What’s appealing about AADE membership to you?
I’ve given this some thought recently and over my time of being involved with the Massachusetts Chapter, but also as a member of several other national professional organizations. I think it’s an important question because any membership requires some of our money and potentially our time. We want to give time and energy to things that give the most back to us and seem valuable to us.
My intention in writing this blog is to give you an idea of what I found inspiring about being an MA-CB member but also to challenge you to think about your membership- is it valuable to you? What do you appreciate most about it? What more could the organization provide to you?
I began thinking about this as the board has had discussions about how to best serve and provide value to our members. I have thought about what I get out of AADE.
I joined the local chapter of this national organization after having lived in Boston for 2 years. I had lived in Baltimore prior to this and didn’t realize I could have become a member of this organization without being a CDE. Thinking back I wish I had known. I worked in a sub acute pediatric practice where I was one of three practicing diabetes education and the only dietitian. I now know how much mentoring and support I could have gained from this organization.
From Baltimore, armed with a newly acquired CDE, I moved to Boston for grad school. I wish I had thought to join the local Boston group then- it would have been a great way to keep up with the latest and greatest in diabetes advancements. I continued to work in diabetes but a lot changed in diabetes care in those two years.
I walked into my first Boston AADE chapter meeting, the day before I started work at my new job. I was greeted by an acquaintance who introduced me around. It was a very welcoming and friendly place. It was a comfortable feeling to know that there was a place to keep up with education and socialize with people who get what we do all day. It’s a place away from work to sit back and discuss challenges and hear how someone else may have provided a solution.
Now I work in an environment where I’m fortunate to keep up pretty well with new technology and advances in diabetes care. So many of the reasons I’ve always desired this organization don’t completely apply. So I started to try to understand why I still pay my dues each year and continue to value this organization. It certainly wasn’t surprising to me- I’ve had the opportunity to meet leaders from this organization from all over the country- I love networking and I enjoy leadership.
But my favorite discovery so far this year is the enjoyment I get from joining educators around the state, hearing what great things are happening where they work and sharing ideas. I think sometimes we get caught up in our profession, in our day-to-day patient care and we forget that there is a whole world out there that may have something to teach us or may need to learn from us. We certainly can get that perspective at the annual meeting, but we can achieve that locally as well.
My hope is that we can expand this organization into something that provides us each with a group of colleagues to mentor, network and learn from. My other professional organizations have given me a lot of things, but none have provided the opportunity to go somewhere within an hour (or maybe a little more at times) and see a friendly face, share the frustrations of what we do, or celebrate the passion that is our profession.
I would love to hear what you would like to get out of this organization and why you decided to be a member. Hope you are having a wonderful summer so far and I look forward to meeting many of you at AADE!!