In August 2008, our Membership Committee conducted a survey to understand membership composition, assess member satisfaction, and explore topics for future membership development. A total of 394 invitations (347 e-mails and 47 mail-in surveys) were sent, and 128 members responded (32 percent). With this limitation in mind, here are some interesting results.

Who are our members?

1. 63 percent were regular members, 17 percent were retired members, and 12 percent were student members.
2. Seventy-two percent were female, 40 percent were between the age of 40-59, 32 percent were 60+, 28 percent were under 40.
3. Seventy-one percent Caucasians, 11 percent Asians, 8 percent African Americans, 6 percent Hispanics.
4. Fifty-four percent have academic doctorate degrees, 34 percent have Masters’, 8 percent have clinical or practitioner doctorate degrees.
5. Forty-three percent work in higher education institutions, 7 percent work in federal/state/local government, 6 percent work in research institutes, 8 percent work as health care service providers.
6. Ninety-one percent said GH is their primary or only affiliation.
7. Top six concurrent professional organizations: GSA (71 percent), ASA (35 percent), AcademyHealth (20%), AGHE (15 percent), NCA (14 percent), and AGS (11 percent).

Satisfaction with the Section:

1. Sixty-nine percent were satisfied or extremely satisfied, 28 percent were neutral, and 3 percent (4) were dissatisfied.
2. Fifty-four percent rated the GH scientific sessions as above average or excellent.

Use of GHS resources:

1. Only 69 percent were on the listserv; 61 percent read the newsletters on a regular basis.
2. Twenty-six percent didn’t attend any annual meetings during the past five years. Twenty percent attended only one.
3. Eighty-five percent usually make the decision of attending/not attending at least two months ahead of the meeting.

Preferences for future activities:

1. Twenty-seven percent were not involved in any of the committees but said they are interested in participation.
2. Learn the latest knowledge, networking, learn about research methods, learn about job opportunities, participating in leadership activities, and receiving GH newsletters are considered very important in the decision of remaining a member.
3. Eighty-eight percent preferred e-mail as the form of communication. 

As the chair of the Membership Committee, I would like to thank all members who took the time to complete the survey, and all committee members who helped putting the survey together. In the future, we would like to hear from more of you because your active participation and input will maintain the growth of the Section in the years to come!

For those of you who had indicated in the survey that you were interested in participating in Section activities, I would like to invite you to join the Membership Committee. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hongdao “Daniel” Meng

Assistant Professor

Department of Preventive Medicine

Stony Brook University Medical Center

HSC, Level 3, Room 071

Stony Brook, NY 11794-8338

E-mail: hongdao.meng@stonybrook.edu

Phone: (631) 444-7281