 | | Lawrence Ketch, MD |
Thank you for the unique privilege of serving as President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. I never anticipated that I would be serving the specialty in this capacity, and enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to work with the AAPS leadership and membership in moving the Association, and the specialty, forward. Over the course of the next year, I hope to continue the projects and proposals initiated by my predecessors and ensure that the AAPS continues to foster the highest standards of plastic surgery.
Our annual meeting continues to attract the highest caliber presentations and by modifying the schedule in 2010, we were able to include even more scientific papers and abstracts. We anticipate that the 2011 meeting will provide even more opportunities for scientific debate and collegiality and I urge you to join us in Boca Raton, Florida from April 9-12 for our 90th Annual Meeting.
Last year, we were fortunate to be able to continue to present the Academic Scholar Awards and to establish two new awards for Researchers of the Year. Initiatives like this take tremendous financial support from the Association and AAPS members. One of my goals for this coming year is the creation of an ad hoc Development Committee. The AAPS embarked on a relationship with industry in 2007 by adding a small exhibition floor during the Aesthetic Symposium which eventually expanded to include the Annual Meeting. The partnership resulted in a positive financial return for the Association and the Board agreed to continue the exhibit floor, ever mindful that it remain modest and never develop a “trade show” atmosphere. To further ensure that our fundraising and sponsorship efforts continue to reflect the high standards of the AAPS, we are establishing the ad hoc Development Committee to work with staff on large industry grants in support of the Annual Meeting. We are also asking the Committee to present specific ideas for larger grants to help support the overall educational mission of the Association. The funds raised may come from industry, private sources, or other related organizations and will be in addition to the funds raised by the Academic Scholar Endowment Committee.
We continue to review and update the Operations Manual, which governs the administrative structure of the AAPS. This year’s changes include an annual evaluation by all committee members and committee chairs of their respective committees; a requirement that new members must submit their annual dues prior to being introduced at the annual meeting; and a mandate that all Board members complete an annual disclosure form.
I urge you to visit the AAPS website www.aaps1921.org frequently for updates on the Association’s activities, including the 2011 Annual Meeting. I also draw your attention to the 2010 Annual Meeting archive where you can not only read the papers presented, you can watch the slides and listen to each presenting author, speaker, panelist and guest lecturer. If you attended the meeting, this will give you the unique opportunity to revisit your favorite presentations. And while it does not replace attending the annual meeting, if you were not able to join us in San Antonio, you will benefit by reviewing the science you missed.
If you have any issues or concerns that you would like to bring to the attention of the AAPS leadership at its next meeting in October, please contact me via the Association’s Administrative Office, (978) 927-8330. I urge all AAPS members to stay involved in your organization and let us know what we can do to assist you.
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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PLASTIC SURGEONS
Highlights of the ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
San Antonio, Texas
Report of the President
Dr. Guyuron thanked everyone for the privilege of presiding as President of the Association for the past year and expressed his deepest gratitude to the Board for their hard work and support.
Dr. Guyuron summarized activities this past year reporting that one of the biggest changes made was the change of format to the Annual Meeting with the Opening Ceremony on Sunday afternoon allowing for more scientific presentations. He asked for a show of hands of those approving of this change and a great majority responded positively. He also announced that two new awards had been established – the Researcher of the Year Awards; one for basic/translational research and one for clinical research. In addition, the membership was asked to provide unanswered plastic surgery questions which will be posted on the AAPS website. An award of $15,000 will be given to support research for two of these unanswered questions. He indicated that these questions would be looked at as a subject of an Academic Scholar Award as well. He also indicated that a page on the AAPS website would be created outlining areas of research interest that individuals could reference when looking for a research project. Finally, he indicated that the Membership Committee was reviewing the criteria for membership to provide for a more in depth review that would set a higher bar so that the distinguished nature of AAPS membership would be maintained.
Report of the Secretary
Dr. David Larson, Secretary, reminded the membership to complete the online post meeting survey which would be sent to everyone in attendance immediately after the meeting. This was important not only for members to receive their CME credits, but it also provides valuable feedback for the Program Committee when formulating next year’s program.
AAPS membership continues to grow with current membership: 22 Distinguished Fellows, 209 Life Fellows and 534 Active Fellows for a total of 765 members.
The following members had left the active practice of plastic surgery and requested transfer to Life membership:
M. Haskell Newman, MD, Ann Arbor, MI
Raleigh R. White, IV, MD, Temple, TX
A moment of silence was observed for the following members who passed away since the last meeting:
James W. Davis, MD, Vonore, TN
Saul Hoffman, MD, New York, NY
Hal B. Jennings, MD, San Antonio, TX
Edward Newsome, MD, New Orleans, LA
Francis X. Paletta, MD, St. Louis, MO
Dr. Larson reported that the Board had received a report from Dr. Scott Levin, Chair of the Membership Committee, that there were 34 candidates including 4 second-time applicants and 4 third-time applicants that had completed their applications in a timely manner and fulfilled all the membership qualifications. In accordance with AAPS By-Laws all prospective candidates were presented in the Fall President’s Newsletter and presented to the Board for information and formal ranking prepared and distributed to all Active and Life Fellows. Based on membership scoring and Board recommendation, a slate of 16 candidates was selected for inclusion on the membership ballot. Dr. Larson thanked the members present for their vigorous efforts to continue to seek out the highest and best-qualified candidates for membership in AAPS.
Report of the Treasurer
Dr. Lin Puckett reported that the Association’s total assets as of December 31, 2009, totaled $2,669,903 with total liabilities of ($155,924). With total revenues of $647,171 and total disbursements of $604,800, the Association had a Net Cash Operating Total of $42,371. Dr. Puckett pointed out that the Net Income of $419,441 was significantly better than the prior year of ($756,381) at the time of the down economy. He iterated that the cash position of the Association was relatively strong and rebounding from the economic downturn last year.
Report of the Historian
Dr. Nicholas Vedder, Historian, presented a brief informational report thanking Dr. Stephan Ariyan for his Herculean efforts to finalize the agreement between the Countway Library and the various plastic surgery organizations to house the National Archives of Plastic Surgery at the Countway. The Countway Library will finance the maintenance of the plastic surgery collection of the NAPS and would hold the copyright of any publications that did not already have a copyright. The members applauded Dr. Ariyan for his efforts.
Report of Committees
Academic Scholar Endowment Committee
Dr. William Kuzon, Chair, reported that the Association was happy to be able to fund two Academic Scholars this year thanks to another grant from PSRS. He indicated that in spite of the economic downfall in 2009, the Association was in relatively good fiscal shape. He informed the membership that, due to the economy, fundraising efforts this year had been minimal but that they would more actively pursue contributions in the coming year. He thanked everyone for their contributions and encouraged all members to please continue their support of the Academic Scholar Program. This effort is essential to the AAPS’ role as a leader in giving back to the next generation of plastic surgeons.
Program Committee
Dr. Arun Gosain, Chair, thanked his Program Committee for their hard work this year. He reported that 254 abstracts were received this year and with the format change they were able to accept 42 papers which is 16.5%, the highest percentage of papers accepted. They also accepted 35 posters with 22 of them resident posters.
He reported pre-registration of 372 professional attendees and 43 guests/spouses with 23 professional and 3 guests/spouses on site for a total of 441.
Report of the Nominating Committee
Dr. Raymond Morgan presented the report of the AAPS Nominating Committee. He reported that after careful consideration, the AAPS slate of officers for the year 2010-2011 was as follows:
| President-Elect | William Kuzon, MD |
| Vice President | David L. Larson, MD |
| Past President | Bahman Guyuron, MD |
| Secretary | Stephan Ariyan, MD |
| Treasurer | C. Lin Puckett, MD |
| Historian | Nicholas Vedder, MD |
| Trustees | Linda Phillips, MD
James Zins, MD |
VOTED to elect Drs. Dennis J. Lynch and Howard N. Langstein to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2011.
Dr. Guyuron asked Dr. Lawrence Ketch to come to the podium to accept the AAPS gavel. Dr. Ketch thanked Dr. Guyuron for his service to AAPS as President during the past year. He expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of the AAPS leadership and members to Dr. Guyuron for an excellent year.
Dr. Ketch informed the membership that he planned to establish an ad hoc Development Committee charged to develop a fundraising campaign for the Association. He also commented that he would work on having tennis and golf at Boca Raton next year.
Dr. Ketch invited Dr. Julia Terzis to come to the podium as the incoming President of EURAPS. Dr. Terzis invited everyone to go to the EURAPS annual meeting next year in Mykonos, Greece, June 2-4, 2011.
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