Often it’s all about timing. I joined AAP as an older person toward the end of my career. I was in practice with three presidents of the Academy and knew many AAP members from Atlanta. Surely finding a peer group would be easy. But I was in the Academy without a peer/family group for five lonely years before a group asked me to join them. From the outset, they defined themselves as “family group light,” only meeting at summer workshop. I pushed for more meeting time, but the culture was firmly established. I was glad to have a group, but I wanted a different experience. I left the group, expecting to find another group easily. I ate dinners with peer groups I liked, and always told a member that if there ever was an opening in their group, I’d like to be considered. When that never happened, I decided to examine the facts. I catalogued the AAP members not in peer groups over the years since 2010. I discovered that existing groups rarely have openings. Between 2013 – 2017, of 57 AAP members without groups, only six joined existing peer groups. To have the complete AAP experience I wanted, I needed to form a group or join a newly-forming group. I decided to join a new group in which I will be the oldest member by 12 years, at least. I will miss being with true peers who are dealing with health, retirement, etc., but I will be a part of the beginning of a family.
