AAO Commitment to Advocacy Award

The Moran Eye Center’s residency program received the 2022 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Commitment to Advocacy Award at the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) 2023 annual meeting.

In association with the AAO’s Advocacy Ambassador Program, the award recognizes the leadership of a training program whose residents engaged in positive advocacy for patients and providers, often including legislative involvement to develop effective health policy.

“The Department of Ophthalmology at the Moran Eye Center has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to engaging and educating members in training about the importance of advocating for their patients and their profession, fostering Advocacy Ambassadors’ engagement with the Utah Ophthalmology Society (UOS), and collaborating closely with the UOS,” the AAO says in a statement.

“This award is a meaningful recognition for the many Moran faculty members involved in our education program and their support of advocacy,” says Vice Chair of Education Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA.

The UOS’s Advocacy Ambassador Program is a collaboration of state and specialized societies that support a Mid-Year Forum. At this annual forum, providers discuss policies that will impact their practices and develop strategies to implement new programs in their patient-care approaches.

Academy Associate Secretary for State Affairs Laura K. Green, MD, (2nd from left) and Academy CEO Stephen D. McLeod, MD, (2nd from right) present the 2022 Commitment to Advocacy award to the Moran Eye Center during AUPO’s annual meeting in San Diego, Calif. Accepting the award on behalf of Moran are (left to right): Chandler Thompson, Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, Rachel G. Simpson, MD, Randall J Olson, MD, and Meghan Johnson.