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.