President’s Message
Katie Davenport-Kabonic, DO, FAAP,
FACOFP
This month I wanted to turn over my space in the newsletter to one of our up-and-coming leaders, Tessa Tolen, DO. Tessa is a graduate of our Wetzel Scholar and Fellow Programs and has been highly engaged in advocacy since she was a student at ATSU-KCOM. She is currently a Chief Resident at Cox Family Medicine Residency in Springfield and that “bright medical student” I previously referred to in the August Prognosis. Tessa has attended the AOA House of Delegates as a MAOPS delegate several times and is an amazing spokesperson for MAOPS and the profession! As you will read, Tessa is a passionate advocate for the osteopathic profession, her patients, her colleagues, and the organization!
The AOA House of Delegates: A Resident’s Persepctive
Tessa Tolen, DO, MAOPS Wetzel 
Fellow
The American Osteopathic Association House of Delegates (AOA HOD) is an annual event that brings together the legislative and policy making body of the AOA which is composed of delegations representing each US state and includes student representation through several bodies. Our purpose at the House is to set legislative priorities for the subsequent year as well as enact, amend, or repeal existing policy, constitution, or bylaws of the AOA.
I am fortunate that this was my 4th year attending the HOD with the Missouri Delegation where I have been mentored and supported to speak on the floor, prepared to present in committee, and encouraged to submit amendments that I have developed for different policies. It is a continued opportunity to impact my community, both within medicine and outside it, for the better. Medicine does not exist in a vacuum, and while we are not taught about advocacy in school, it impacts us, our practice, and our patients every day whether or not we decide to engage with it. While advocacy can feel intimidating at first, I’ve found it to be one of the most rewarding ways to serve my community and profession.
As the saying goes, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu’, and that truth rings especially loud in the world of legislation. Policy, legislation, and advocacy are nebulous articles that seemingly exist separate from our everyday life, but without people willing to go to the table and make our voices and needs heard then we will be served, it is not an if, but a when.
With all of the changes at the federal level, especially in regard to health and human services, this House was ever vigilant of impacts that existing language in resolutions could have on the future. Gone are the days where we could make blanket statements about following national health guidelines published by the HHS and CDC. Many policies that had been passed in previous years that were up for revision this year had to be amended to reflect that concern and be passed once again with the verbiage that the AOA supports peer-reviewed, evidence-based practice regardless of previous governing body endorsement.
At the state level this year MAOPS successfully fought for funding for additional residency slots in Missouri, increased the Missouri State Loan Repayment Program, and against bills that would have detrimental impacts to our practice, such as AI diagnosing and treating patients without physician involvement.
While these are divisive times in medicine, MAOPS and the AOA continue to fight for our osteopathic students, residents, physicians, and profession. We continue to have a dedicated team that advocates for us, but that fight is not free, it is both time consuming and monetarily taxing. Many who advocate on the behalf of the profession do so because they understand the importance of it. This is part of what your MAOPS membership pays for, to help our people have their seat at the table to be heard, to pay our lobbyists, to form relationships with our legislators.
Our membership numbers remind us that the strength of our collective voice depends on each of us. When we stand together, through membership, advocacy, or financial support, we secure our place at the table and protect our ability to serve. I know that not everyone has the time or interest to partake in advocacy, but I urge you to still support those of use that do. If time is not what you can give, then consider your part as supporting us through your membership with MAOPS and encouraging your colleagues to do the same. Consider supporting our Missouri Osteopathic Political Action Committee (MOPAC) or the national Osteopathic Political Action Committee (OPAC).
My time at the AOA HOD and within MAOPS always reminds me that we have to be vigilant and fight for our patients, our profession, and our future. The truth is, advocacy is not
about one voice, but about the power of many voices united. Whether through showing up, speaking out, or simply renewing your membership and supporting our PACs, you are helping ensure that Osteopathic Medicine has a seat at the table. Together, we can protect what we’ve built, expand opportunities for those who come after us, and continue to deliver the highest standard of care to the communities we serve.
The 2026 AOA House of Delegates will be July 16 – 19 in Chicago. If you are interested in being considered as a Delegate to the AOA House of Delegates please learn more and apply here by December 1, 2025. All applicants will be reviewed by the MAOPS Leadership Development Committee and recommended to the MAOPS Board of Trustees for final election in February.