How to Get Involved in ACOEM

From Your President:
Increasing the Value of Your ACOEM Membership

This is an exciting time for the College.  ACOEM is a healthy organization, with an active leadership, a wide range of volunteer activity, and influence on decision-makers.  The challenges facing us are about as great as they have ever been, but the College’s resources and capacity to make change happen has never been greater!

Why is this important?  It is important because, in my opinion, we are in a better position to create positive change in the field of occupational and environmental medicine than at any time in the last three decades.  Our field is showing a new vibrancy and revitalization, and it is an exciting time for you to deepen your involvement in the College.

We will now reveal the magic portals to the secret heart of the inner circle – or we would if there were any! The reality is a bit more mundane. There are many paths for a new member, or an established member who wishes to become more active, to become prominent and to contribute to leadership in the College.

They all have one thing in common, however, which we should emphasize before we begin: The College will not seek you out and pull you into the activities in which you wish to participate until it becomes aware of you and confident in your ability to deliver. After you achieve a certain level of recognition and then do something tangible, the College will call on you relentlessly and hardly leave you alone. So the first move is yours.

The first portal into the real organization is through the Sections. Within ACOEM, a Section has a defined role, perhaps best characterized as that of a special-interest affinity group. Sections run their own meetings, impose dues on themselves to fund projects of their choosing, and act like small societies within the College.

A member who gets involved and gets something constructive done may expect to progress to leadership of the Section. You will then have an opportunity to show what you can do with a budget, a membership list and a work plan. When a Section does something significant, like producing a document or guideline that is directly useful in its field, everyone in the Section benefits, especially those who created it. When the Section takes off, the leadership gets the credit and your efforts are recognized.

Another portal for members is appointment to a College committee or other College entity. Committees have restricted membership and serve a major role in preparing statements and policies for the College and managing important functions, such as publications. They are expected to be responsive to College requests and priorities. To a large for an elected office, which requires previous Board service.

Another important pathway to involvement in ACOEM is through the House of Delegates. The House is a relatively old institution within ACOEM (it began in the 1950s) and its role has been changing over the years. It can best be described today as an advisory body on policy that reflects the views of members, component society leadership and, most recently, Section leadership. Because the House is a deliberative body, gaining respect depends on demonstrating sound judgment and a constructive attitude.

Another path to involvement is through component societies. This pathway strengthens the College on the state and regional level. Component society leadership naturally leads to involvement with the House. The College's national leadership notices, admires, and appreciates success and innovation in component societies, especially when that success and innovation advances recognition and practice of occupational medicine at the local level.

Leadership in ACOEM

Of course, the more involved you are, the more valuable you will find your College membership because ACOEM is above all an interactive network. At some point, however, a member may find that he or she needs or wants to take the next step. At this stage you, the member, may have achieved something that you wish to become better known, to promote your professional services, to assert leadership in the field, or to grow as an individual.

ACOEM sponsors a Leadership Forum and other formal opportunities for leadership training, particularly at the Board level.