Call for Volunteers

Strategic Goal

• Create opportunities for members to engage in APS advocacy efforts
• Collaborate with staff and the Public Policy Committee to increase APS visibility and donor support

Purpose

• To use the Needs Assessment Task Force’s analysis of the 2017 APS needs assessment as a guide to develop strategies to engage members and customers in APS advocacy efforts, build awareness, and provide resources and tools for members to advocate locally.

Charge

• Work with staff to develop resources (i.e. webinars, talking points) to share with members on how to successfully advocate to support the APS mission.
• Develop a strategy for educating members and attendees about advocacy efforts and how to get involved at the annual meeting.
• Create a communications strategy to increase visibility of APS and the Pain Research fund to the public.

Chairperson

The individual who sits in the chairperson role will be responsible for leading strategy and discussion to develop advocacy opportunities among APS members. This person will also work closely with APS leadership and staff.

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Lead calls and communication among the work group and onsite meetings.
• Work closely with the APS staff liaison and Board liaison to set goals and manage timelines.
• Provide reports to the APS Board of Directors upon request.
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of 6-12 months.

Skills:

• Prior experience leading a committee, work group, or task force
• Experience in advocacy, public-facing communications, and the development of training resources.

Work Group Member 

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of 6-12 months.

Skills:

• Interest in advocacy, public-facing communications, or the development of training resources.

Strategic Goal

• Put forth the ideas and framework for new resources and recruit APS members who are experts and willing to develop products selected by the committee.

Purpose

• Review the clinical practice resource needs of the professional pain community and lead the development of both revenue and value enhancement products, including clinical practice guidelines, to support the provision of quality evidence-based clinical pain care.

Charge

• Develop new clinical and primary care resources and products to build an educational library for pain professionals.
• Develop discipline-specific initiatives, especially in areas of need of educational activities.
• Implement Board-approved recommendations from strategic workgroups.

Chairperson

The individual who serves as the chairperson will be responsible for leading discussion and strategy to develop educational offerings for APS members and customers. This person will also work closely with APS leadership and staff.

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Serve as the strategic and mission leader of the group to ensure products and resources are in alignment with Society goals
• Set goals and metrics in collaboration with Board and staff liaison
• Lead calls and communication among the committee and onsite meetings if necessary.
• Work closely with the APS staff liaison and Board liaison to set goals and manage timelines.
• Provide reports to the APS Board of Directors upon request.
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of the two-year term.

Skills:

• Prior experience leading a committee, work group, or task force
• Experience developing educational content or product offerings within APS or another organization.

Clinical Resources Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of the two-year term.
• Contribute to the creation of education content or products.

Skills:

• Experience developing educational content or product offerings

Strategic Goals

• Increase engagement opportunities among members across disciplines and career level
• Increase funding opportunities for young investigators
• Increase early career member benefits and resources

Purpose

• Engage early career members to serve as a resource to the Society as leadership makes decisions for the future of the organization
• Provide insight to the Board of Directors on the professional needs of this membership segment
• Support the Early Career Forum
• Identify opportunities for professional development as well as benefits for early career members

ECAG member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly.

Eligibility

• Graduate Students, Post Docs/Trainees/Fellows and early career members (Note: Early career is defined as up to 5-years post-fellowship. Members of the Council must start their term no less than 3 years prior to the end of the 5-year post fellowship range.)

Term: Up to two (2), two-year terms

Strategic Goal

• Provide recommendations to increase educational products/offerings to broaden the scope of content, increase the value of membership, and attract members and customers.

Purpose

• To use the Needs Assessment Task Force’s analysis of the 2017 APS needs assessment as a guide to develop strategies, define markets, and determine gaps that will increase APS’ educational offerings that will attract members or customers.

Charge

• Develop a strategy for digital educational programming outside of the annual meeting that would benefit members and customers, potentially offering CE.
• Identify the education needs for APS, including the markets and topics for consideration based on the data from the needs assessment survey. This group will identify the committees or individuals who will be responsible for the creation of the content.
• Evaluate existing partnerships, and conduct an analysis of organizations to partner with to create co-branded educational content.
• Work closely with APS’ Shared Interest Groups to provide input on educational content.

Chairperson

The individual who sits in the chairperson role will be responsible for leading discussion and strategy to develop educational offerings for APS members and customers. This person will also work closely with APS leadership and staff, as well as Clinical Resources Committee.

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Lead calls and communication among the work group and onsite meetings if necessary.
• Work closely with the APS staff liaison and Board liaison to set goals and manage timelines.
• Provide reports to the APS Board of Directors upon request.
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of 6-12 months.

Skills:

• Prior experience leading a committee, work group, or task force
• Experience developing educational content or product offerings within APS or another organization.

Work Group Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of 6-12 months.

Skills:

• Experience developing educational content or product offerings

Strategic Goals

• Increase engagement opportunities and networking among members across disciplines and career level.
• Increase engagement among SIG members in cooperation with the SIG task force.
• Increase funding opportunities for young investigators and mid-career members.

Purpose

• To use the Needs Assessment Task Force’s analysis of the 2017 APS needs assessment as a guide to develop strategies and define engagement opportunities that will be valuable to members and incentivize customers and lapsed members to join APS.

Charge

• Develop a strategy for members to network and engage with one another and the Society within and particularly outside of the Annual Meeting.
• Evaluate existing engagement opportunities and platforms (i.e. listserv), and provide a recommendation for tools to enhance networking and collaboration among APS members.
• Work closely with APS’ Shared Interest Group Chairs and the Task Force to develop networking and engagement opportunities to increase the value of the SIGs.

Work Group Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly for the duration of 6-12 months.

Strategic Goals & Purpose

• Advise the Society in areas of member benefits, promotion, and retention.
• Participate in grassroots membership recruitment and retention campaigns.

Charge

• Evaluate APS demographic information, and provide insight to necessary updates in an effort to get a better understanding of our interdisciplinary society.
• Recruit and retain members through the creation of member benefits, and engagement opportunities.
• Recommend potential organizations and audience demographics for member outreach.

Membership Committee Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Meetings will be held as needed via Zoom video call, as much as monthly or bi-monthly.

Term: 2 year term

The Membership Committee represents the diverse makeup of the APS membership. The Committee is particularly interested in individuals who represent the following specialties or work settings.

Specialty/Area of Expertise
Pain Medicine
Pharmacy
Family Practice/Primary Care

Work Setting
Military/DOD
Veterans Administration

The Committee is responsible for advising and making recommendations to the APS Board of Directors for possible advocacy or endorsement of national policy initiatives related to pain and pain research promulgated by Congress, the Executive Branch and administrative agencies, such as the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Charge

• Develop proactive policy positions for APS. Most recently it produced a white paper titled “Cannabis in Pain Treatment: Clinical and Research Considerations,” which was published in 2016 in The Journal of Pain.
• Recommended APS Board endorsement of the MEDS Act in the Senate to allow wider availability of cannabis for pain research studies.
• In coming months, the Committee will focus its attention on the National Pain Strategy and will issue “report card” news releases on key NPS elements, such as pain research funding, to assess implementation progress and make specific recommendations to convert key NPS priorities into federal policies.

There are several bills currently under consideration in the Senate and House related to the opioids crisis. Committee members are reviewing them to determine which should be publicly supported by APS. The Committee also will build a grassroots advocacy function to encourage APS members to urge their senators and members of Congress to support specific legislation endorsed by APS. We believe the APS advocacy function will be more effective with strong involvement by the membership in their local communities.

Public Policy Committee Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in six to eight conference calls a year
• Serve on subcommittees and task forces as needed for researching and formulating recommendations for policy initiatives ranging from reimbursement to pain therapy alternatives to clinical and patient education about pain and pain medication. 

 If you have a keen interest in and knowledge of health care policy making or experience working in the public policy area and want to help APS become more influential in advocating for pain researchers, pain clinicians and patients, we hope you will consider joining the Committee.

Strategic Goal

•  Curate content for the APS website to ensure the APS website is a valuable resource for the pain community.
• Provide relevant content to share on the APS social media channels

Purpose

•  To provide topical information and content that is appropriate for the website, social media, our members, and news from the field.

Charge

• Review the APS website analytics, and provide content suggestions
• Recruit and retain members through the creation of member benefits, and engagement opportunities.
• Recommend potential organizations and audience demographics for member outreach.

Website Committee Member

Requirements

• Must be an active member in good standing.
• Participates in calls, emails, and onsite meetings
• Send content to APS staff each month.
• Quarterly meetings will be held via Zoom conference call.

Term: 2 year term