Being in Washington has its advantages...

Say what you will about being in the craziness that is our Nation's Capital, but (living and) working in Washington, DC does have certain advantages that folks living in other parts of the country can only dream about... for example:

A couple weeks back I learned that Surgeon General Carmona would be speaking at a National Press Club (NPC) luncheon. The luncheons are frequently televised on the cable channel CSPAN. The NPC is about four blocks from my office. I sent an email and reserved a space at the luncheon and went. Not having heard the S.G. speak before it was a excellent opportunity to learn what his goals are and to hear them from his mouth and not some press release. It was also the chance to establish a personal connection with the man, not so much to make my case for the importance of diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea as the way to cure the ills of the nation... but close.

Moments like this do occur elsewhere in the country, just not as often and when they are four blocks away and they can benefit the cause... I will jump on them PDQ.

What will come of this opportunity is still be determined, but being able to say...you may remember me from the NPC luncheon earlier this month and I wanted to follow up on something you said... gives you a leg up for sure.

09/27/2006 - Update

I learned not too long after this presentation, Dr. Carmona stepped down as the Surgeon General - evidently he differing points of view on the question of tobacco with his boss - oh well. There seems to be some interest in S.G. office on the issue of sleep, now if we can only get them to focus on sleep apnea.