Please vote to confirm these candidates.

Board elections are held each year for open positions on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MNAAP) and the Board of the Minnesota Academy of Pediatrics Foundation (MAPF).

MNAAP represents over 1,000 pediatricians and trainees in Minnesota and is a trusted voice on children's health issues at the Capitol.

Currently, the chapter is seeking to fill 1 board member opening for pediatricians or pediatrician specialists who want to help advance the chapter's mission of improving the health of all Minnesota children. 
Ballots are due Oct. 6, 2023. Thank you in advance for your vote and any comments you have. Please include your AAP member number or last name to validate your vote as required by our Bylaws.

Ballot names appear in alphabetical order. An interest statement provided by each candidate is included below the listing. Click “Done” at the bottom of the page to submit your ballot.

To view a list of current board members, visit http://www.mnaap.org/board-members
Interest Statements Provided by Candidates
Manika Bhateja, MD, FAAP - M Health Fairview

My family immigrated from India in early 90’s to Minnesota. Adjusting to a new culture was hard as a child, but also a blessing for my personal development. As I grew up and went to medical school, Pediatrics was the #1 thing on my list—not to do!

However, I found the preventative aspect of the field hopeful and became a natural child advocate without consciously realizing it. Further, volunteering as an AIDS counselor in India and working with children in Africa, I realized the large gap in evidence-based pediatric care worldwide.

Over the last 10 years of practicing, my passion for advocacy has grown. From developing a Pediatric curriculum for the UIC Family Medicine Residency Program to helping create a Sensory Center for autistic children of the community, I have continued to passionately serve the needs of children.

I find that being involved in a leadership position at various levels (locally, as a Medical Director with M Health Fairview, in the community with Little Moments Count, and hopefully at the state level with MNAAP) allows me to make a chance at a larger scale. After coming to Minnesota as a child, living in various states and ending full circle back here, I hope that I can further my advocacy work in my ‘home state’ for children of all ethnic backgrounds.  
Dale Dobrin, MD, FAAP - Retired; South Lake Pediatrics 

• Why you would like to serve on the MNAAP Board of Directors; Retired pediatricians are not represented on the board, and my experiences with Doctors for Early Childhood (www.doctorsforearlychildhood.org) gives me a particular window on practice and on racial and equity issues.

• What aspect of your identity is important to you and that you would like others to know; my main difference from current board members is that I have always been in independent practice. I have been the titular President of South Lake Pediatrics, but have also had medical director and other administrative responsibilities over the years. I saw patients at SLP, of which I was a founder, from 1974 until early 2020. I have been on other boards and standing committees – mostly of health plans and hospitals.

• How do you see yourself being able to help our board become more diverse and move our chapter's anti-racism and equity work forward; and – I am in favor of diversity, anti-racism, and equity; with 3 others I founded Doctors for Early Childhood, an education and advocacy organization in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder in 2020. I am a member of the chapter’s Early Childhood Work Group, and D4EC worked to have the chapter elevate early childhood care and learning to a top priority which it will be through 2024. Other than being Jewish, I am not a member of a minority or marginalized group. That said, a good deal of the work of early childhood is to see that marginalized children and groups (BIPOC) have the same opportunities as the more well-off.

• What special expertise/skills/interests would you bring to the Board if elected? This may not be a skill or area of expertise, but I am impatient about correcting injustices and inequities.

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* 1. Board Candidate(s) - Select One

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* 2. This ballot is confidential. Your name or member number is required to ensure election integrity according to the organization's Bylaws. Please provide your name or AAP number. 

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* 3. Do you have other nominees for Board positions that should be forwarded for consideration for 2024-25?

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