Committee on Membership Update

The main mission for the SOCCA Membership Committee is to coordinate all membership activities for SOCCA. Our membership numbers and interest in SOCCA continue to grow. This interest and growth are a direct result of our members’ engagement and efforts to truly make this society desirable and valuable to each of the members and all of the Anesthesiology Critical Care community. This past year our focus was to launch a strategic structure realignment intended to better serve the members of SOCCA and the Anesthesiology Critical Care community with the goal of increasing engagement, diversity, and opportunities for members to contribute to the current and future of SOCCA. We established the following NEW subcommittees: Early Career Subcommittee; Physicians in Practice Subcommittee; Mentorship Subcommittee; Wellness Subcommittee; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee; Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows Subcommittee and the Women in Critical Care Subcommittee. Each of these subcommittees are in varying stages of development with the Early Career subcommittee being our first and most active subcommittee and our more recent additions being the Mentorship Subcommittee and the Women in Critical Care Subcommittee.  The leaders of these subcommittees have done a tremendous amount work this year to get these off the ground and active. We are in the process of solidifying the future leadership of these subcommittees. Once established, we will send a communication identifying the leadership of these subcommittees. Over the next year we will be spotlighting and updating the progress of each of these subcommittees in our communications, specifically the SOCCA Interchange. During this edition, Dr. Christopher Choi, Chair of the Medical Student, Resident and Fellow Subcommittee, has submitted an update on this subcommittee. Please be on the lookout for these communications. We are very excited about these changes and the work that the committee and subcommittees have done so far.

We have had quite the year and we are looking forward to the upcoming year! As chair and vice chair of the Membership Committee for the past two years, we have had the pleasure of working alongside of so many talented critical care anesthesiologists during our time as chair/vice chair for which we are grateful. We have learned a ton, met new members, grew the committee, and have had fun while doing it. We want to acknowledge all the hard work that each committee member has done to contribute to our growth and development. Thank you! As the year concludes, the terms of the Chair and Vice Chair end.  Dr. Alisha Bhatia will be assuming the role of Chair of the Membership Committee, while Dr. Suzanne Bennett will be transitioning to immediate past chair. Succeeding Dr. Alisha Bhatia in the Vice Chair role will be Dr. Jing Tao. We are thrilled to have several new members joining the committee and appreciative of the contributions of those transitioning off. We thank everyone for their hard work and contributions to our committee and society. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with you all under the new leadership over the years to come!

Authors

Suzanne Bennett, MD, FCCM

Chair, Membership Committee

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Alisha Bhatia, MD

Vice-Chair, Membership Committee

Rush University

Chicago, Illinois