AsMA News

President’s Page

February 2012
by Fanancy Anzalone, M.D., M.P.H.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” —Robert Frost

This month I will introduce you to another group of members that over their lifetime with our association has reached the pinnacle of our membership. I was honored to become a member of this illustrious Fellowship in 2000 following 16 years as a member of AsMA, which included 8 years as an Associate Fellow. The relationships developed within this group have been extremely rewarding and many dear friendships have been formed.

Fellows of the AsMA
Fellows are selected from among those active members who have made outstanding contributions to aerospace medicine, aeronautics, astronautics, undersea medicine, or environmental health, either in research, in the practical usage of research, or by precept and example. To be eligible the nominee must be a member of AsMA for at least 7 years. Nominations for Fellowship may be made only by Fellows who are active members. For further inquiries, contact George K. Anderson, M.D. (Chair).

Process to Become a Fellow
Candidates for nomination to the grade of Fellow are recommended by individual Fellows or by the Associate Fellows Group leadership. The Fellows Evaluation Committee manages the “points system” by which candidates for nomination to Fellow are evaluated. Each candidate provides personal professional information by responding to a Fellows Evaluation Committee-generated questionnaire. That Committee scores the candidates and presents them to the Fellows Nominating Committee in a format that includes their scores and biographical information.

The Fellows Nominating Committee confidentially reviews the candidates for nomination and formulates the slates of nominees for election each year. The election of new Fellows takes place at the Annual Fellows Group Meeting, and a report of the outcome is included in the Meeting Minutes.

The election process follows an annual cycle and is complex. However, the pathway to becoming a Fellow is relatively easy to navigate. The key to success is to be involved. Assuming that they are active participants in Association activities, AsMA members should apply to become Associate Fellows once they have been members for 5 years. Members build a record of service by volunteering for committee duty, attending annual meetings, publishing papers, giving presentations, and pursuing the full spectrum of opportunities to take part in Association activities. Each member’s contributions over the years are reflected in the point score that is eventually determined during the Fellows election process.

The election of each class of new Fellows was considered by many members to be governed by organizational politics in times past. The Fellows Group, which elects each class of new Fellows, made a determined effort to put an objective process in place to ensure that all worthy candidates can be recommended and properly evaluated. The internal workings of the Fellows Group Committees must be confidential because personal information is used, but the election process itself is not secretive. Information on each candidate’s professional qualifications is provided by the individual member, and each candidate is scored by more than one reviewer. It is impossible to completely eliminate political factors in any organization, but this election process was structured to avoid political agendas.

The best advice to members seeking to become a Fellow is to have a long-term view of AsMA membership and to participate in Association activities. Election to Fellow will come in due time for those members who attend meetings, deliver professional presentations, submit articles for publication, serve on committees, and become Associate Fellows. Being recognized by election to Fellow is a wonderful feature of a career in our professional domains.

In my opinion, one of the most significant contributions of the Fellows is providing the AsMA Fellows Scholarship ($2,000). It is given annually to an AsMA member who is a student in an aerospace medicine residency program, graduate program in aerospace medicine (Masters or Ph.D.), medical certificate or aerospace diploma course, or in a full-time education/training program in the allied fields such as nursing, physiology, human factors, psychology, ergonomics, engineering, etc. Selection criteria include delivering a slide or poster presentation as a first author at an AsMA Annual Scientific Meeting and then publishing a manuscript as first author in the Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine journal that is based on the same topic and/or material covered in the slide or poster presentation delivered at the AsMA meeting. All AsMA members whose abstracts are accepted for presentation at the next AsMA meeting will receive detailed information on eligibility criteria and the application process (including an application form). For detailed information about this scholarship please contact Peter B. Mapes, M.D., M.P.H.

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, you can reach me at president@asma.org or call me at 786-338-8777.