Membership Committee Update

As we approach the annual SOCCA meeting, it is a great time to reflect on the benefits of being a member of SOCCA. We, therefore, asked a few current SOCCA members why they belong and this is what we heard:

“I enjoy connecting with physicians who read and write the same literature that affects my patients. Hands down, I learn more at SOCCA than any other meeting”

“I belong to SOCCA because it’s the only organization specifically for critical care anesthesiologists. I think the content at the meetings tend to be the most relevant and it’s my favorite for see friends and colleagues”

“The small community and the meeting with good networking, support for fellows and expertise of members and topics”

“SOCCA are my people”

From these few statements it is easy to see a theme that is very important to SOCCA as an organization: community. Two of the three strategic goals for 2019-2021 are to sustain and grow membership and to foster and promote member engagement and contributions, which are essentially descriptions of ways to build up the SOCCA community. As the only society specific to critical care anesthesiologists and those interested in pursuing the field, our member number is in the hundreds rather than the thousands or tens of thousands. We would love to grow our membership as the specialty grows, but being on the smaller side allows some benefits. I remember when I attended my first SOCCA meeting in 2008 and how surprised I was that so many people knew each other and were using the time between presentations, at lunch and other social opportunities to network and plan collaborations for projects and research. I have always been impressed with the way that the concept of the SOCCA community influences the development of the annual SOCCA meeting program.

Other important reasons to be a member are related to some of the changes that SOCCA has made in the last few years and plan to make in the future. The restructuring of the newsletter with member highlights, research reviews and even wellness articles is adding great value for members. SOCCA has joined Social Media with their twitter handle @SOCCA_CritCare. This is a great way to keep members informed of hot topics and allows members to interact on a regular basis. More than ever before, members will have the ability to be involved. The education committee will be working on content to be provided throughout the year and not just at the meeting. The membership committee is planning on adding more members and working toward more opportunities to provide support and resources for members.

Author

Carlee Clark, MD

Medical University of South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina