Security

Be on time! Be sure to arrive 20-30 minutes prior to your appointment to allow sufficient time to pass through security and find your way to the location for your meeting. During peak periods, security lines may continue out of the building door, and it may take 5-10 minutes to clear security. Please be prepared to remove your coat, belt, watch, and shoes if required. You must also empty your pockets of any change.

Office Location

There are wall maps located throughout the Capitol complex. Don’t hesitate to ask someone for directions if you need help.

Arriving at the Office

Please have business cards available to give to the staff assistant who greets you. Keep introductions to a minimum when you sit down with the staffer. Don’t be alarmed if the staffer you meet with is different from the one you have been told – substitutions are frequent due to scheduling demands.

Quick Tips to Remember for Your Meeting

1. Be flexible. The topics you want to discuss may or may not be priority issues to a particular member. Let the staffer’s interests guide the conversation. Staffers have varying levels of knowledge about PAs and how they fit in as primary care clinicians, so you may be able to educate them.

2. Show them the data. Staffers are hungry for research.

3. Bring concrete suggestions.

4. Don’t be intimidated. You are a constituent and your member of Congress wants to know what your concerns are. Constituent visits to the Hill are typically scheduled for 10-15 minutes. Although this may not be enough time to cover everything you would like to discuss, remember that you are building a relationship with your member’s staff, and you will have other opportunities to visit and contact them in the future. If you don’t know the answer to a question, you can provide the answer in a follow up email.

5. Be sure to visit all of your representatives, regardless of their party affiliation. Your representatives are interested in hearing from you and knowing your views.

6. It’s your visit. This is your time to share your knowledge as a PAEA educator. PAEA’s director of government relations is there to support you and provide follow-up, but is not a constituent. It’s your job to deliver the message.

7. Remember to leave any materials you brought for the staffer.

8. Don’t forget to send a thank you note or email after your meeting. Follow up with any information you have promised.

9. Let the PAEA director of government relations know if there is any follow for government relations, research, or any other PAEA department.