AMA and SDSMA Membership After Graduation

One way to foster collaboration and continuing education is medical students' participation in medical associations. However, it isn't clear if being a student member leads to continued membership. In this study, the primary goal is to determine if student membership increases membership in the South Dakota State Medical Association (SDSMA) and American Medical Association (AMA) after graduation.

After validation with 10 physicians through a pilot study, the finalized survey was emailed by the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners to every South Dakota licensed physician. The survey included questions about membership in AMA, SDSMA, and other medical organizations. Descriptive data was assessed using counts and percentages. Comparisons were made based on Chi-square tests.

In total, 438 individuals consented and participated. Overall, 296 (67.6%) indicated membership in a medical association in medical school; 101 only AMA, 38 only SDSMA, 133 both, and 24 only other. For the 234 with a student AMA membership, 71 (30.3%) continued. Of the 171 with a student SDSMA membership, 88 (51.5%) continued. Comparing those with and without a student AMA membership, 22.6% without joined after graduation and 30.3% with continued (p = 0.07). For SDSMA memberships, 28.5% without joined after graduation, while 51.5% of those with continued. Common reasons for maintaining included professional advocacy (n = 44) and educational opportunities (n = 32), for AMA and professional advocacy (n = 58) and networking (n = 45), for SDSMA. Common reasons for non-continuation in both AMA and SDSMA, were lack of specialty representation and political disagreement.

Those who were members of SDSMA as students were more likely to maintain their membership. This difference was less pronounced for AMA. Networking was a common reason for maintaining SDSMA. Focusing on this aspect may be beneficial for retaining members.