Current trends in surgical society membership: What does the future hold?

Abstract

Background: Motivations for joining and maintaining surgical society memberships include networking, educational, and social opportunities. We hypothesized surgeons have membership lapses despite these benefits. We aimed to assess society members motivations for joining, satisfaction with membership, any lapses and if so, reasons for these lapses.

Methods: A survey was sent via email to members of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), using society directories.

Results: The majority (60%) of respondents felt satisfied with membership. However, 68% reported a lapse in membership. The most common reason for lapse was cost, followed closely by time constraints.

Conclusion: Despite a high rate of member satisfaction, a majority of respondents had allowed a membership to lapse, with cost and time constraints being the most common reasons. Surgical societies should take these trends into account as they expand and recruit new membership.

Keywords: Benefits; Lapse; Membership; Surgical societies.