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Why and How to Get Involved With the American Physiological Society
Jane F. Reckelhoff, Ph.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Jane F. Reckelhoff, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William & Mary, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University in 1985. She did two postdoctoral fellowships, one at the University of Texas HSC in Dallas and the other at West Virginia University. In 1991 she received her appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Mississippi, followed by tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 1996 and full professor in 2001. She is the former Chair of the APS Women in Physiology Committee. She currently serves as one of APS' elected Councillors.
Why Should You Get Involved With APS?
As a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or junior faculty member, you may not think this is important, especially if you haven’t yet decided what area of research you plan to study or whether you will stay in academics or go to industry or some other non-traditional career. However, no matter your chosen career path or stage of your career, there are several reasons to be active with the APS that you should consider.
Develop a network of scientists
First of all, it is important to develop a network of scientists. It’s never too soon to get to know as many scientists as possible in your field or a field of your potential future interest. This will help you as you look for your next position, whether it will be to find a postdoctoral position in academics or industry or to begin a career (as a faculty member, in an industry position, or in another career choice). The APS is made up of more than 10,000 scientists, academicians, industry employees, and individuals who are members of many other careers and who are from the United States and around the world. You will get to know people at your same career stage and field of interest with whom you will likely come into contact frequently during your whole career. In addition, you will get to know other scientists who could become mentors and friends as you progress through your career life. Many promotion and tenure committees at universities require letters of recommendation from individuals at other institutions who know you and your work but are not your postdoctoral or predoctoral advisors. Junior investigators may not be thinking about promotions and tenure this early in their career. However, involvement in APS committee work could allow you to meet more senior individuals who could impact your career many years later and even provide these recommendations for your promotion and tenure packets.
Recommendation letters
Knowing investigators from around the world will be important as you go on to your next position, whether that be a postdoctoral position or a faculty position, a position in industry, or a non-traditional career choice. You will need recommendations for these positions, and meeting individuals who are also members of APS will give you something in common with them. These individuals will be more willing to write letters of recommendation if they know you and your work and can attest to the quality of your work. Furthermore, most awards given by APS or other societies require recommendation letters, and developing relationships with other scientists who know your work will help you when applying for these types of programs.
Grant funding success
Another reason is related to grant funding success. In case you haven’t noticed, obtaining grants is very competitive, regardless of whether the funding is from a national source, such as the NIH or NSF, or from a foundation, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Association or American Heart Association. This means that any advantage that one can have, in addition to being able to write a really great grant, could be helpful in getting funded. It is always helpful if your study section members know who you are, and your pedigree. This could put you in a more favorable funding bracket ahead of others with equally good grants. Do not underestimate the importance of your peers knowing who you are.
Have a voice in APS
A third reason to get involved with APS is that it allows you to have a voice in what the Society is doing. If there is an area of science (or politics) that you feel passionate about, whether it is advocacy or education, there is likely to be an APS committee that is devoted to that endeavor. Importantly, the APS has a Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC) that is made up of trainees appointed by the sections of the APS. In addition, most standing APS committees have positions for trainees, both postdoctoral and pre-doctoral candidates. Because APS is a society that is committed to mentoring, most section steering committees have positions for trainees, both postdoctoral and pre-doctoral students. In addition, there are often positions on section steering committees for junior faculty members.
Committees are fun!
Finally, getting involved and serving on APS committees is fun! While there will be work involved, you will have lots of fun interacting with other scientists. Seeing how different committees work will provide insight into how the APS works.
Things to Consider Before You Volunteer to Participate in APS Committees
This may seem like a strange paragraph to include in an article asking you to serve APS or any other society. There are many rewarding reasons to becoming involved in APS committees, as described in the previous section. However, there are two main conditions under which you should reconsider volunteering. The first reason not to get involved is if you simply want to “pad” your curriculum vitae. Being an active participant in a society means that you will be working on behalf of that society. If you are only volunteering because it looks good on your record, it will become apparent to others on the committee and at the APS, and you will be doing a disservice to the society and to yourself. This leads to the second reason. Because being active in a society requires work, it is important that when you volunteer you are committed to not only do the work of the committee to which you are assigned, but that you are able to do this in addition to, not in place of, the commitments that you already have as a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. Be honest with yourself about your reasons for volunteering and whether you can truly make the required commitment.
So How Do You Get Involved With APS?
The answer is to volunteer!
Volunteer for committees
This time of year, sections are calling for nominees to the various standing committees in the APS. The list is available online at www.the-aps.org/committees. This site has a list of committees, what the committee does in the Society, and what qualifications, if any, are necessary to be a member of the committee. There is also a list of current committee members. In addition, at this website, there is a nomination form, an endorsement form, and a list of positions available on committees for the upcoming year (click on www.the-aps.org/committees/nominate.htm). Fill out your Nomination Form, get an APS member to fill out the Endorsement Form on your behalf, and submit it to nominations@the-aps.org. Only 1 endorsement form should be submitted for each candidate form submitted. These forms are due in mid January (for 2013 committee appointments, the nominations/endorsements have to be in by January 17, 2012).
How does the process work? In early February, the Committee on Committees (CoC) receives a copy of all the candidate and endorsement forms to review. The CoC, which is comprised of one representative from each of the APS sections and chaired by one of the APS Councillors, meets on Saturday morning before the EB meeting begins. At this meeting, nominations are discussed for each committee, and the final slate of candidates for all committee vacancies is selected . The list of candidates is then submitted to Council for final approval. All nominees are notified in late May/early June regarding the status of their nomination. The committee assignments start on January 1 of the following year.
Volunteer with your section
Each section steering committee has a Trainee Advisory Committee member that sits on the APS society-wide TAC. Some sections even have their own trainee-organized subcommittee to involve more trainees. These section trainee-focused committees do all kinds of things for the section, such as monitor and update the Facebook and Twitter sites for the section, help plan trainee receptions and trainee abstract-driven awards sessions sponsored by the section. To be involved with your section, contact your section chair—if you don’t know who that is, look at the website at
www.the-aps.org/sections and click on your section. There is a link to the section steering committee members and the chair is listed there. Don’t be afraid to contact this person and volunteer.
Does It Cost?
If you’re worried about how much it costs to be on an APS committee, don’t! Pay your APS dues [graduate students: $10 for 1st year, $25 for subsequent years up to 5 years total; postdoctoral fellows: $77.50 (half of regular membership for 5 years)] to be a member of the Society. You will likely attend EB with your mentor (remember the travel and other awards that you could apply for from APS if you’re a member; more information about EB awards is available at this website: www.apsebmeeting.orgawards/index.htm). Most standing APS committees and sections have a face-to-face meeting at EB. If the committee meets again during the year, they will meet either by teleconference or by face-to-face, which is supported by the Society.
Make APS Your Scientific Home
The APS can be your scientific home throughout your career, and getting involved in the APS makes you an integral part of how your society works. So start thinking about the APS committees you would like to be nominated for next year. Who knows, you may someday be President of APS, and it starts by volunteering for a committee now!
Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge Drs. Michael Ryan, Barbara Alexander, and Christine Maric, from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, for careful reading and suggestions for this article.
Comments:
How to get involved? Belong to APS first of course!! However, my involvement with APS-TAC would never have happened had I not known someone already on TAC that was working in my PhD lab. He forwarded an email to me describing the opening for which he encouraged me to apply. But even without knowing someone, you still must take initiative to get involved and complete an application.
Why get involved? You can create network of physiology scientist professionals with whom you wouldn't ordinarily interact because most aren't even members of the APS section(s) to which you belong. So I know at least someone from every section now and have created good friendships with them. You learn how APS operates and get to contribute to it's operations directly by sitting on APS-TAC. Plus it is a foot in the door when running for future APS committee positions, because now people will know you. I also just enjoy contributing to the APS meetings via TAC in more ways than presenting research or going to talk/poster sessions. You get to help plan symposia, judge and run undergraduate poster competitions, and various other duties.
Aaron Bunker
Morningside College
This very nice article by Dr. Reckelhoff addresses an important issue of which many trainees are not aware. If you want to be a successful scientist, it is essential to make connections through societies such as APS. It is unfortunate that some mentors do not tell their students about this and encourage them to get involved. However, do not hesitate to become active in APS even if your mentor is not involved. You will meet other senior scientists who will become mentors to you as well, and also meet other students and trainees who will provide invaluable support, advice, and camaraderie. I speak from experience in that my activity in scientific societies opened many doors for me when looking for a postdoctoral and faculty position.
Sarah Lindsey
Wake Forest School of Medicine
This article by Dr. Reckelhoff is very informative, and has several pertinent points that students, postdocs, and early-career scientists will find helpful. I have been active in APS committees since I was a graduate student, and I have continued these efforts through my postdoctoral training and during my current faculty position. A substantial benefit of being involved in APS committees as a trainee is the chance to see how decisions about a scientific organization get made, along with playing an integral part in making those decisions. Another important benefit is the opportunity to meet other researchers, scientists, and applied professionals in the field of physiology. This is extremely helpful for several of the reasons that Dr. Reckelhoff mentioned - including the ability to be more visible in the field and opening up important networking opportunities. When applying for jobs and grants, comments on your work ethic and efforts outside of the laboratory will hold quite a bit of weight and can set you apart from other applicants. Finally, one of the most rewarding benefits of serving on an APS committee is the opportunity to feel like you are part of a scientific "family," and the friends and colleagues you make along the way can be an important source of social support and provide advice throughout your career.
Angela Grippo
Northern Illinois University
Dr. Reckelhoff's article about joining APS committees could have been written as a personal letter to me. I only wish I had checked the mail earlier! Her explanation of the reasons TO join, as well as reasons you should NOT join, are appropriate, informative, and accurate. The APS was the first professional society I joined, and EB was the first professional meeting I ever attended. I have retained my membership for nearly 15 years, but only recently has the APS become my "home" society. The network that I have been able to build through the APS has added breadth to both my professional and personal endeavors. My service to the APS is starting to increase, and I find it to be highly rewarding. Through this organization, I have been able to feed my interests in teaching and research, explore training and development issues, and to truly feel like I have a voice in the future of the society. I waited until I was a faculty member to join an APS committee, which was the right decision for me. However, I have seen students and postdocs contribute importantly and substantially as well, so if the time is right for you, go for it!
Kristin Gosselink
University of Texas, El Paso
If you're convinced of the merits of active APS membership, committee work is a logical next step, and many enthusiastic members are nominated for the various standing committees. Unfortunately, most are also discouraged when they are not appointed. It is only human to feel a bit rejected, but don't take it personally. Committee membership is very competitive. Moreover, the Committee on Committees must weight many factors when making its recommendations to Council. The secret to success is perseverance and continued interest. I was nominated for the Education Committee multiple times before I was finally appointed, and the satisfaction and experience of committee membership have been well worth the effort.
Thomas Pressley
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
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