Improving young physician membership and engagement in a dermatology physician organization: The Women's Dermatologic Society as a case example

TheWomen's Dermatologic Society (WDS) is a nonprofit physician organization that promotes mentorship and service in the Dermatology community. In the fall of 2013, the WDS had noted declining membership and engagement of dermatology residents and recent graduates. Mentorship during residency is associated with increased satisfaction, and participation in subspecialty societies leads to development of skills necessary to advocate for one’s specialty (Flint et al., 2009; Freeman et al., 2008; Skelley et al., 2015). In order to identify possible gaps in communication and engagement with members, especially the younger physician demographics, the authors electronically surveyed the WDS membership from November 2013 through February 2014. The Institutional Review Board of Massachusetts General Hospital approved this study as an exempted study (Protocol Number: 2014P000379). There was a 51% response rate composed of dermatologists (64%), trainees (31%), and dermatology researchers and corporate members (5%). The age distribution of respondents showed peaks in ranges of 31 to 35 years (29%) and 25 to 30 years (18%), reflecting capture of target demographics. Of respondents, 30% had not attended a WDS event that year. Furthermore, only 21% of respondents had participated in mentorship programs and 12% in service programs. The top reason cited for lack of participation was "unaware of activities/ opportunities" (47%). Notably, 5% of respondents were unaware they were listed as WDS members, reflecting a phenotype of individuals who are participatory enough in nature to respond to email surveys and yet with whom the organization had not successfully communicated their membership status. Mobile application (app) and social media use were queried, revealing that 93% of respondents owned iPhone-compatible devices and 90% used smartphones for professional activities. Over 70% of members and 84% of resident members stated they would use a WDS mobile app if one were available. For social media apps, 75% of respondents endorsed use, with Facebook being the most widely used platform. Nearly 70% of respondents used social media at least weekly, and 43% cited daily or multiple times per day usage. In response to