Making the Most of Your ASTRO Membership

With so many demands on your time, it’s easy to overlook the many benefits included in your ASTRO membership. Member benefits are always expanding, so we thought we would take a moment to list many of the free and discounted resources available to ASTRO members. Consider this your 2023 ASTRO membership “cheat sheet” — bookmark and revisit it every few months to ensure you are taking full advantage of the commitment you made to the field and to your colleagues when you joined ASTRO.

1. Discounted Annual Meeting, specialty meeting and multidisciplinary meeting registration. Mark your calendar, registration and housing for the Annual Meeting open on May 18. Did you know that the Annual Meeting headquarters hotel is reserved primarily for members?

2. Free/deeply discounted journal subscriptions, depending on your membership type. The vast majority of ASTRO members receive print and online access to the Red Journal and Practical Radiation Oncology free of charge. While Advances in Radiation Oncology is Open Access, members automatically receive eTOC alerts for each new issue.

3. Exclusive networking. ASTRO membership is a gateway to making valuable connections. ASTRO’s free and popular members-only forum, the ROhub, offers an easy way to instantly connect with your colleagues for field-specific discussions. The Member Directory is a useful resource if you are looking for a colleague from your geographic region or the same school you attended to network with or for patient referral.

4. Professional growth. Mentor Match has matched hundreds of mentors and mentees for career development and to share experiences. Peer-to-Peer provides a network of colleagues who are available to review patient cases, which is especially helpful to physicians in rural areas. The Leadership Pathway Program is a career development program aimed at increasing diversity among ASTRO leadership.

5. Fast-track pathway to leadership. Committee participation is a great way to become involved with ASTRO. Each spring, a Call for Volunteers is announced in the ASTROgram. Committee participation is often a stepping stone to leadership positions within the Society.

6. Streamlined opportunities to advocate for the field. U.S.-based members can participate in the Society’s advocacy initiatives to protect and promote radiation oncology and the interests of cancer patients. In addition to the opportunity to participate on Government Relations and Health Policy committees, each year, ASTRO holds a two-day fly-in where members learn about our legislative priorities and engage with their senators and representatives. Advocacy Day is free to attend and travel grants are available to Members-in-Training.

7. The latest RO news delivered to your inbox. Keep apprised of important Society news and developments in the field by reading the weekly ASTROgram, which is mailed to members every Wednesday. ASTROnews is our quarterly magazine with timely themes and feature stories written by members. And, of course, ASTRO.org provides timely information about ASTRO’s many products and services.

8. Advance notice of new job postings and discounted job listings. The ASTRO Career Center provides employers and job seekers with an easy to use and highly targeted resource for employment connections. Employers receive member rates for job postings and member job seekers have access to posting three days before other job seekers.

9. New this year! Free access to Annual Meeting Science Highlights. Each month ASTRO members have free access to one of the Science Highlights presented at the ASTRO Annual Meeting. Science Highlights are housed in the ASTRO Academy and announced in the ASTROgram. So far this year Central Nervous System, Lung Cancer/Thoracic Malignancies and Innovations in Patient Safety and Quality of Care have been released.

10. Complimentary Journal CME. Need CME? Also complimentary and housed in the ASTRO Academy, the latest Red Journal, PRO and Advances journal activities are available for members. Discover educational topics on every disease site, patient safety, palliative care and multiple modalities. These journal activities offer participants access to the latest peer-reviewed science and help practitioners continue to provide the best care for their patients while earning CME

We are so excited to share these important benefits with you, and we are always looking to serve ASTRO members better. Please reach out with feedback or questions at any time to ASTRO Membership and be sure to complete your annual membership survey!