Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2017 - 5

President's Message

Leadership at its Best
Dr. Paul Kasrovi
PCSO President 2016-2017

I have been a member of PCSO for many years
now. I can honestly say that I continue to be
impressed by the countless volunteers and leaders who step up to the plate when asked to help
lead the organization. I am proud to get to work
with many dedicated orthodontic professionals,
some of whose leadership paths have come
before mine, and others whose leadership I have
the privilege of helping to develop.
Over the past few months, we have worked to
put together several new task forces and evaluate current committees in order to find members
who can provide balanced and diverse perspectives to PCSO's important work. All of our committee assignments are now complete, and
conference calls and meetings are well underway.
These multiple groups will continue working
together to move our mission forward until the
2017 Annual Session. One of these groups is the
planning committee for the 2018 Annual Session,
which includes Drs. Kam Olfert (President-Elect),
Bryan Hicks (General Chair), Tom Merrill (Doctor
Program Chair), Mary Cooke (Staff Program CoChair), Payam Owtad (New and Younger Member), and myself (Local Arrangements Chair), as
well as Ms. LeeAnn Peniche (Staff Program CoChair). A select group will gather in Monterey in
June to select venues for our many exciting 2018
Annual Session events.
Engaging New and Younger Members
The future of our profession lies in the hands of
our new and younger members (NYM), and I am
thrilled to be able to offer committee positions to
NYM as part of our ongoing initiative to engage
these members and bring them into the fold of
PCSO leadership. Our Communications Committee, Critical Issues Task Forces, and Annual Session Planning Committee now include at least
one NYM as part of the team; going forward, the
PCSO delegation will include an NYM as well.
Your PCSO Board of Directors sets aside a dedicated non-voting seat for an NYM and includes

other NYM component directors at the table.
PCSO has a committee dedicated specifically
to NYM (chaired by Dr. Payam Owtad), as well
as an NYM Facebook group. Needless to say, it is
crucial that the voices of our up-and-coming
leaders be heard, and PCSO is at the forefront
of making this happen.
The AAO House of Delegates (HOD) also took
steps at its April meeting to address NYM issues.
You can read more about these in this issue's
Delegation Report. I am extremely proud of the
PCSO delegation and am delighted to be a part
of it. This group works diligently to ensure that
the voice of PCSO is heard at the AAO HOD. This
year, PCSO brought forward four resolutions,
including one to advance our financial literacy
presentation and program to the national level,
and make it available to all AAO resident members in the future.
Delegates Hard at Work
Although the members of this delegation rotate
each year, the hard work and dedication that
each of them brings to the table does not waver.
This year, we were privileged to once again have
Dr. Ron Wolk (Alberta) serve as the chair of our
delegation; we welcomed Dr. Marie Lathrop (Oregon) as a delegate and Dr. John Griffiths (Nevada)
as our new alternate delegate. In all, 9 of the 11
PCSO components were represented within the
delegation. PCSO had a representative on each of
the three reference committees at this year's
HOD. Drs. Tom Merrill and Bryan Hicks served as
reference committee members, and I was flattered to be asked to chair a reference committee.
In addition to our representation at the HOD, the
PCSO region provided over 50 distinguished
speakers to the doctor and staff programs of the
AAO Annual Session in San Diego. As the largest
constituent of the AAO, we take pride in continuing to be a significant contributor to the educational content of the AAO program.
continued on page 11

Summer 2017  PCSO Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2017