It is with tremendous pride that I have served this past 20 months as the founding chair of the American Board of Disaster Medicine. When first approached in 2005 prior to Hurricane Katrina to assist with the formation of the American Board of Disaster Medicine I was humbled that my colleagues in the nescient field of disaster medicine would entrust to me the creation of the standard by which we would all be measured.
In my time of service, I have had the opportunity to fulfill several lifelong dreams. The first was to leave a small fingerprint on what will become a medical legacy. Like a small child giddy with joy at placing his thumbprint on a handmade Christmas card that would go on to become a family heirloom, my time of service has given me the opportunity to leave a small mark on a new specialty and a new profession.
I have also had the opportunity to spend time with individuals who are heroes to me in the formative years of my own career. I have found these individuals to be incredibly giving of their time, energies, talents, resources and wisdom. They have been my mentors in the past and have continued to be so during these last 20 months. The thing that was most striking of them was their humanity and their humility. Each has reached a level of fame far beyond anything I could ever dream and yet they seek no accolade and no acknowledgement beyond knowing that they too were a part of creating this most new and necessary profession.
Finally, I had the opportunity to work with the finest minds that multiple medical specialties and the medical contingency planning profession had to offer. These individuals have made their careers, in most cases two and three times over, honoring success not only in a medical specialty but in the military, the legal profession, the emergency management profession, business, or health care administration. At the turn of the 19th century there was a phrase "Captains of Industry". These individuals are truly the "Captains of Medicine."
Now at the end of my time of service I welcome to assume the gavel and the chair Dr. David McCann. For many years Dr. McCann has been a friend, a colleague, and a trusted advisor. For the last 20 months he has toiled tirelessly to build this new specialty and in many cases help me keep my political head as our new board of certification struggled to find its place in the greater house of medicine. As this morning dawns on Dr. McCann's term as chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine I know that I place this newest of medical specialties in the hands of the man most capable of taking our infant specialty and ushering it into adulthood. With Dr. McCann’s steady hand guiding us, we will stand head and shoulders above the other members of the medical specialties family.
It is has been my greatest honor to humbly serve the medical profession, the American public, my nation and the American Board of Disaster Medicine as its founding chairperson.
Thank You for the Opportunity and the Honor.
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