Reflections of a Society Member
by Jane Harrison, LCSW, CCTSW
I joined the Society in l986 right before the Pittsburgh conference. As Sandy has said, at that time it had a much longer name and was comprised of heart transplant social workers. Lung transplant was very much in its infancy. I clearly remember 55 of us jammed into a conference room at the University of Pittsburgh sharing our war stories. How far we have come. Over the years we have seen that there is power in numbers and we all benefit from the combined knowledge to be gained in combining efforts with all colleagues who work in transplantation and donation in end organ failure. The medical technology has grown tremendously until it is almost unrecognizable from those early days. The medication choices are far greater. Yet in spite of the advances, the psychosocial issues of patients and families undergoing organ transplant are still very much the same; sometimes much greater due to insurance and financial limitations. But now instead of trading phone numbers with a few transplant centers we are able to enlist email addresses for colleagues all over the world and have a wealth of information available to us on this website. I have made a number of close friends over the years due to our shared understanding of what it is like to be a transplant social worker. We have had wonderful conferences in very fun places and after each conference I have always felt like I have been renewed to do it again for another year! What a great energizer to “be with my people” who clearly know the challenges we all face in our programs. One of our members labeled the yearly experience “going to camp.” It always has that fun anticipatory feel. The networking as well as the expertise of the wide variety of professional presentations is invaluable. There are not enough “kudos” to give to all in our profession who have given and give today of their time and talent to make this such a wonderful organization. I am much indebted to STSW for making me a better transplant social worker.