Message from the President
Get Involved in SCCM!
Philip S. Barie, MD, MBA, FCCM
Professor of Surgery and Public Health
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York, New York, USA
The Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) 37th Critical Care Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a tremendous success by every measure. Nearly 6,000 professionals, exhibitors, and others attended, breaking attendance records. Record numbers of abstracts were reviewed, accepted and presented. Scientific sessions were of high quality and very well attended, despite the glorious venue and minor competition on Sunday from a certain football game contested between teams that call East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Foxboro, Massachusetts, home. Many also enjoyed SCCM’s opening reception, a fabulous party with live music and fireworks right on Waikiki Beach, and others journeyed to Kauai for an equally successful post-Congress symposium on glycemic control and metabolic regulation.
My presidential address, Thoughts on Preparation: Thinking About the Unthinkable, was abstracted in my last column in the February 2008 issue of Critical Connections. The positive feedback I have received about my address and my column – to look forward and imagine the unimaginable so as to be prepared for anything, come what may – has been most gratifying. If you were unable to attend Congress and would like to see my address, visit the Annual Congress section of www.sccm.org. My address, along with all the keynote presentations, are posted in the Plenary Sessions section.
Sometimes we look forward by looking back. I have been a proud member of SCCM for more than 20 years, and part of the senior leadership and governance of the organization for more than 12 years. When I joined SCCM in 1987, I had just passed my boards in surgical critical care, offered for the first time that year (I have certificate number 27). The organization was little more than 20% of its present size in terms of the number of members, and it was difficult to envision how critical care and SCCM would look 20 years later. But, look forward we did. We came to realize that volunteers are crucial to the success of SCCM.
My own story of how I became involved in SCCM may be of interest. I answered an advertisement in the SCCM newsletter for volunteers to serve on the Membership Committee. At the time, a colleague from my residency at Cornell University, Joseph Parrillo, MD, FCCM, was the SCCM secretary and Membership Committee chair. I was appointed to the committee and began not only my service to SCCM, but also my introduction to “how SCCM works.” The Society was a much smaller organization then without the staff professionals who now support us. Committee members had to devise and execute their own strategies for membership recruitment and retention, while also increasing member participation in committees and elections. The work was important to me personally, as it represented my first national committee assignment. I gained valuable insight into the function of the organization and reported information to the Surgical Section. I was introduced to the section leaders through the assistance I provided to the section’s own recruitment and retention efforts. An opportunity later arose for leadership within the section, and I eventually ran successfully for SCCM Council as an at-large candidate after being nominated by the Surgery Section. I was reelected at-large and re-elected again to the surgery designated seat (once that had come into being). Along the way, I became so interested in the management of not-for-profit organizations that I went to business school in 2001, obtaining a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 2003. “B-school” gave me new skills in accounting, finance, marketing, operations management, and strategic planning that were put to good use on SCCM’s behalf. I served a two-year stint as chair of SCCM’s Strategic Planning Committee and served on the Headquarters Relocation Task Force before becoming a member of the Executive Committee when I was elected SCCM treasurer in 2005.
The Society is a large and complex organization, serving the needs of a diverse membership. Along the way, I accepted every opportunity to serve SCCM because I believe in the organization, its vision, its mission and its goals. I also accepted every opportunity SCCM provided me to learn about the organization and become a leader, which fortunately were many (17 committees and task forces over 20 years). Consider the themes brought forward in the preceding two paragraphs: ambition, initiative, vision, mentorship, preparation, dedication, and hard work resulted in opportunity. Opportunity begat success. The same is true today.
Not everyone can become an SCCM Council member or officer, nor will everyone have the time or inclination to obtain an MBA degree. However, that does not mean that you cannot participate or lead within SCCM (or within your workplace organization, for that matter). It is easy to get involved within SCCM, even if you don’t yet have someone to mentor you. All you need is your own initiative. If you would like to join the Creative Community in Critical Care and are interested in working on a committee or task force, start by taking the essential first step of visiting the Membership section of www.sccm.org before May 15, 2008. Complete the online volunteer application form, listing your interests and special skills (e.g., experience in education or finance). President-elect Mitchell Levy, MD, FCCM, will consider your request carefully when assigning committee appointments this summer. Everyone who applies will be accommodated, but first-timers probably shouldn’t expect to be assigned to the Program Committee or the Finance Committee! Choice assignments to mission-critical committees are awarded by necessity to individuals with knowledge of the organization and a track record of productivity.
Once you have your committee assignment, show up (80% of success, according to Woody Allen) and do the work; recognition will come your way. Your committee chair will become your mentor and may recommend you for bigger and better things! You can adopt a similar strategy to become involved in your chapter or section, where applications are not even needed. Show up and make yourself useful! As an organization, SCCM needs you. We cannot function without everyone’s effort to move the organization forward. Professional satisfaction, knowledge of SCCM, networking opportunities, and career advancement will be your rewards.
