Membership
AHCJ member benefit: Credentials for meetings
Organizations that recognize AHCJ membership include:
ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Congress
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
American Association for Cancer Research
American College of Chest Physicians
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Physicians
American Diabetes Association
American Pain Society
American Public Health Association
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Society of Hematology
American Thoracic Society
Association for Molecular Pathology
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Heart Rhythm Society
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Medical Group Management Association
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Neuroscience
Are you a freelancer needing affiliation credentials to cover a medical meeting, media briefing or similar “credentialed-press only” event? If you are a professional-category member, AHCJ may be able to help.
An increasing number of organizations – including HHS and ASCO – are agreeing to recognize membership in AHCJ as sufficient credential for admission.
The effort, spearheaded by AHCJ’s Freelance Committee, is especially helpful for independent journalists looking for fresh story ideas, developing sources and doing the reporting and preliminary interviews necessary to pitch stories to news organizations.
“Access to meetings is vital for freelancers. While it’s nice to have a letter of assignment, the push to file stories from a meeting often keeps reporters in the press room, which isn’t always helpful for freelancers, because the nature of our work keeps us isolated,” said Jeanne Erdmann, chair of AHCJ’s Freelance Committee.
“Attending conferences without the need to file news allows freelancers the flexibility to get more from the meeting than a paycheck. Sometimes footing the bill myself ends up paying off in the long run. I can attend sessions with an eye for feature ideas. By the end of three days, I’ve usually filled my notebooks with story ideas. This approach allows for the freedom to meet sources, and to connect with editors and fellow reporters.”
For a letter attesting to your current AHCJ professional membership, send an email to info@healthjournalism.org. We will send a PDF letter for your use to your email of record. Make sure to keep your membership information up to date.
