OBJECTIVES: To describe the findings from the 2020 ISPOR student member benefits survey and identify the core benefits valued by the students.

METHODS: The ISPOR student benefits survey was pre-established and is distributed every two years to the active student ISPOR members. The purpose of the survey is to understand the student perceived benefits of the ISPOR student, new professional membership, identify the drivers of transitioning from a student to a new professional member and collect any suggested future membership benefits to improve the student engagement. This survey was distributed via Survey Monkey with an open date of November 17, 2019 closed on July 14, 2020. Multiple reminders were sent via emails and other social media platforms until the survey closed. The number of questions was reduced from previous version and ‘skip logic’ was introduced to streamline the survey. Survey responses were extracted in Excel and descriptive analyses were performed.

RESULTS: Total of 281 complete responses were received with 131 (47%) of them being paid members. Regarding student benefits provided in the past, both paid members and non-members felt like the most useful benefits was the ISPOR travel grants and the discounted membership. For suggestions on future benefits, mentorship program (66%), catalog of research funding opportunities (63%), matching of a professional “Conference buddy” with a student at ISPOR conferences (54%) were most valued. To better assist a smooth transition from a student to a new professional, the most selected responses were if ISPOR can provide direct mentoring from HEOR professionals (31%), help in expanding connections (30%), and provide career development workshops (29%).

CONCLUSIONS: To expand the interests of students, discounted membership and ISPOR travel grant opportunities are expected to continue. Future potential benefits suggested for being ISPOR members include professional mentorship matching, database of funding opportunities and career development workshops.