As I end my term as your Immediate Past President I consider my journey with awe. It has certainly been a life-transforming journey for me and I hope that in some small way I have touched your professional life. I truly believe that the role of a leader is to empower those that he/she leads. Empowerment can come at many different levels but the foundation of empowerment is awareness. It is my hope that as your outgoing leader I have improved your awareness in the areas of legislative and regulatory issues that shape our practice and reimbursement and your awareness of how research can be combined with your clinical expertise and your patients' values to obtain the best possible outcomes. It is my hope that I have lead you by example in these areas and helped to provide you with the tools to grow through your professional society. My challenge to you is that with the power of awareness and the tools needed to make a difference comes responsibility to make a difference. I hope all of you will meet my challenge and continue to grow personally and professionally and that ASHT can be the tool to assist you in that growth. Thank you all for the opportunity to serve and I look forward to seeing all of you at meetings in the future.
Jerry J. Coverdale
Immediate Past President ( for 2 more months)
