What Does SHEA Membership Include?

Updated

SHEA (the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, shea-online.org) is a professional society focused on infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship. Membership connects you to education, guidelines, journals, events, and career resources in healthcare epidemiology. The exact benefits depend on your membership category, and some resources (such as certain publications or the SHEA Store) may be separate purchases rather than included access.

Education and training

  • SHEA LearningCE — continuing education offerings tied to the society's education and training programs.
  • eLearning courses, such as the interactive Penicillin Allergy Management course, which covers allergy history taking, risk assessment using validated instruments, allergy testing, and delabeling.
  • Education & Training resources aimed at professional development in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention.

Guidelines and clinical resources

SHEA produces guidance that members can use in practice:

  • Guidance Compendium and Pocket Guidelines.
  • Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription — note that this appears as a subscription item, so confirm whether it is included with your membership tier or purchased separately.
  • SHEA Guidelines Print Bundle — a physical product, typically a separate purchase.
  • Topic resource areas including Infection Prevention Programs, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Diagnostic Stewardship, Outbreak Preparedness and Response, Implementation Science, and Public Health Research.

Journals and member content

  • ICHE (Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology) and ASHE (Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology) journals.
  • Journal Club and SHEA Spotlight.
  • eToC Alerts Signup and the Compendium Podcasts.
  • MySHEA member area and News updates.

Events and networking

  • SHEA Spring — the society's conference for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship professionals, with expert-led sessions, hands-on workshops, and training courses.
  • IDWeek — the joint annual meeting of IDSA, SHEA, HIMSA, and PIDS.
  • SHEA Research Network and SHEA Foundation involvement.

Career and recognition

  • Membership Advancement to Fellow of SHEA — a recognition path for eligible members.
  • Careers resources and Advocacy tools, including advocate training, emerging legislation and regulations, and priority issues.

Governance and community

  • Board of Trustees, Committee Chairs, and Strategic Plan information.
  • Healthcare Access, Inclusion and Representation initiatives and Guiding Principles for AI Usage.
  • Social channels: Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Instagram, Bluesky, and X.

How to decide

If your goal is clinical guidance and infection prevention tools, the guidelines and stewardship resources are the core value. If your goal is continuing education or credentialing, look at SHEA LearningCE and the Fellow of SHEA path. If your goal is networking and research, SHEA Spring, IDWeek, and the Research Network matter most. Because membership tiers and subscription items (like the Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription) can differ, check the Join SHEA page for the current category that matches your role before joining.