President’s Message February 2017

As promised, this president’s message will continue on a “tour” of the Hans Popper Hepatopathology Society structure. The executive committee has been working very hard on writing and adopting SOPs for each of the offices and committees of the HPHS.  We hope to have these finished very soon, at which point they will be posted on the HPS website, available to anyone who like to view them. The Executive Committee hopes this will help make the HPHS more accessible to all by making it easier to understand all of the “moving parts” of the society and how the committees and offices are interrelated.  SOP is short for standard operating procedure (sometimes also called “standing operating procedure”). SOPs function in societies like the HPHS as a template, describing the duties and roles for each committee and officer. While SOPs tend to be a bit dry to talk about, not nearly as exciting as a liver biopsy, they are important to make sure societies function smoothly and are especially important as societies become larger.  Because the HPHS has grown so successfully over the past years, it’s a great time to put into place more formal SOPs.

In the last message, we reviewed the Executive Committee and its function.  This time we will review the Membership Committee.  Members are the most important element of the HPHS—in fact the mission of the HPHS is to serve its members through educational offerings in the art and science of liver pathology.  Thus, the Membership Committee is of particular importance.  The Committee has a chairperson and 5 members, each who serve for three years.  The start/end times for each are staggered in order to maintain a smooth transition as new members rotate on/off.  The Membership Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving membership applications, including associate members and emeritus members.  Associate membership is extended to individuals still in training programs (residency/fellowship) and lasts for 2 years, renewable as needed.  The Chair of the Committee presents the list of new members at the annual HPHS Business Meeting during the USCAP annual meeting.  The Membership Committee Chair also maintains (working closely with the secretary-treasurer) the full list of all members with their contact information.  Finally, this important committee is also in charge of actively seeking new members for the HPHS—the society grows and thrives by recruiting new members who have an interest in liver pathology.