Rheumatology Health Professionals Reap Rewards of Volunteerism

Dr. Christenson says the human and organizational resources she’s been able to form connections with are professionally helpful. She says the many committees she has served on and the chance to review RA brochures and abstracts have helped her as an academician. The personal benefits she has realized include greater confidence in her presentation and decision making.

Her colleagues know that Dr. Christenson is very involved in a national organization that promotes rheumatoid disease research and treatment. If that affects their opinion of her, she says, it’s that now “they see me as invested and committed.”

Asked what she’s learned from being active in AHRP, Dr. Christenson says she now has a better understanding of how committee structures work and how decisions are made. Learning how to work with different people from different backgrounds in a professional group has been beneficial, too.

A contribution Dr. Christenson feels she has made to the organization as a committee chair is her focus on hearing everybody and engaging in active listening to include others in the decision making. She sees herself as a team player and problem solver.

Relationship Building

Scott Hasson, EdD, PT, FACSM, FAPTA, is a professor and chairman of the Physical Therapy Department at Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Ga. He has also been the editor of Physiotherapy Theory & Practice since 1995. He has been an ARHP member for 25 years.

Dr. Hasson

ARHP is the only organization, Dr. Hasson says, other than the American College of Sports Medicine, where the patient is the center. He appreciates the respect shared among medical group colleagues. When they all meet, the focus is on clinical care of patients.

His first committee assignment was the Practice Committee. And he served because he was asked. “As a dedicated researcher [then],” says Dr. Hasson, “I had to be selfish and say no to other commitments.” Since deciding to get involved in areas outside research, he has served on five to seven task forces or committees.

“As I moved away from scientific focus to administration, the relationships that developed provided avenues for advancement and for funding and research. Building relationships with other members and ARHP staff, collaborating with people from Norway to Iran to Brazil and just meeting interesting people along the way helps me focus.”

When asked if his colleagues see him differently because of ARHP membership and service, Dr. Hasson says, “Faculty [members] know I go to a meeting in the fall and serve on committees.”