WFO Executive Council Meeting

February 4, 2010
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
8:00 AM- 1:30PM

Preparations for this meeting began as early as September 2009 with Ms. Terri Wise of the WFO Secretariat emailing all the necessary documents pertaining to the forthcoming meeting. These included the Agenda, Minutes of the Previous Meeting, the Financial Report, the Secretary General’s Report and the President’s Report.   Hence the meeting which was presided by the Secretary General Dr. William de Kock (as President Athanasius had lost his voice), went smoothly and was finished in about an hour.

The main highlight of this third meeting of the Council in the WFO’s history was the election of the 10 WFO Executive Council members and the approval of amendments to the WFO’s Bylaws. Although ballots were given out, the nominated candidates were as good as “elected”. The same was true with the amendments. Dr. Halim Himawan replaces Dr. Ian Watson as the representative from our region. Dr. Roberto Justus is the President of the WFO 2010-2015 replacing Dr. Athanasius while Dr. William DeKock continues on as the Secretary General of the WFO 2010-2015.

The main highlight of this third meeting of the Council in the WFO’s history was the election of the 10 WFO Executive Council members and the approval of amendments to the WFO’s Bylaws.   Although ballots were given out, the nominated candidates were as good as “elected”. The same was true with the amendments.

Dr. Halim Himawan replaces Dr. Ian Watson as the  representative from our region. Dr. Roberto Justus is the President of the WFO 2010-2015 replacing Dr. Athanasius while Dr. William DeKock continues on as the Secretary General of the WFO 2010-2015.

The endeavors of the WFO during the past years were noted:
The WFO was formed at the 4th IOC in San Francisco by 69 organizations from 62 countries on May 15, 1995.  The WFO now consists of 108 organizations from 104 countries and more that 8000 orthodontic specialists or postgraduate students who have become WFO members.  This clearly indicates the overwhelming confidence and respect that national and regional orthodontic groups throughout the world have for the WFO.

The following are the 5 main accomplishments of the WFO Executive Committee 2005-2010:

1. The affiliation of the Chinese Orthodontic Society (COS) with the WFO at the end of 2008.
2. The approval and adoption of a detailed prototypic orthodontic curriculum for Postgraduate studies that was prepared and submitted by the Task Force on Guidelines for Postgraduate Orthodontic Education. This task force, formed in 2006, consisted of individuals who are recognized orthodontic educators and represented regions with a high level of educational and practice standards regarding our specialty.
3. Having in mind the promotion of certification, the WFO Committee on National and Regional Orthodontic Boards was established and produced significant work. Drs. Roberto Justus and Abbas Zaher get credit for establishing a networking of all boards around the world and the development of guidelines and standards for supporting the development of new national and regional orthodontic certifying boards.
4. The preparation of the 7th IOC had been one of the top priorities of the WFO.
5. The WFO journal with its editor Dr. Rainier-Reginald Miethke in partnership with Quintessence Publishing will be made available free of charge to all the members of the WFO.

The one outstanding point that Dr. Willian De Kock stressed was that the WFO is a non-profit organization and therefore as such, wants to give back to its members some benefits, the orthodontic journal being one of them. It will be made available via the internet and hence the mechanics will be known to us in the near future.

The Taiwan Association of Orthodontists (TAO) through its President, Dr. Ching Huei Horng, expressed its disappointment with the procedure by which COS was accepted into the WFO and were equally surprised that they were the only ones that were “introduced and name tagged” without a country. Instead they were referred to as members of the TAO.

Dr. Paul Jonathan Sandler invited all to look forward to the 8th IOC in 2015 in London.

Crissie Camara Santayana
APOS Secretary General 2008-2010

PBO Chairman’s Report on the WFO Council Meeting:

The 7th International Orthodontic Congress of the WFO was held in Sydney, Australia on February 4-9, 2010.

Drs. Jose Rivera (APO President), Crisanta Santayana (APOS Secretary General), Robert Tan (Incoming APO President) and Ermelinda Sabater-Galang as PBO Chair and member of the WFO Committee on National and Regional Orthodontic Boards were delegates to the Congress.

There were about 3,289 Congress participants out of around 8000 WFO Fellows.

The WFO Council Meeting was held on February 4, 2010 at about 8:15 AM. Majority of the invited delegates (Councilors) were present, thereby declaring a quorum.

Since WFO President Athanasious had lost his voice, Dr. William de Kock, WFO Secretary General, presided the meeting.

All the Councilors received the documents for this meeting way in advance such as: the Agenda, President’s Report, Secretary General’s Report, Executive Council Report, Amendments to the By-laws and the list of new officers to be elected including their biodata. Hence, they went through the agenda very smoothly and speedily. Incoming officers were previously selected and so election was done through ballots for formality sake.

Comments and suggestions were entertained. The President of Taiwan Association of Orthodontists (TAO), Dr. Horng, gave an unfavorable comment on the minimum 24 months of Post Graduate Orthodontic Education as stated in the WFO Guidelines. However, in the Guidelines, 36 months was mentioned to be ideal and strongly encouraged. Dr. Horng preferred that 36 months should have been stated. Moreover, TAO expressed its disappointment with WFO for accepting China Orthodontic Society (COS) without its knowledge.

It was announced that the World Journal of Orthodontics (WJO) with Prof. Rainer Reginald Miethke as Editor-in-Chief will be available via internet free of charge to all WFO Fellows.

Every affiliate to the WFO was requested to submit By-laws proposals by December 31, 2011.

The WFO Council Meeting ended with Dr. Jonathan Sandler, London 2015 Chairman, inviting everyone to the 8th International Orthodontic Congress in London on September 27-30, 2015.

Although the meeting was scheduled from 8:00AM to 1:30PM, the meeting took only an hour much to our surprise. Thereafter, all Councilors proceeded to have an official group picture taken.

Ermelinda Sabater Galang
APO Representative
PBO Chair 2008-2010