Page 10 - JSOM Fall 2019

from the

SOMA PRESIDENTOMA PRESIDENT

Greetings to the SOMA Member- kinds of donations will assist us
ship and JSOM Readers, with keeping individual member
dues as low as possible while ex-
s we move into the fall, the Harold Montgomery, MSG (Ret)arold Montgomery, MSG (Ret) panding the available content.
H
SOMA leadership has been The other donation option will
Abusy implementing several be a member sponsorship. The
new programs designed to enhance the experience of con cept is to provide current members an opportunity
all of our members and attract more of the members to sponsor a junior medic, corpsman, PJ, or medical
who are central to our mission, the military medics. The technician (military or civilian) with 1 year of SOMA
Board never loses its focus on our medics and the neces- membership. I personally challenge our existing lifetime
sity to keep membership dues affordable and the bene- members to sponsor an opportunity for a young medic
fits relevant and timely. to become part of SOMA. Check out the details on the
SOMA website.
As we announced at the Scientific Assembly, the Educa-
tion Committee is in the process of preparing to launch The Scientific Assembly remains our cornerstone pro-
a new learning management system (LMS). The LMS gram. Each year the quality of the hands-on lab training,
will provide re-purposed content from the Scientific As- teaching sessions, and scientific research presentations is
sembly and eventually new original content. All of this even better than the year before. Take a look at the ab-
will be a complementary member benefit for our medic, stracts from the 2019 Assembly located in this issue and
physician, resident, student, and professional members consider submitting your own research abstract for our
and provided at a discounted price for lifetime members. 2020 Assembly by November 1. Details about submit-
Nonmembers will have paid access to either single ses- ting your research can be found on the SOMA website.
sions or time-based subscriptions. We anticipate that the
Education Committee that is curating and creating this Don’t forget that we are moving the Assembly to nearby
content will be one of our largest. This is your chance Raleigh, North Carolina, May 11-15, 2020 The Pro-
to step up and build education content for your peers or gram Committee is working on a proposal for an en-
the next generation. Consider volunteering to work on hanced hands-on training schedule, so stay tuned for
this effort. more details about the program schedule and mark your
calendars.
We also recently launched a new member category for
our industry partners. These corporate memberships There’s never been a better time to be a SOMA member.
will enhance the relationship between the companies Don’t miss out on a single benefit by renewing as soon
that you see in the Scientific Assembly exhibit hall and as you see the membership renewal reminder hit your
you, the experts in combat and tactical medicine. In ad- email box in early November. Those of you who signed
dition to enhancing these one-on-one relationships, our up for autopay last year will receive a reminder, but oth-
hope is that corporate membership will provide growth erwise you won’t need to do anything further to renew.
opportunities for both the companies that participate If you missed the enrollment period last year, consider
and for SOMA through partnerships on projects that enrolling in autopay when you renew this year.
will benefit our members.
After you renew, get involved. SOMA Board positions
By the time you read this, we should also have launched will open in the next year with elections in the winter
two new donation options through the SOMA website. before the next SOMSA. This is your chance to be part
One will be for general donations that will primarily be of the SOMA leadership team or to nominate someone
used to fund the creation of educational content. These to take a SOMA role. There is plenty of work to be

8