Aims and Purposes

The COMET (Communication, Medicine and Ethics) Society (http://www.cometsociety.com) has been officially launched at the 5th COMET conference at Lugano (Switzerland), 28th – 30th June 2007. The Society is aimed at strengthening and sustaining a multidisciplinary network of researchers, educators, healthcare professionals and research students. Its objective is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and the promotion of the study of communication-oriented research and development within the broad fields of healthcare.

The successful launch in 2003 of a series of annual international COMET conferences (http://www.cf.ac.uk/encap/newsandevents/events/conferences/comet2009.html), together with the publication of the journal Communication & Medicine since 2004
(http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/CAM), provide two important grounds for the establishment of such a Society.

The COMET Society will increase visibility of this unique community of interdisciplinary scholars and their shared ‘passions’ through a carefully tailored free-access website that maximizes dialogue between research, education and healthcare sectors and the wider public.

The COMET Society is co-ordinated by Srikant Sarangi (Health Communication Research Centre, Cardiff University, UK), Peter Schulz (Institute of Communication and Health, University of Lugano, Switzerland), Christopher N Candlin (Centre for Language in Social Life, Macquarie University, Australia), and Paul Crawford (Health Language Research Group, The University of Nottingham). The Society plans an Advisory Executive Board, which will include a representative from the publishers of Communication & Medicine. Initially, the Health Communication Research Centre, Cardiff University, will act as the host institution for the Society (http://www.cf.ac.uk/encap/research/hcrc).

Activities

To include:

• Support for the organisation and promotion of COMET conferences.
• Support for the organisation and promotion of workshops, summer schools, special sessions on key themes (e.g., project planning; getting published; curriculum development; public engagement; bibliographical resources etc.)
• Support for the further development of the journal Communication & Medicine.
• Support for research students to participate in COMET conferences, and related events, for example, through the provision of bursaries.
• Support for the development of online linkage and information/ideas exchange among members, through its website.
• Support for the establishment of collaborative projects with existing networks and associations in the field.

Several categories of membership are proposed:

• Individual (standard): for individual academics and researchers, healthcare professionals, and practitioners.
• Individual (student): for registered research students who need to present certification of their current status.
• Institutional: for recognised research centres and university/college departments; departments of medicine and healthcare; and professional associations.
• Institutional: for publishers and other commercial organisations in the fields of the Society.

Membership Benefits

• Provision of discounted subscription to the journal Communication & Medicine.
• Provision of discounted participation rates at the annual COMET conference and other associated events such as HCRC Summer Schools.
• Advance notification of the Call for Papers and other information about the annual international COMET conference and related regional/national events.
• Enabling of access to the COMET society listserv.
• Provision of regular email messages about special events and opportunities, as well as updates and additions to the Society website.
• Circulating of current listings of relevant employment/research opportunities.
• Opportunities for the promotion of relevant publications/programs at Society-related events and conferences.

Membership fee

This will be variable to reflect the different membership categories and associated benefits. For joining the Society go to:
http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/CAM/about/subscriptions

Coordinators

Srikant Sarangi ~ Cardiff University, United Kingdom

Christopher N. Candlin ~ Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Peter Schulz ~ Health Care Communication Laboratory, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

Paul Crawford ~ School of Nursing, University of Nottingham

Web Coordinator

Rupananda Misra ~ Columbia University, New York, USA

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