community involvement for people with disabilities and their families," she said. "To have the opportunity to learn from and work side-by-side with these individuals is a great resource, one that we hope you will take advantage of." Crystal talked about the value of learning from trainees at other Centers and described ways in which every trainee in the network can become involved, including signing up for the trainee listserve, posting comments on the message board, participating in AUCD Council activities, and more.

 

I was so impressed both by the ways former trainees are using their leadership training, and by their openness in sharing how they have done it with current trainees. The commitment to making life better for people with developmental disabilities and their families and the generosity and intent of AUCD to raise up the leaders of tomorrow was striking. Many of the people I talked with at the conference cited either their training in a LEND or UCEDD or their involvement in the network as pivotal to their career. Keith Miller, PhD, a past president of the AUCD Board of Directors and retiring Director of the Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities said, "The AUCD Network and it's Conference are big enough to be exciting and small enough to be intimate." David Helm, PhD, Training Director at the Institute for Community Inclusion in Boston, MA, said, "This is my favorite conference-I've been coming to it for 20 years."

I can see why!