AOS MEMBERSHIP NEWS Member Challenge: Help Us Expand the Reach of AOS To my distinguished colleagues, I am very humbled and honored to serve as your AOS president for the upcoming year. First, I want to thank my predecessor, Dr. Kimm Suter, for her outstanding leadership and helping to positively guide the AOS through challenging times. I would also like to offer thanks to Tom Chapman, Barbara Zuniga and Porter Lyon who have done an outstanding job at the helm of our society keeping us on course by watching the everyday “nuts and bolts” of the organization. Secondly, I need to express my gratitude to all of our instructors who are the soul that guides the AOS. Last but not least, I’d like to thank all those board members and presidents that have gone before me: please know that I realize that I’m stand-ing on the shoulders of giants, and that not only humbles me, but also challenges me to give my best effort toward continuing the tradition of great achievements that has characterized the AOS throughout its history. Challenging times are always what any institution needs to scan and watch for as they appear on the hori-zon. So, to prepare, we should always seek to reinvent ourselves in light of new technologies that develop and continue to teach orthodontics to our colleagues and members. We need to be creative and look inward as much as possible to become fully aware of all the great opportunities the AOS offers to its new and not-so-new members since these distinguish us from everyone else. We should never be content with just being one of the leading organizations in the USA that teaches both beginner and advanced levels of orthodontics to general and pediatric dentists. We must continue to open our doors to anyone and embrace those who wish to join from the USA or abroad. Striving to better ourselves by expanding and fine-tuning our educational programs and staying abreast of the changing orthodontic landscape will allow us to reach a larger number of dentists with all we have to offer as we continue to be a reliable supplier of continuing education for all our members. My stretch goal for this year is to increase our membership by 200 doctors with a large percentage of these coming to orthodontics for the first time, but also reaching out to those practitioners who want to achieve a more advanced level of knowledge and Allan Rotberg, DDS AOS President expertise in this amazing field. A challenge, for certain, but attainable with outstanding courses and creative marketing that offers specific and well detailed advantages for prospec-tive and current members of the society. In partnership with our board of directors, the educational and executive committees, with all our instructors, and with all our members, we will look for more innovative ways to reach our dental audience. I anticipate a stronger emphasis on digital marketing and social media, with enhancements to our website becoming the primary means to reach new members. In addition, we will also seek to attract new members in a cooperative way through "orthodontic couriers" to provide affordable one-day lectures within the USA to any pediatric or general dental organizations in any state who would like to have us teach specific subjects of their choosing (from a menu we offer them) in orthodontics to their members. This will also allow us to spread the word about the AOS. The benefits to all that choose to practice orthodontics include growing practices, happier patients, and a more professional satisfaction. The more successful we are at spreading the word about who we are and what we can provide, the more growth we will experience and financial matters will take care of themselves. I challenge you to help AOS achieve our stretch goal for this year and to refer at least one colleague to one of AOS courses or to join the membership. From that commitment will come growth, and growth provides more opportunities for learning and teaching. I encourage you to share your ideas with me about what makes our teaching of orthodontics special by writing to me at allan_rotberg@dientitos. Thank you for your confidence in me and for your loyalty to the Ameri-can Orthodontic Society. Allan Rotberg, DDS Have You Heard the OrthoSmiles Podcasts? Check out this collaboration when Dr. Ed Gonzalez teams up with Dr. Leonard Carapezza to bring you a family interview in a recent OrthoSmiles podcast. In the summer release of this publication, Dr. Carapezza presented a scientific article about his Class III genetic treatment of three triplets from age 3 to 20 years of age. Now, hear the parents and children talk about their treatment and experiences. https://tinyurl.com/y5p6gjty www.orthodontics.com Fall 2019 45
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society Fall 2019: Page 45
