SOPT Advocacy

Every year since 2005, the AAP Section on Pediatric Trainees (SOPT) has implemented an advocacy campaign. The Section's Child Health Workgroup works closely with AAP staff to choose the campaign and to develop the materials and resources. The campaign kicks off at the SOPT Program at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in the fall each year.

Annual Advocacy Campaign 2025 - 2026: Myth Busters: Kids First, Facts Always

Why does SOPT conduct an annual advocacy campaign?
Every year, the Section on Pediatric Trainees (SOPT) organizes an advocacy campaign around a topic relevant to children’s health. The campaigns are designed and implemented by the Section’s advocacy campaign chairs, under the guidance of the SOPT Executive Coordinator of Child Health. The campaigns serve to educate medical students, residents, and fellowship trainees about the chosen topic, while introducing them to the many ways the AAP will help them advocate for children over the course of their careers. To accomplish these dual goals:

1. We guide our members in the development and implementation of advocacy projects using the AAP’s Community Pediatrics Training Initiative curriculum as a guide;
2. We connect our members with research and advocacy mentors through AAP sections, councils and committees;
3. We encourage trainees to apply for AAP funding to support their projects;
4. We involve our members in the review of the Academy’s policies concerning the annual topic;
5. We encourage our members to write resolutions to influence the Academy’s activities on the annual topic.

By using the annual campaigns as a vehicle to introduce these resources, we hope to encourage a lifetime of involvement in the AAP, and to make advocacy a central tenet of our members’ careers.

Overview of the Myth Busters: Kids First, Facts Always Campaign

2025 was a year filled with challenges for science and evidence-based treatments, and a rise in misinformation and mistrust of the medical system. As pediatricians, we are not new to advocating for our patients during periods of adversity and unprecedented times. This campaign was created to “Bust” all of the “Myths” that are currently going viral and spreading like wildfire, leading to a rise in preventable illnesses and children's morbidity and mortality. We intend for this campaign to reflect the loss of trust, the current predicament we face, and an opportunity for us to initiate the process of rebuilding and strengthening the physician-family-patient relationship. As pediatricians, we remain committed to putting our “Kids First, Facts Always”.

The campaign is divided into three trimesters, with a past, current, and future framework. The past will be covered regarding the history of mental health, the present with vaccine and medical management misinformation, and the future with preventing injuries.

Trimester 1: Mind Games from the Past: Mental Health

“Today's children and teens do not know a world without digital technology, but the digital world wasn't built with children's healthy mental development in mind."
- Dr. Sandy Chung, MD, FAAP, Former AAP President

• Focusing on the origins of stigma and myths toward pediatric mental health.
• Pediatric mental health has such a unique history and origin story intersected by children's rights, family hesitancy, and cultural beliefs—making it a challenge in an ever-growing society where at any given time, 13-20% of all children experience a mental health, emotional, and behavioral challenge.
• Myths include: the disbelief in pediatric mental health concerns or needs, children being seen as weak for having mental health struggles, and the idea that there are no effective treatments for pediatric mental health.
• This trimester will include a webinar to set the stage in the past by focusing on mental health stigma and the history of pediatric mental health. The second webinar will then work to equip trainees with ways to incorporate cultural humility and health equity with patients. There will be an ongoing 6-week campaign on Instagram throughout the trimester to highlight specific myths in each post. Lastly, the trimester will include a journal club and a mental health resource guide for each AAP district.

Trimester 2: Truth Goes Viral in the Present Day: Vaccines and Medical Management 
“I believe that misinformation is now our leading cause of death, and we must do something about it."
- US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, MD

• The modern era's use of the internet and social media apps has made the spread of medical misinformation challenging. With most people choosing to get their health information and advice from social media, it has added to the confusion about who the experts are and who should be trusted.
• Myths to debunk include vaccine ingredients and their side effects, newborn treatments such as vitamin K, the use of vitamin A in treating measles, and the effects of fluoride.
• Trimester 2 will aim to emphasize the current critical state of the U.S healthcare system by providing a talk with an infectious disease expert, a webinar panel centered on conversation strategies regarding vaccine hesitancy, a one-pager information sheet for each contested treatment, and weekly shareables.

Trimester 3: Always Preparing for the Future: Injury Prevention
"If a disease were killing our children at the rate unintentional injuries are, the public would be outraged and demand that this killer be stopped."
- C Everett Koop, MD, Former U.S. Surgeon General

• When a family thinks about leading causes of death in children and adolescents, most will say anything from genetic abnormalities, infectious causes, or566 cancer; however, the leading cause of death from ages 1-19 is actually accidents or unintentional injuries. Additionally, about 1 in 5 child deaths is a result of unintentional injury.
• Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal pediatric injury for all ages, accounting for a large percentage of children taken to emergency rooms.
• With the overarching myth being that injuries are accidents and, therefore, not preventable, this trimester will take a deep dive and provide safety practices for infant suffocation, motor vehicle crashes, drowning, poisoning, and firearms.
• The final trimester will close out the campaign by focusing on safety and preventive strategies that allow children to live longer lives. There will be a webinar from a pediatrician with experience in advocating for safer policies on multiple governmental levels, potential collaboration with T4CIP's spring day of action, involvement in AAP's legislative advocacy day, social media blast, and amplifying AAP's TIPP (The Injury Prevention Program) handouts. 

To learn more, visit the SOPT Advocacy Campaign Members-Only page, and check out the SOPT Calendar on the SOPT Members-Only Home Page for events and deadlines (AAP login required). If you would like to get more involved in this campaign, please fill out the SOPT contact us form.