President’s MessageI am truly honoured to have been elected as the President of the ASD for 2023-24. This is my second time in three years as your President, and I am so grateful that you have the confidence in me to lead the ASD again. I want to thank Dr. Xavier Gutierrez (our Immediate Past President) for all the hard work he has put in on behalf of ASD over the past several years. I’d also like to thank Dr. Walter Chitwood (2023 Local Symposium Chair) for his tireless efforts in organizing and promoting the Nashville Symposium. This year’s Symposium was very successful and much fun! The Symposium couldn’t have been put on without the great financial support from our numerous Exhibitors and Sponsors, our amazing lecturers, and the hard-working Symposium Committee, including our three fabulous administrators. I am fully aware that good leaders surround themselves with a great team. We have a fantastic group of board members who will work tirelessly on your behalf. Supporting our board and all our members are Mr. Jim Whitehead (ASD CEO), Kate Cole (Executive Secretary), and Sarah Kragness (Event Planner). We also receive much guidance and leadership from Past Presidents, Past Board Members, Fellows, and Distinguished Members. The success of ASD goes far beyond the board and administration. We need all of our members to contribute so that ASD will continue to grow. How can you help, you might wonder? We have numerous committees which are listed on our website. Please take the time to look them over and let us know if you would like to help on a committee. Everyone has strengths in certain areas, and some of you may have contacts in key places (“think outside the box”). I urge you to email me personally at [email protected] if you are interested in helping. If you know of someone influential who could help us with one of our projects either through time or financially, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We want to grow our membership base. I consider each one of you to be ASD Ambassadors. Please let your colleagues, dental schools, athletic trainers, coaches, dental hygienists, dental labs, and anyone else you can think of know about the benefits of being an ASD Member. I also urge you to talk about Sports Dentistry to your patients and consider giving talks or lectures at Dental Schools, Dental Hygiene Schools, to parent groups, athletic trainers, and athletes. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking in public, then to make it easier, you should consider purchasing the ASD PowerPoint slide series. You can also reach out to Kate or me, and we can have someone from our board call you and give you some pointers. We could also give you the name of someone who could present with you or on your behalf. We want to make it easy for you! I attended my first ASD Symposium in 1996, a year after graduating from the University of Manitoba Dental School, and I have been a member since then. I have learned so much through ASD and the people I have met along the way at symposiums. I have lifelong friends through ASD going back over 25 years. In closing, I’d like to give a big shout-out to four people who have influenced me not just in Sports Dentistry but have helped make me a better person. In no particular order, they are the Legendary Dr. Jack Winters, Dr. David Kumamoto, Dr. Enrique Amy, and Dr. Doug Lambert. They have been and continue to be great leaders in ASD. Countless other members have positively impacted me and the ASD, but I don’t have enough space to list their names here. But no one has impacted my life more than my parents, my wife, my son, and all my teachers and professors over the years. I thank you again and I look forward to your help and the growth of ASD! Hans M. Stasiuk, DMD, FASD |
