2010 John H. Gibbon Lecture. Just say yes!

Advancing anything requires change and a new method. It can be a challenge to bring about the change that you believe in. This change however requires you to plan and say no to the old way of doing things. Fortunately there is a positive way to say no whereby important needs are met. As Ury suggests, we need to focus on how the two opposing forces need to be addressed. There is your internal focus of what's important to you and the opposing external focus of others--what's important to them. We can't lose sight of this because when we do, we risk disrespecting others. As technicians we are in a unique position as perfusionists whereby we work closely with physicians and on occasion will direct them to perform tasks. Additionally, many other non-physicians are not familiar with our responsibilities. We need to make others knowledgeable of the education, skill, and passion we possess. I really enjoy what I do as a perfusionist and I am proud to be recognized for my team's contribution and of having received the Gibbon award. Bob Parsons, the CEO and founder of The Go Daddy Group, Inc., said "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time!" This all has been a real good time. Thank you. My Perfusion Team is currently: Barbara Elmer, Marie Kilcullen, Jim McVey, Marie Zanichelli, Junli Liu, Anthony Lamonica, Karen Hussey, Lilia Voevidko, Haleh Ebrahimi, Sergey Savy, Akilah Richards, Diana Froehlich.