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AME RIC AN AS S O C I ATI O N O F P H Y S I C I S TS I N M E D I CI N E We advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics
AAPM Column VOLUME President’s 37 NO. 5
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
AAPM President’s Column Gary A. Ezzell, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale
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ow do we spend our money? Wisely or wastefully? On things that matter or things that don't? Those are important questions, and I believe that the upcoming membership vote on the proposed dues increase is a referendum on decisions that AAPM leadership has made in the past and can be expected to make in the future. The incremental change, $100/year for a full member, is not large, less than 0.1% of a typical salary, but people expect value for their money. So, does AAPM provide value, and what additional value will come with the added income? And can the leadership be trusted to make good decisions? First, to the leadership question. AAPM is quite different from our sister medical societies like ASTRO and RSNA. Ours is a highly participatory, bottom-up organization, with a very large, representative Board. The Board is not a rubber stamp; Board operations have evolved over the past few years to make sure of that, with the latest change being the creation of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board. AAPM is most emphatically not a back-room operation. As AAPM President I have almost no "power", other than that of persuasion. Decisions about big funding allocations are made by the full Board. So when the Board votes to recommend a dues increase and to decide how money should be allocated, you can be sure that the issues have been carefully and comprehensively discussed. AAPM is representative democracy in action. That is no guarantee of collective wisdom, but it is the best system out there. Does AAPM provide value? AAPM is our tool for working together collectively and sharing information. For the past 50+ years, volunteers have been producing task group reports that most of us use routinely. Our meetings and publications provide venues for scientific exchange and continuing education. Are Medical Physics and JACMP valuable? Do you need SAM for maintaining certification? Do you need a virtual library with online resources? AAPM is not only how we talk to each other, but how we speak with one voice to others that matter: to regulators, to payors, to other professional organizations. We work with CRCPD to write suggested state regulations; we collaborate with ACR on technical standards; we work with CMS on the valuation of the 77336 code used in therapy. And by "we", I mean the 20% of the membership who actively volunteer. That is a very high percentage for a professional society, but that means that 80% create cooperative value indirectly by supporting the organization financially. So, specifically where does AAPM need to focus resources? We are ramping down the efforts on licensure, which
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