In Chicago at the most recent quarterly meeting of the AASM Board of Directors, we reviewed reports from our committees and task forces, and we discussed ongoing projects of importance to the membership. You can download the 2019 third-quarter report for a summary of key decisions made at the meeting and highlights of other recent AASM initiatives. You also can visit the President’s Report webpage for an archive of previous reports.
The Board reviewed the preliminary report from the membership survey that was conducted for us in the spring by Tecker International. I am thankful for each of our members who took the time to complete the survey and provide valuable feedback for us. We had an outstanding response rate of 15% from individual members and 17% from facility members. In addition to facilitating the survey, Tecker conducted nine focus groups with AASM members at SLEEP 2019 in June and has performed a series of qualitative telephone interviews with individual members over the last two months. All this information was used to guide the Board’s strategic planning session over the weekend of Sept. 14-15. Then the final strategic plan will be approved by the Board during our next quarterly meeting in October. I look forward to sharing the strategic plan with you along with results from the diversity and inclusion survey and the membership survey.
As I complete the first quarter of my term as AASM president, I remain deeply humbled and incredibly excited to be in this position. I am passionate about the AASM, and I recognize that this organization has played a significant role in advancing the sleep field over the past four decades. Like many of you, I also have strong opinions about what the AASM should be doing, and what it could be doing better. I will continue to work together with my colleagues on the Board of Directors to address the issues that our most important to our membership.
As you identify ways in which the AASM could be a better professional resource for you, I encourage you to share your thoughts with me at kcarden@aasm.org.
Kelly A. Carden, MD, MBA
President
