Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022 - 10

Editorial
(2) time commitment of AAO leaders, and (3) viability
of Annual Sessions.
1. It has become obvious that the current system is
creating an imbalance of power. The range of a
term of a delegate in the HOD ranges from 3 years
to a lifetime, with five of eight constituents having
a limit of 10 years or fewer and three with no limit.
A third-year senior delegate in one constituent
may still be viewed as " new " by other constituents
serving indefinitely, possibly limiting those
constituents from ever assuming real authority in
the HOD.
2. The time commitment for AAO leaders is considerable.
With eight constituents, each having a
trustee who rises through the ranks to eventually
become president, it is a 10-year commitment.
This doesn't take into account the number of
years that individual served as a component and
constituent representative in order to eventually
be elected trustee. Norm Nagel, current AAO
president-elect, is a good example of this. Norm
first served the California Association of Orthodontists
(CAO) as an officer for 4 years (1992-1997).
He served the PCSO as a director, officer, and
delegate for 12 years (2000-2012). He was elected
Trustee for the AAO from PCSO in 2013, so is currently
in his ninth year with the AAO. One benefit
to merging constituencies would be to reduce
the number of years one has to commit to serving
the AAO.
3. Our Annual Sessions are facing increased competition
from private and industry groups, with
smaller meetings having a hard time being profitable.
It is more difficult to attract sponsors and
attendees. This situation also resulted in the three
former PCSO sections no longer holding regional
meetings, which were very popular at one time.
PCSO and RMSO leadership started serious discussions
about a possible merger of the two societies
in 2019. As part of those discussions, joint Annual
Sessions were planned for 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The 2019 Annual Session occurred in Hawaii, and
2020 was virtual due to COVID-19 and co-sponsored
by RMSO, the Midwestern Society of Orthodontists
(MSO), and SWSO-four constituents. The 2021 Annual
Session was virtual with RMSO. The 2022 spring
continuing education meeting was held jointly with
RMSO, and the 2022 Annual Session will be a joint
in-person meeting in San Diego as well. However,
in a dramatic twist, RMSO and PCSO did not extend
their original agreement, so RMSO and MSO are now
planning a joint Annual Session in 2023.
One approach to improving the situation would be
to have the Council of Constituents " focus on creating
standardization " between constituents. Other goals
would be to reduce the number of meetings, which
is strongly supported by vendors, and to further consider
joint meetings. However, the pending merger of
SAO and SWSO has led many to believe those changes
won't be enough. Hence, the AAO TF has come
up with several options for reorganization that might
mitigate the imbalance and inequity that might occur
with the SAO-SWO merger. Options considered by
the TF included the following:
□ Option A: Reduce constituents from eight to four.
This option would see SAO and SWSO merge (19
delegates), Northeastern Society of Orthodontists
(NESO) and Middle Atlantic Society of Orthodontists
(MASO) merge (15 delegates), PCSO stay as
is (12 delegates), and Great Lakes Association of
Orthodontists (GLAO), MSO, and RMSO merge (18
delegates). The benefits of this reorganization option
are that the number of meetings is reduced by
half, the meetings are stronger and larger with more
resources, and there is a better balance of power.
Option A also considered five constituents, but the
delegates would not be balanced and hence would
not create equity and balance in the HOD.
□ Option B: This option is called the Mega Mergers
and is considered three constituents. PCSO, RMSO,
MSO would merge (23 delegates); SAO and SWSO
would merge (19 delegates); and GLAO, NESO,
and MASO (22 delegates) would merge. The
benefit would be fewer meetings (reduced from
eight to three), which would be larger and have
more resources.
Of major concern is that any changes must create
equity in the HOD. Kam Olfert, who represents
PCSO on the TF, reminds us that we are doing this to
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PCSO Bulletin Spring 2022
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022
