One of the most powerful assets of a PA is our flexibility and adaptability. Our primary care training alongside the ability to practice in any medical specialty is truly unique. We are the "stem cell" of medical professionals, and PAs practicing to the top of their scope offer solutions to many of the systemic issues that plague our challenged healthcare system. Yet as we are all aware, we're not always practicing to the top of our scope. Due to unnecessary barriers, and despite our best efforts, we are often underutilized as clinicians. Our continued efforts to advance our profession and practice to the top of our scope are imperative and will lead to better outcomes for patients and the healthcare system at large. Each and every PA bears this responsibility.

The good news is that things are trending in a positive direction nationally. As we strive to advance our profession toward Optimal Team Practice (OTP), we can point to five states (Iowa, Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, and Montana) taht have achieved it. Many more states have current legislative efforts to achieve OTP in their current legislative session and several will, no doubt, be successful. PAs in Oregon are now officially Physician Associates per state law and Michigan may be next.

Yet our professional privilege is simultaneously as stable as it is tenuous. To quote Ed Howard, our lobbyist, "Everything you do, your professional dignity, and every dollar you earn can be traced back to a word in a law that was passed in Sacramento." In other words, our ability to practice medicine, our scope, and even our title, are dependent upon and bound to past and current legislative efforts. It's a double-edged sword. While Senate Bill 697 was a sea change in advancing PA practice across California, every year CAPA actively opposes bills that would dilute, hinder, and destabilize our profession.

Research supports our advocacy. PAs deliver high-quality care, with safety and outcomes on par with physicians, and our patients love us. Removing unnecessary administrative ties to physicians does not result in increased risks to patients' safety or malpractice claims.

Fellow PAs, it's not a matter of if we achieve OTP and title change in California, it's when. If you are reading these words than you are crucial to the timing of our success. As we stand on the shoulders of the giants of our profession, to whom we owe so much, we must continue to push onward. We need you to spread the word, advocate for our profession, share your passion, and drive change. We need all hands on deck and more CAPA members. The future is exciting for us, and CAPA is leading the charge.

It's truly my honor to serve as President for the next year. I, and the rest of CAPA's board, leadership, committee chairs, and members, along with our Executive Director, Teresa Chien, and the rest of CAPA's staff will be looking for every opportunity while tackling every potential challenge to our critical work. We will be attending the PAB meetings to provide CAPA's perspective on regulatory issues, and we will be meeting with legislators to outline all of the benefits of our profession and highlight how our efforts matter to patients across California.

And let's be clear, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the patients. We chose this profession and we guard and advocate for this profession because what we do matters. We go to work every day to save, change, and better lives. Let's work together to make sure that we can continue to do so.