Strengthening Our Specialty This Summer and Beyond
Fellow Diplomates, Colleagues, and Friends,
Summer is my favorite season—a time of warmth, vitality and an opportunity to recharge. Although this is often the busiest time of the year for our specialty, I hope you are able to set aside time with your loved ones to relax and renew. As I think ahead, I am inspired by the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” These words are a meaningful reminder about the importance of dedication, compassion, and service in our profession.
To serve others through meaningful work is a great privilege. The path we have chosen as surgeons requires years of relentless commitment and carries the profound responsibility entrusted to us by our patients, families, and communities. Every day, we aim to relieve suffering, restore function, offer hope, and improve lives. The greatest reward of this life’s work is not prestige, recognition, or title. It is purpose.
Serving the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS) is among the greatest honors of my career. I humbly thank each of you for placing your trust in me to lead this incredible organization as President. I have just returned from the AAOMS Board of Trustees meeting in Big Sky, Montana, where leadership convened from ABOMS, AAOMS and OMSNIC. Together we shared insights and coordinated efforts to advance our specialty to new levels of excellence. Now more than ever, we are united by the belief that our specialty must continue to evolve, lead, and serve at the highest level.
Achieving and maintaining Board Certification remains the gold standard of professional accomplishment in our specialty and affirms a commitment to lifelong learning. In February, the Board, along with our exceptional Examination Committee, successfully administered another OCE in Raleigh, North Carolina. We are delighted to welcome 270 new Diplomates as Board-Certified Surgeons and congratulate them all on this milestone in their professional careers.
The ABOMS Board has been hard at work on several initiatives over the past few months. Most notably, we continue to work with ACGME and CODA to explore dual accreditation for our specialty. At the present time ACGME has convened a task force to specifically examine the pathway forward. We look forward to continuing to work with both groups to facilitate this in the future. To address the issue of unmatched residency positions, this year the ABOMS Board elected to support dental students interested in OMS by providing vouchers to cover the expense of CBSE preparation. We received an overwhelmingly positive response with many applications received from eligible dental students. Additionally, we are modernizing the Certificates of Added Qualifications programs in Oral/Head and Neck Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery and Cleft and Craniomaxillofacial Surgery to represent a recognition of a subspeciality area of practice. In April, we underwent a Strategic Planning process with input from our Diplomates, past and current examiners, and several key stakeholders including AAOMS and ADA to inform and align the Board’s strategic priorities for our future. We are working on the final stages of our strategic plan which will be made available to our Diplomates in the near future.
The future of our specialty will depend on the willingness of talented individuals to step forward and serve. It will depend on leaders who are willing to contribute their expertise, engage in thoughtful discourse, and make difficult decisions for the betterment of the profession and the protection of the public. To those who currently serve on our Examination Committee and in leadership roles, I offer my deepest gratitude. Your work matters, and your contributions have lasting impact. To those considering service, I encourage you to answer that call. Bring your experience, your judgment, your integrity, and your very best efforts. And, encourage your most talented colleagues to do the same. From my earliest days as an examiner to the privilege of serving in leadership, I have witnessed the extraordinary dedication of those who give their time, talent, and wisdom in service to our specialty and the public we are entrusted to protect.
Thank you for your commitment to our patients, to our specialty, and to one another.
Yours in service,
Deepak Kademani DMD MD FACS
President, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
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