The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology is more than 6,000 members strong, and we’re proud that so many of you are part of our community. Do you ever stop and think about what your College membership means?
Two words come to mind when thinking about community: affinity and identity. Attend the ACAAI annual meeting, a College webinar or committee meeting, and you witness the affinity – a natural liking, agreement and connection – members have for each other. Members genuinely respect each other, regard other’s opinions highly and value each other’s expertise in A/I. As practicing allergists, we all share the connection of a common goal – to provide the best care for our patients. The College wants to help allergists to be able to reach this goal.
The College helps define our collective identity, who we are as a group and what we stand for as an organization. We’re an association of practicing allergists striving for the best patient care. We do this through advocacy, education, communication, volunteerism and more.
Committees are examples of the College community at its core. Committee members come together to work on projects to respond to emerging issues facing our specialty and develop resources that best meet the needs of the allergist community. No matter your interest, you’ll likely find a committee that would benefit from your expertise. Applications for 2022- 2023 committees are being accepted now.
An important part of a vibrant community is hearing the voices of its members and being responsive to issues that arise. Every two years the College sends out a survey to members and asks for input on programs, goals, resources and initiatives. The College uses responses from the member survey to develop programs that meet members’ practice and professional needs. The 2022 survey just wrapped up and the College will report on the findings after the data is analyzed.
One of the most personal member benefits is DocMatter, a secure forum for allergists to discuss clinical and practice related challenges they are facing. Since the College launched DocMatter in 2019, there have been hundreds of discussions on issues ranging from COVID-19 vaccines to immunological conditions, biologics, asthma, urticaria and more. This private community is for the College’s physician members only and thousands of members participate. Conversations on DocMatter happen every day. Members share an experience with a patient or ask a clinical question and invariably get quite a few comments and answers in response.
Your College membership provides a wealth of great resources for free or at minimal charge. In the Practice Management Center, members can access 22 toolkits with resources on clinical issues, coding, running a practice, community outreach and more – at no charge. The toolkits explore each topic in depth and provide practical resources that members can use in their practices. Members can take a brief assessment quiz and find out which practice areas need improvement, then get recommendations and links to College resources that help fill in the gaps.
Education is on the top of many members’ lists of priorities. With your College membership, you can attend the Annual Meeting at a discounted rate, attend free webinars on trending subjects and access the College Learning Connection (CLC), our portal to continuing education opportunities. The CLC has hundreds of courses, modules, parameters, and archived webinars available for members’ education and to get CME – at no charge or at a nominal cost.
The College wants you to get the most out of your career as an allergist and immunologist. Coming soon is a new member benefit that will offer employment contract negotiation services to members at a reduced rate. If you’re looking for a new opportunity, access our Career Center for a list of openings available.
I’m proud of the community the College strives to nurture. Your College membership provides many opportunities to benefit from the ACAAI community. I encourage you to explore the many resources your membership brings to you for professional and personal enhancement.
