Call for Nominations of Hematology Trainees to Serve on the Trainee Council

Rationale and Purpose
By action of the Executive Committee in 2001, the Society created the ASH Trainee Council as a means of increasing the involvement of hematology trainees in the administration of the Society through the solicitation of their input on issues related to training and education.

Composition of the ASH Trainee Council
The ASH Trainee Council consists of 12 trainees from the United States and Canada who each serve two-year staggered terms so that each year half the Council members are new, while the other half are in their second year of service.

Ten of these trainees must be from accredited hematology or hematology/oncology training programs. At this time, ASH is accepting nominations for five trainees to replace the five senior members of the Council who will rotate off on June 30, 2008.

Because the ASH leadership recognizes the need for feedback from PhD trainees, two trainees will be selected from post-doctoral training programs for the first time this year. One trainee will serve a two-year term and the other a one-year term; in future years, one trainee will be appointed yearly to serve a two-year term.

The chair and three additional members of the Committee on Training Programs serve as ad-hoc members of the Trainee Council.

Duties of the ASH Trainee Council
The primary function of the ASH Trainee Council is to advise the ASH Committee on Training Programs about issues relevant to the educational needs of hematology trainees, including the planning of events and services for trainees at the ASH annual meeting. In addition to providing consultation to the Committee on Training Programs, the Council is responsive to the ASH leadership, to all other ASH committees (especially the Committee on Educational Affairs), and to any individual ASH member who requests advice about hematology training from the Council.

Meetings of the ASH Trainee Council
A one-day meeting in the spring and/or early fall are held to develop recommendations to be passed on to the ASH leadership. The agenda for these meetings are developed by the Chair of the Trainee Council with the help of other Council members and the Committee on Training Programs. In order to provide the Council with an opportunity to speak directly with the ASH leadership, the Chair of the Committee on Training Programs, as well as the ASH president, president-elect, and/or vice president, will also be invited to participate in the mid-year meetings. The remaining work of the Council will take place by e-mail or conference call throughout the year. In addition, the Council will also meet during the ASH annual meeting in December.

ASH will pay for the cost of hotel accommodations and travel to the meetings for each Council member.

Eligibility to Serve on the Council
Trainees who exhibit leadership qualities and a high potential for a successful career in hematology or a hematology-related discipline are desired candidates.

Trainees in accredited hematology and hematology/oncology training programs who are currently in their first year of training are eligible for nomination by their training program directors. These trainees must have a medical degree with or without a PhD degree.

PhD trainees in all hematology-related disciplines are eligible for nomination by their division chief/department chair.

All trainees must be continuing in their training program in the 2008-2010 academic years.

Council members must be Associate members of ASH at the time of appointment (or have submitted membership application materials).

Nominating materials must include:

1. A letter of nomination from the MD trainee’s training program director or the PhD applicant’s division chief/department chair,
   
   
2. A brief letter from the trainee indicating her/his reasons for wishing to participate and any particular qualifications for membership, and
   
   
3. The trainee nominee’s CV.

Each training program may submit only one nomination per year.

Nominating materials must be sent by e-mail to training@hematology.org no later than April 1, 2008.

Selection of Trainee Council members from the nominations received will be made by the ASH Executive Committee based upon pre-review and recommendations by a subcommittee of the ASH Committee on Training Programs.