Share your success: Tips from our recruiters, January 2008

I tell physicians that "No specialty society can be as strong and effective as the AMA." -- Walter Matern, MD

To get new AMA members, I find medical staff meetings are the best place to begin. I speak at every medical staff meeting and will soon begin speaking at surrounding hospitals. It is a unique opportunity for a ten-minute presentation about the latest in organized medicine and medical politics. I have found the AMA and my state society are helpful in provding the most up-to-date information for this presentation.

I leave AMA applications and advocacy cards on the tables. It is also an opportunity to hand out grassroots hotline cards. -- Michael B. Simon, MD

To get new AMA members, one-on-one conversations are the most effective. Lately, we are also giving short presentations to the hospital medical staff meetings. -- Stewart Barlow, MD

Where I think most of can use more help is in follow-up to new members. Newer AMA members are the most vulnerable. If those members do not receive follow-up and are not made to see the value in their investment, there is a high probability that they will not renew.

I am proposing that we compile a list of all members who have joined in the last 3 years and distribute to a recruiter in their area who can then make contact with them. This will help promote a personal relationship and make members aware of what the society is doing. -- Michael B. Simon, MD