A LOOK AHEAD Dear Fellow Diplomates & Members, Over the past several years, under the leadership of your Board of Directors, led by numerous talented and visionary Presidents, this organization has been reshaping its focus to be more responsive to your needs. Four years ago, the Board approved the Strategic Plan which placed the primary mission of the AAPS to serving you and providing our Diplomats with quality Board Certification. To focus our energy and your financial resources on primary concerns, the Board conducted an analysis of the administration and operations of the AAPS. After careful analysis of operational efficiency, we identified opportunities, implemented changes for increased organizational efficiency, and effectiveness while decreasing the cost of doing business. These changes are allowing us to shift resources to activities in the organization that will have a direct impact on you and your ability to continue the practice of high-quality medicine. Over the past four years, since the Strategic Plan was approved, we have not only reached most of our short-term goals but have achieved them in advance or exceeded them. In addition, the cost saving measures we have taken have enabled us to refocus our efforts where it belongs, which is on our external affairs and recognition services. We are continuing to implement the Strategic Plan which includes an analysis of our finances and the development of metrics to help us measure the cost of business and ensure greater accountability. The past two years have challenged our organization. By being nimble and with great leadership, we were able to transition quickly acquiring better technology that meets the needs of our Diplomates. With COVID challenging much of what we do, our Tampa leadership and team rose to the occasion and quickly moved to virtual Academy and Board of Certification meetings seamlessly. In addition, we successfully executed virtual exams for boards with oral testing. Many of these changes may have taken much longer in a larger organization. We look forward to finding a balance between having opportunities for our leaders and Diplomates to meet face-to-face and managing other business aspects of the ABPS through more efficient and cost-effective platforms. Our Strategic Planning Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Judy Smith is working to evaluate the relevance of the strategic plan for today’s environment. They are prioritizing and implementing strategies outlined in the plan to continue to meet our Diplomate’s needs in this fast-paced new world we live in. Some of these strategies include strengthening our internal resources to provide more support to our members in areas of recognition and credentialing. We are providing greater support to our Boards of Certification by having one staff member dedicated to Board needs. We are evaluating the relevance of
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