From networking opportunities to new innovation seminars, professional spine and orthopedic societies have much to offer their members, but joining can come at a steep cost.
With a wide range of societies to choose from, from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons to the North American Spine Society or the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, membership can become costly.
Lali Sekhon, MD, PhD, a spine surgeon at Reno (Nev.) Orthopedic Center, told Becker's that he has spent over $150,000 on the approximately 10 societies he was a member of.
Now, as the opportunities provided by these societies are becoming available online and at a lower cost, Dr. Sekhon is dialing back his memberships.
Dr. Sekhon spoke with Becker's about the pros and cons of professional society membership in 2024, and what societies need to do to get and retain younger surgeons.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Q: What are the pros you have found to being a member of various professional societies throughout the course of your career? Cons?
Dr. Lali Sekhon: Society membership was valuable when I finished my fellowships in 2000. Over the past 25 years, I’ve probably paid more than $150,000 in dues from my own pocket and several fold for meeting attendances. Some societies are obligatory and others are optional. The goals have always been camaraderie, sharing of knowledge, updates, seeing new technologies, networking and collegiality. A lot has changed in those 25 years, and most of it has been digital. During COVID-19, many physicians realized the advantages of not attending meetings, which essentially improved work/life balance, saved money and still allowed people to obtain a lot of these goals. In 2024, for private practice physicians the obvious cons are membership and annual meeting costs. There are also opportunity costs of what else you could do with your time and money. Added to this the plethora of meetings, mostly centered around spring and fall, with attendance to more than one or two just not practical. The goals of networking and seeing new technologies can be done now by anyone who has access to a browser. Networking has evolved. Camaraderie is probably more a local and online phenomenon, but if surgeons attend just one larger meeting, it can be attained. Times have changed, and with it have the demands and desires of potential members. I’ve pared my society memberships from about 10 down to about four. I did not renew twp per year for the last three years and frankly, it’s liberating. I will attend the bigger meetings, but a lot of my goals aside from networking can be attained virtually.
Q: What do professional medical/spine societies need to do to encourage the next generation of surgeons to want to become active members?
LS: 1. Reduce membership dues.
2. Consolidate meetings —ideally one big West Coast and one big East Coast [meeting] per year.
3. Provide more value. If you attend a meeting apart from the $700-$1,100 registration, one has to then pay for every pre-meeting course, every breakfast and lunch seminar.
4. [Pay attention to] location — West Coast [members] hate [attending] East Coast meetings and vice-versa.
5. [Schedule] weekend meetings — less time out of our practice.
The big question is how many societies do we really need? Important functions like advocacy and representation still need to be served, but in spine do we really need a dozen societies for 5,000 U.S. spine surgeons? I’ve seen younger partners forgo most memberships. Just like the Elk Clubs: "Draw members or face extinction."
While membership is on the decline for several professional spine and orthopedic societies, major association players, including the North American Spine Society, are discovering ways to evolve to meet the needs of a modern physician workforce.
"Like many medical associations, NASS has experienced a slight decline in membership as well as attendance at in-person events as a result of healthcare professionals' change in priorities during this post-pandemic period. With the increased workloads of their practices, spine professionals have less time to devote to association-related activities. To serve their needs, NASS has developed more online learning and collaborative opportunities for them to share spine education, research and information about innovative technologies," Zoher Ghogawala, MD, president of NASS, told Becker's. "NASS has also enhanced its annual meeting education program by focusing on content that attracts more in-person meeting participation by providing more opportunities for collaboration, discussion and debate on research, techniques and technologies. An additional new meeting will be launched in 2025 focusing solely on innovation in spine, bringing together spine professionals and industry to collaborate on the future of spine care. Additionally, NASS has placed a greater emphasis on developing and implementing programs and resources for residents, fellows and early-career spine professionals to be a critical part of their life-long learning process. NASS continues to evolve to meet the professional needs and demands of its members as well as to maintain its position as the premier and "go-to" association for spine professionals."