Colleagues and friends, this effort marks a first for the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA), as we are reflecting on the past and looking into the future. I have the fortunate, or unfortunate, task—depending on how you look at it—of writing our society’s first published presidential address. Through the 12 years APSA has been in existence and participating in the Joint Meeting, the presidents of American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP) have bequeathed upon our generation knowledge of their experiences and forebearers in the form of these presidential addresses. Today, through the diligent work of my predecessors, is the first time the trainee voice will appear alongside that of these other prestigious societies. I chose this title,“Why societies?” for a very particular reason. This year, Nobel laureate Michael Brown delivered his Lasker-APSA lecture,“Why prizes?” at the Joint Meeting (1). In his address, Dr. Brown made an argument for the importance of prizes in science. As he put it,“In my opinion, prizes are beneficial because [they show] society values scientific discovery. When the President of the United States welcomes American Nobel Prize laureates to the White House, he elevates scientists to nearly the same status as NCAA basketball champions. Such publicity may inspire young people to realize that science is valued.” However, he then suggested that prizes should be more or less unimportant. Dr. Brown says this in part because he believes the best of science occurs when we are driven by our intrinsic desire to understand the world around us. I believe this speaks not simply to prizes but also to the purpose and recent progress of medical specialty societies including APSA. How so? Are societies and prizes truly important for the progress of medicine and science? Or is there an “internal driver” that should be more important? Well, I will not make you wait too long for the answers to these questions. I believe societies are extremely important in driving change. Societies are so important that I believe we all should desire to be involved in some aspect of them (be that as members or leaders). However, like prizes, societies are not without downsides. I am going to focus on the attributes of these societies with regard to trainees and the preparation of our (the next) generation of (physician-) scientists. Over the last few decades, there has been a rapid expansion of highly specific disease and/or medical societies and their related meetings. What purpose do these societies serve for scientists and the lay community? This question could be answered in a many-page response; however, I believe at their heart the creation of these organizations allows for the advocacy of science and medicine to other practitioners and the broader lay community. Moreover, medical specialty societies provide a platform for practitioners to interact with their peers within their field, a goal and outcome all of us can support. From a strictly trainee perspective, many of these societies have devoted tremendous time and energy to creating or sponsoring policies that support us. When I think about societies that have been successful in investing in the next generation, I do not have to think too hard. The ASCI and AAP, through this Joint Meeting, have devoted time and resources to the development and mentoring of us trainees by giants of medicine. The connections we make and scientific luminaries we meet amongst the ASCI and AAP membership both inspire us in a general sense and provide specific examples of career successes we can look to as we begin our own career journeys. These close interactions …