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Erin Murdoch

DOS 771 Clinical Practicum I

Service Learning Journal: Professional Project

To find opportunities to fulfill my professional volunteer requirements, I went to the

American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) website to view committee volunteer
openings. I read about the Communications Committee, and I felt that my skillset was best suited
for this team because of my past experience as Communications Officer for Virginia
Commonwealth University’s Gamma Chi Radiation Honor Society. I filled out a volunteer
application and the Communications Committee chair, Mark Littell, reached out to me about
becoming a committee member.

The goal of the AAMD Communications Committee is to promote dosimetry and manage
the flow of information between AAMD members and the community. The committee holds a
monthly conference call to discuss committee events and responsibilities. The call is led by Mark
Littell and it typically lasts less than an hour. In addition to the committee chair and all members,
a board liaison and staff liaisons are also present during the meeting. Mark sends out an agenda a
few days before the call, so all members have a record of discussion and can prepare any
additional notes to share. Topics of discussion have included annual meeting preparations, board
of director’s elections, and promotion on social media. I have been present for the February,
March, and April conference calls, and will participate in the upcoming May call as well. It is
AAMD policy for volunteers to have 80% or greater attendance for all meetings. Another
committee member, Dana Prestridge-Cole, published an article in the AAMD eMonitor
newsletter that interviewed each committee chair to give information about committee
responsibilities. I attached her interview with Mark below because it details why the
Communications Committee is important.

As a new member, my role in this committee is still developing. I have noticed that some
members are more active and responsible for spearheading specific projects. Mark Littell has
been very encouraging and helpful throughout my integration in this committee. Mark helped
motivate me to actively participate in calls by noting that I can benefit the committee by
providing a perspective of someone who is younger and new to the field. During the conference
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calls, I try to participate as much as possible by sharing my ideas and giving general knowledge
on social media platforms that other members might not have used. The committee members also
take turns running the AAMD social media platforms. A new schedule will be posted shortly, and
I will be responsible for the operations of our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn page for a 2 week
period. Recently, I took on a project to write an article promoting social media use for the
upcoming Anaheim meeting. The article will soon be sent out in the AAMD eMonitor newsletter.
I attached my article draft below. My position as Communications committee member is not
specifically a student position. I plan on participating in this committee past graduation, and
hopefully taking on more defined projects as needed. While my clinical practicum courses are
teaching me about medical dosimetry as a job, I think this committee is helping to educate me on
the profession of dosimetry and the fundamentals of our field. I’m excited to help promote
dosimetry and the AAMD community, especially at such a formative time in my career.
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Mark Littell explaining the role of the

Communications Committee, an
article in the AAMD eMonitor
newsletter by committee member
Dana Prestridge-Cole.

My submission for the

upcoming AAMD
eMonitor newsletter to
promote the use of
social media for the
2019 Annual meeting.