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Discourse Community Ethnography

Yazmine Slosar

University of Texas at El Paso

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According to John Swales, "A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public

goals." Swales, 1990, pg. 6 A discourse community is a group of people who share the same

goals and use communication to achieve these goals. The organization that I have chosen to write

about is The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology (ASPHO). I have chosen to

write about this specific organization because I would like to pursue an oncology pediatrician

career after medical school. The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology was

founded in 1981 and currently has 2,000 members. http://aspho.org/about/overview states that

their mission is "a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting the optimal care of

children and adolescents with blood disorders and cancer." There are many people involved in

The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology. Members of ASPHO include:

practitioners, fellows, faculty, investigators, hospitalists, physician assistants, advanced nurse

practitioners, and more.

I would like to be a member of The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

because it is exactly what I want to pursue a career in. Being in this organization would bring me

joy because I know that I could be helping children all over the United States. What motivates

me to reach this goal is knowing that when and if I do reach the point where I can become a

member, I could possibly change someone's life and that's what would bring me happiness.

A discourse community uses communication to get to their common goal and that's

exactly what ASPHO does. Swales third defining characteristic in discourse communities is, "A

discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and

feedback." ASPHO is a discourse community because they "offer a forum for the exchange of

ideas on issues and special interest and concern to people in the specialty, as well as a means for
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facilitating communication among members." (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2017, from

http://aspho.org/about/overview

John Swales sixth defining characteristic in discourse communities is, "A

discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant

content and discoursal expertise". In order to become a member of ASPHO, you must

have some knowledge about pediatrics, hematology, oncology, or all three. To join

ASPHO, most members must hold a MD, DO, PhD or equivalent degree. The "lowest"

membership is the ASPHO Trainee Membership which is available to any individual who

is pursuing training in a pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship.

Like all discourse communities, there are certain members who have authority in

said group. In the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology there is a Board

of Trustees that includes: president, vice-president/president-elect, immediate past

president, secretary/treasurer, and six directors at large. The member that has the most

authority in ASPHO's Board of Trustees is obviously the president. There is a lot of

communication in this organization because ASPHO is an organization that involves

research, education, treatment, and professional practice. In any of these different areas,

there will definitely be communication whether it be peer-to-peer, teacher-to-peer, doctor-

to-patient, and much more. ASPHO requires communication because that's how they

gather research, learn new things, and help each other.

My goal as a member of this organization would be to become as involved in

ASPHO as possible. I would like to be an oncology pediatrician with a lot of expertise so

that I would be able to help as many children as possible.

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There are many specialized terms that members in this organization need to know in

order to succeed. All of the members of ASPHO must have a degree in pediatrics, oncology,

hematology, or all three as I have mentioned before. If you know nothing about pediatrics,

oncology , or hematology there is a big chance that you will not understand anything that is

going on with The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.