Section 1. General Criteria for Membership
Except as specifically provided elsewhere in these bylaws, members of the College must comply with the following criteria:
Satisfactory moral and ethical standing in their profession, including, without limitation, compliance with the College’s Code of Ethical Conduct.
Payment of dues in accordance with Article XIII of these bylaws.
Membership in an ACOEM component society. Where one does not exist, the member may join an adjacent component or be classified as a direct member of ACOEM.
Except as specifically provided elsewhere in these bylaws, all physician members of the College must also comply with the following criteria:
Receipt of the degree of Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from a medical school located in the United States or Canada (or equivalent credentials, acceptable to the Board of Directors, from a foreign medical school)
Completion of post-graduate medical training of no less than one (1) year’s duration.
Maintenance of an unencumbered license to practice medicine and if the member does not, he or she must state the reason why (e.g., full-time faculty appointment, research work exclusively), with their application being reviewed and recommended for approval by the Membership Committee or its designee, on a case by case basis. Retired members do not need to comply with this section.
Medical student members need not comply with subsections (i), (ii) and (iii) of this section; resident members need not comply with subsections (ii) and (iii) of this section.
Section 2. Classes of Members
The membership of the College shall consist of the following classes: Fellow, Active, Retired, Student, Resident, Associate, and Honorary.
Section 3. Eligibility
In In addition to those requirements set forth elsewhere in these bylaws, the eligibility requirements for the members of each class of membership shall be as follows:
Physician Members
Fellow. Any physician who meets all of the following criteria shall be eligible to apply to become a Fellow:
has held membership in the College as an Active Member for a period of no fewer than three (3) years;
possesses a high level of documented expertise in occupational and environmental medicine and meets other requirements of the College as contained in the policies and procedures of the College; and
has approval of no less than three-quarters of the members of the Board of Directors present and voting at a meeting thereof.
Active Member. Any physician who meets the general criteria for membership Article V, Section 1 shall be eligible to apply to be an Active Member.
Retired Member. A Fellow, Active, or Associate Member who meets the criteria for retired member status determined by the Board of Directors shall be eligible to apply to the Board of Directors for retired status. Retired members may retain their Fellow designation. Members of the former Master class may also retain their Master designation.
Resident Member. Any full-time medical postgraduate trainee shall be eligible to apply to be a Resident Member.
Non-Physician Members
Student Member. Any medical student shall be eligible to apply to be a Student Member.
Associate Member. The following occupational health professionals shall be eligible to apply to be an Associate Member:
Any non-physician who has attained a doctorate level degree of PhD, ScD, DrPH, or EdD in occupational and/or environmental health disciplines.
Any non-physician working in a field related to occupational and environmental medicine who has a master’s level degree in a related field, is a Certified Physician Assistant, is a Licensed Nurse Practitioner, or is a Certified Occupational Health Nurse (COHN).
Other Members
Honorary Member. Any person who has attained a position of leadership and made an outstanding contribution in the field of occupational and environmental medicine thereto shall be eligible to be elected to honorary membership by the Board of Directors.
Section 4. Privileges of Membership
In addition to those requirements set forth elsewhere in these bylaws, the eligibility requirements for, and the rights of the members of each class of membership shall be as follows and as designated in Table 1: ACOEM Membership Categories and Their Respective Rights and Privileges. Membership rights, as recognized under customary parliamentary practice, may include the following:
the right to attend, participate in discussion and vote at all membership meetings;
the right to serve, as set forth in these bylaws, as a director or officer of the College, as a delegate to or an officer of the House of Delegates or as a member of a council or committee;
the right to attend all meetings of the Board of Directors, House of Delegates and the councils and committees of the College (except where otherwise provided in these bylaws or when such meetings are held in executive session); and
the right to receive the official publications of the College.
Section 5. Voting Members
Those members who are granted the right to vote in the activities of the College are referred to, collectively as “Voting Members” and shall be defined as described in Table 1: ACOEM Membership Categories and Their Respective Rights and Privileges.
Voting privileges may differ by the context of the vote. Those specific contexts are defined as:
Board of Directors. Only Officers, Speaker, Speaker-Elect and Directors of the Board may vote on Board actions.
Councils and Committees: Of those members appointed to College Councils and Committees, only those currently in Fellow, Active, or Resident member classes may vote.
Presidential Taskforces and Workgroups: All members appointed to Presidential Taskforces or Workgroups of Councils and Committees may vote on the actions of their Taskforce or Workgroup. Membership in a Taskforce or Workgroup does not transfer to membership in that entity’s oversight body.
College-wide Elections and Ballots: In any college-wide voting initiative such as the annual election or matters requiring a vote of the membership, those members in Fellow or Active classes may vote. Members in the Resident member class who are currently residents may also vote.