The 2020 DO Day will take place on Tuesday, March 17th and Wednesday, March 18th. This is an exciting opportunity for DOs and osteopathic medical students to come to Washington, D.C. to educate Members of Congress and their staff about the osteopathic profession and the importance of osteopathic medicine. Participants will also engage with lawmakers and ask them to support legislation that is vital to the practice and principles of osteopathic medicine.

DO Day Agenda
Registration, advocacy training, and issue briefings are tentatively scheduled to begin the afternoon of Tuesday, March 17th. Registered participants are strongly encouraged to attend the training on Tuesday. If you are unable to attend on Tuesday, you will need to arrive no later than 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning, March 18th.

On Wednesday, March 18th, the day will begin with a breakfast briefing that includes presentations by guest speakers on how to best communicate with Members of Congress, and a brief recap of the issues you will be discussing and the importance of representing the osteopathic profession on Capitol Hill. Following the morning briefing, you will go to Capitol Hill with your colleagues to meet with your Congressional representatives throughout the day. DO Day activities and Congressional meetings will conclude no later than 7:00 pm EST on Wednesday, March 18th.  

A tentative agenda can be found here.

Enhanced Experience
Like last year, the AOA is continuing the upgraded DO Day on Capitol Hill experience by providing a more robust training platform, a real-time mobile tool, additional meetings with lawmakers, and a team of your colleagues to help guide you throughout the day.

DO Day Hotel Information
The AOA has reserved a block of rooms at the JW Marriott that can be reserved at a discounted rate of $382 per night. The hotel is located at 1331 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC. You may reserve your room here.

DO Day FAQ
Q.) Do I make my own appointments?
A.) No, we will handle that for you. The AOA’s Public Policy team will match your address (where you are registered to vote) against our congressional database to request appointments with your elected officials.

Q.) Do I register with my COM or home address?
A.) Please register for DO Day with your home voting address and not your COM. Members of Congress are elected to represent the people who live within their specific district or state – their constituents. Many of them will only meet with their actual constituents. Prior to scheduling your appointments, we verify the address you provided is where you are registered to vote.

Q.) Will I meet my member of Congress personally?
A.) Possibly, but this varies from meeting to meeting. Members of Congress have very busy schedules. Between votes, committee hearings and meetings with other constituents, their time is scheduled down to the minute. They may spend the whole meeting with you, two minutes with you, or none at all. We always request that the member of Congress be present at the meeting.

Learn More

Taking the time to participate in DO day helps demonstrate the profession’s commitment to protecting and preserving the cornerstones of osteopathic medicine, while also strengthening our community’s voice. If you have any questions, please reach out to Sean Neal at sneal@osteopathic.org. Also, feel free to explore our FAQ page to learn more about event requirements and logistics. We hope to see you at DO Day 2020!