As I read recently ASHP has reached 60,000 members. That is really an impressive number, but it made me think about how an organization can support the needs of all those members. As a very long-term member I have seen many changes over the years. For years ASHP was the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists. The name changed to reflect the change in the makeup of the organization. When the sections were originally added it was a way to help support the needs of the various members. The home infusion pharmacists campaigned for a section and The Homecare Section was added. The section even had a cute little house on display at the Midyear Clinical Meeting. The section was changed to the Section of Home, Ambulatory and Chronic Care Practitioners (SHACCP) and was affectionally referred to as “the hairball section.” One of the Section Advisory Groups was the Home Infusion SAG. Many home infusion members served on the Executive Board of the Section until the decision was made to rename the Section as the Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners. Support for home infusion decreased until the Home Infusion SAG was eliminated.
As a member of a professional organization what do you expect from the organization? What type of support do you want? If your specialty is small your percentage decreases as the number of members increases. At what point does the organization no longer want to use their resources to support your needs? How do they even know what your needs are when there is no longer a conduit? Pharmacy is much more diverse than in the past. Some of the pharmacists have no idea what other pharmacists do, and they really don’t care. If their needs are met, they don’t care about others.
Think about what you want from your professional organization and think how you can support your fellow pharmacists.