I’m writing to you at the mid-point of my two-year term as SPS President, a few weeks after we wrapped up another very successful annual conference. The conference, hosted by Colorado Children’s, was terrific, and I continue to be amazed by and proud of the accomplishments of my SPS colleagues.
In my “State of the Society” address at the meeting, I summarized the highlights of the past year. For those of you who missed it, these highlights included: a complete overhaul of the SPS Sedation Provider Course™, the publication of the Pediatric Procedural Sedation Handbook, successful second rounds of the Center of Excellence designation and Scholarly Grant award, conversion of the results of our Institutional Member Survey into infographic format, successful launch of the first focused research project from the PSRC, multiple outreach efforts with national groups whose agendas complement ours, and more!
Although it’s easy for me to list these accomplishments, I must stress that each one (and in particular, the Provider Course revision) involved many hours of discretionary effort by our members, all in the interest of improving sedation care of children. Those involved in our projects truly know the meaning of the term “labor of love.” What struck me most throughout the gestation and delivery of these projects is the ability of our members to adapt, and to exhibit resilience in the face of challenges. Each project, each committee experienced issues with changing deadlines, budgeting concerns, clinical conflicts (our pesky real jobs interfere with SPS business from time to time!), and other unexpected hurdles. But these challenges were addressed and overcome, even snowstorms in May impacting travel to and from the conference! We are a flexible group!
As the SPS Leadership moves to prepare our next five-year plan (2020-2024), we will need to continue adapting and changing to meet the needs of our members, and subsequently, the needs of our patients and their families. One change on the near horizon is a revision of our dues and membership benefit structure, for both individual and institutional members. We haven’t changed our benefits or increased our dues in the past decade, and the time has come. For more information on the updated institutional member benefits and levels, click here. I also encourage you to remember the President’s Challenge membership drive announced at the conference. In order to continue to provide meaningful pediatric sedation-related goods and services, we need to maintain a healthy and financially sound society, and that in turn requires committed members. Learn more about the Sponsor a Member program here.
Please let me know if you have ideas on how to improve the SPS member offerings, or if you want to become more involved.
