Dear AAMP Family,

It is indeed an honor and privilege to serve as your President for this upcoming year. I would like to thank Dr. Hofstede for her excellent leadership as President of the Academy last year and Dr. Wilson for his organization of the impressive program in San Diego. The AAMP is strong, both financially and with a growing membership. The next year ahead will be exciting, as we launch several new initiatives.

This year we will continue to move forward with sub-specialty designation, with appreciation to Co-Chair Dr. Colebeck. This designation supports our efforts on three specific fronts. First, increased reimbursement of our services will be the focus of the Insurance and Oral Health committee (Chair Dr. Bigsby). Sub-specialty designation will also clarify or educate our medical colleagues to differentiate among a general dentist, a specialist in prosthodontics and a fellowship-trained prosthodontist through the Public and Professional Relations committee (Chair Dr. Zemick). The third area where sub-specialty designation may contribute is the AAMP’s work in obtaining a benchmark for institutional salaries for maxillofacial prosthodontists (Past President Davis). Many other initiatives continue through the hard work of the following committees: Auditing (Chair Dr. Guillory), Awards and Nominating (Chair Dr. Hofstede), By-Laws (Chair Dr. Osswald), Education Standards (Chair Dr. Colebeck), Historical and Archives (Chair Dr. Wagner) and Ethics-Medico-Legal (Chair Dr. Kase).

We are excited to launch several new initiatives, with the aim of accomplishing them this year. Here are but a few of them: (1) The committee leadership structure has been refined to initiate a clearer pathway toward leadership within the AAMP; (2) Past President Dr. Gerngross and President Elect Dr. Wilson will lead us in a strategic planning process; (3) A new Virtual Webinar committee (Chair Dr. Davilla) has been formed to continue free webinar sessions for our members and current prosthodontic residents; and (4) The International Relations committee (Chair Dr. Kiat-Amnuay) will explore the possibility of hosting a combined overseas meeting in Asia. This specific initiative aligns with our long-term plans to internationalize the AAMP, together with efforts by the Strategic Alliances committee (Chair Dr. Nayar).

Our new Executive Secretary Treasurer Dr. Hutten has hit the ground running, co-leading three teams. The Financial team consists of the Corporate Liaison (Chair Dr. Cardoso) and Investment (Chair Dr. DiFazio) committees. The Communication team includes Website and Social Media (Chair Dr. Nayar), eCommunication (Chair Dr. Aponte-Wesson), and Memorial (Chair Dr. Zemick) committees. The Membership team is comprised of Student Membership (Chair Dr. Muller), Fellowship (Chair Dr. Kelly) and Federal Service (Chair Dr. Tomsett) committees. Thank you all for your commitment. In addition, our dues campaign is underway, with a slight increase of $50, due to inflation. With no dues increase for the past eight years, your Board of Directors appreciates your understanding.

Finally, we look forward to our 2024 Annual Session in Marco Island, Florida, where we renew friendships and gain new treatment insights. The session theme of this exciting meeting is “The World of Maxillofacial Prosthetics”, which will be chaired by our Vice President Dr. DiFazio, and supported by our Poster Competition (Chair Dr. Somohano-Marquez), Silent Auction (Chair Dr. Srivastava), and the Time and Place (Chair Dr. Hutten) committees.

Please contact me or any of the Board of Directors to provide feedback or suggestions how we can further serve you, our valued membership. Here’s to an exciting year ahead!

In service and friendship,

Alvin G. Wee, DDS, PhD, MPH
President, American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics