President's Message

As rooted as we are in the traditions of our Society, the last many months have been a time of very significant changes. First and foremost, one year ago, the Northeastern Society instituted a spring workshop, hosted by the Yale Club in New York City. This year, our second annual workshop entitled “Mastopexy for Cosmetic and Reconstructive Purposes” will be offered on March 1 at the Yale Club. Under the direction of our Program Chairs, Louis Bucky, M.D., and Charles Thorne, M.D., this promises to be an innovative, intimate, educational, and thoroughly worthwhile way to spend a Saturday.

As we enter our 25th year, we are also entering an age of increased utilization of the internet and technology by your society. Your Board of Directors has chosen to direct a significant amount of our resources towards developing the full potential of the electronic medium to serve our membership to the best of our ability. Whether by providing an easier mechanism to pay annual dues or by providing valuable access to educational materials, we anticipate that our website, www.nesps.org, will become a much more user friendly modality. Drs. Stephen Chidyllo and John Girotto have, in their capacities as Co-Chairs of the Membership Committee, devoted a significant amount of their personal energies to help advance this initiative. For their efforts, the Society is truly grateful.

As you can see, these “interesting times” involve a significant change for the Northeastern Society. Not the least of these changes has been the change in management. After eighteen years at the management helm of the Northeastern Society, Ms. Catherine Foss and CMA have elected to concentrate their efforts on other societies, most notably the Research Council and the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Our Society has grown significantly over the past 25 years, in no small part due to the efforts of Ms. Foss and her co-workers. For this, the Northeastern Society will forever be in Ms. Foss’s debt and wishes her continued success in her future endeavors.

After considering multiple proposals from many management organizations, the Board has decided to engage Professional Relations and Research Institute (PRRI), which also serves the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, to help the Northeastern Society advance its agenda into the future. Our new management team will consist of: Donna Kohli, Executive Director, Rebecca Bonsaint Administrative Director, April Conti, Meeting Manager and Jill West, Meeting Coordinator. The Board is exited about partnering with this very energetic and knowledgeable group. We have high expectations and are very excited about the prognosis for the health of our society as this new relationship develops.

Your Board of Directors would like to thank each and every member of the Society for your support. We invite you to express any questions or your concerns at any time. We ask that you encourage your colleagues who are not members of our Society to consider the benefits offered to the membership of the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons, recalling that “in numbers there is strength”. Finally, we encourage you to consider attending the spring workshop in New York City on March 1, 2008 as well as our 25th meeting in Philadelphia this fall.

I thank you all for the honor of serving as your 25th president and look forward to meeting the challenges and affording the society additional opportunities for growth in the year to come!

Robert X. Murphy, MD, FACS
NESPS President