(Adopted by NYSSA House of Delegates, December 12, 1994)

(updated as of December 14, 2003)

Members of the NYSSA are encouraged to serve the interests of the specialty and its practitioners by participating in activities of the Society. Participation includes, but is not limited to, serving as a member of an NYSSA Committee, as an NYSSA representative to another organization, or as one of the Society’s Directors or Officers. All of these represent positions of trust and require the exercise of independent personal judgment.

When NYSSA members agree to serve in any of these capacities, they are expected to avoid involving themselves in conflicts, or apparent conflicts, between their duties to the Society and the personal interest or duties they may have to other organizations. A conflict of interest may not disqualify an individual from rendering service to NYSSA but may necessitate an alteration in the member’s duties or disclosure of the conflict or apparent conflict so that the words or deeds of the member can be evaluated by others.

It is not possible to define all circumstances in which such a conflict of interest may arise. A conflict of interest can be assumed to exist when an NYSSA member or someone in the member’s immediate family is involved in a relationship or arrangement the terms of which may be inconsistent with, or appear to be inconsistent with, performance of the member’s duties or exercise or judgment on the Society’s behalf. A conflict may also involve exploitation of a member’s position with the Society for the purpose of contemporaneous financial gain.

To avoid such conflicts or apparent conflicts and to avoid exploitation of an Office, the Society maintains a mechanism by which members nominated for or holding NYSSA positions or serving on the executive staff are required to provide the society with information which may bear upon the members’ capacity to perform contemplated duties and exercise independent judgment on the Society’s behalf. The Society also requires that lecturers at NYSSA-sponsored scientific meetings disclose arrangements which could be viewed as affecting the objectivity of the lecturer’s presentation. There shall also be a mechanism allowing any NYSSA member to disclose the potential conflict of interest of a nominee for NYSSA office, an NYSSA officer, or lecturer at an NYSSA-sponsored scientific meeting.

Avoidance of conflicts requires constant sensitivity to the issue by all members and a willingness to disclose potential conflicts for review and appropriate resolution.

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