Purpose: To explore the attitude of the Iranian members towards their American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) membership and their utilization pattern of the AAO’s services

Methods: Mailed questionnaire survey to 34 current AAO members in 2005

Results: Twenty nine members (85%) participated. Almost 50% of the members judged the membership process as not being easy. About 80% of the respondents planned to maintain their AAO membership but almost 40% of the participants judged membership dues vs. benefits as high. Free subscription to Ophthalmology journal and free AAO annual meeting registration were the most valuable benefits from the members’ point of view and were reported to be used most as well. Notably, the majority of the participants was interested in E-services (90%) and had browsed the AAO website (85%).

Conclusion: Cost might be a deciding factor in membership but the ease of membership process and access to the services (actual benefit utilization) seem to be much more important; there is a considerable gap between usage and potential benefits for Iranian members i.e. attending AAO annual meeting; revision of international membership fee is highly desired.

Iranian Journal of Ophthalmology 2008;20(1):1-3