September 2012
Name: Danielle Marquis School/Year: Pacific 2013 Position: District 11 Trustee One tip for first years: Get involved, and learn about the issues early. An opportunity to speak up for your profession may come up sooner than you think! If a mascot had to represent you - what would it be? Definitely a liger. If you could wear any scrub color, what would it be? After two years of business casual, I would be thrilled with scrubs in any color. If you could invent anything for dentistry, what would you invent? Ear buds (for dentist and patient) that selectively turn the sound of the handpiece into the sound of [insert happiest sound memory here]. Name: Kris Mendoza School/Year: UCLA 2015 Position: District 11 Secretary One tip for first years: Don't sweat the small things and try to have some fun! If a mascot had to represent you what would it be? The Argonauts If you could wear any scrub color, what would it be? Navy blue with a red and white logo because I'm currently watching the Olympics and feeling patriotic! If you could invent anything for dentistry, what would you invent? I would invent having a personal assistant for dental school... not so much an invention but a dream of mine. Name: Kulginder Sran School/Year: UCSF 3rd year Position: District 11 Legislative Chair One tip for first years: Ask upperclassmen for help on anything and everything If a mascot had to represent you - what would it be? An eagle, because we in ASDA fly high If you could wear any scrub color, what would it be? Why? Plain blue. Can't go wrong with tried and true. If you could invent anything for dentistry, what would you invent? Tongue tranquilizer
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Upcoming Events:
ASDA National Leadership Conference Nov 2-4 Chicago, Illinois ASDA Annual Session Mar 6-9 Atlanta, Georgia
Editors:
Tracy Mackoy USC School of Dentistry Class of 2014
Jennifer Yau UCLA School of Dentistry Class of 2013
assembly appropriations was in essence a fiscal kill of SB694. I would extend the opinion at this point that the work is just starting. There have been many questions raised in this process that have no simple answer; here are some Ive encountered:
Is NO care better than some care? In a thriving economy, would there be as much opposition to developing a new dental position? Would you allow a nondentist provider to treat YOUR loved one or child? Could access be solved with loan forgiveness programs? Should established dentists have more incentive to serve those without access to care rather than our generation of dentists potentially having a PGY1 requirement? Do you think it is important to have an office of Oral Health headed by a Dental Director, who is a dentist? If more effort and money was put into prevention, would it be more impactful? Is a new level of dental provider financially viable for the patient and provider? Are we as dentist over trained for some basic procedures? Are there basic procedures? Follow the money. Who benefits fiscally from a study/mid-level providers? Is a mid-level provider the next step into solving access issues and making dentists more profitable, much like when hygienists were introduced? These are questions to ask yourself, faculty, and association representatives. The unifying goal for all involved is to improve dental and overall health for those who cannot access it. We all agree with this sentiment. I see evidence that our generation of dentists is willing to unselfishly give time, effort and money to solve this problem, as evidenced in the recent CDA Cares in Sacramento. Why not 10 of these a year? Our generation of dentists must continue efforts to solve the issue of access, otherwise legislators will do it for us and you can be sure they will do it without our best interests in mind.
Over a two week period in late June and early July we met with assembly members, their aids and attended two assembly meetings. The first meeting was the Assembly Health Committee. Senator Padilla focused on the study as a means of "helping the children" of California without access to dental care. The second meeting was the Assembly for Business and Professions. Danielle Marquis, ASDA district 11 Trustee, delivered a succinct and informative testimony in opposition. However, the results of both assemblies resulted in passage of the bill. Check out http://www.cdafoundation.org/Give/Volunteer/CDACaresFreeDentalClinics.aspx Since these two assembly meetings the result of the
homeless people. In addition, the patients are fed a warm meal provided by the church. This past spring, our school participated in the LLUs annual Childrens Day. During this outreach event, children learned proper brushing techniques and practiced brushing skills on the mouths of stuffed animals. The event provided heath education to 1,248 children. Other outreach activities incorporated into our education include rotations at the Assistance League of Redlands, Baldy View Occupational Program, Lugonia Elementary School, Marys Mercy Center, Mead Valley Community Complex, MEND, Share Ourselves Clinic (SOS), VA Hospital, Victoria Elementary School, Victorville Federal Correction Complex and selected health fairs in neighboring cities. (Continue on page 4)
So why should our ASDA support the other ASDA and vice versa? Bottom line: access to care, patient safety and education. Over 60 million Americans fall into the categories of people possibly serviced by dentist anesthesiologists. Many of these patients who are untreatable in a normal dental setting go without dental care. People with Down syndrome, Alzheimers, autism, Parkinsons and severe anxiety are among the patients with potential increased access to dental care with the acceptance of this specialty.
Over 60 million Americans fall into the categories of people possibly serviced by dentist anesthesiologists.
The field of dentistry is an ever-evolving hybrid of art and science. Just as the field of dentistry has progressed by leaps and bounds in materials and technology, so too must we push the advancement of humane patient care and safe dental treatment. Seizing the opportunity of establishing a new specialty will enhance and support, not restrict, the profession. We must embrace the positive changes and continue to stand together as a profession by putting the patients first. This means improving access to care; improving access to safe and quality care.
tactics and motivation. Although students shouldnt be driven by competition and percentile scores, psychological educational studies have determined this to be the case. A study by Harackiewicz, et al., found learning goals to predict greater intrinsic motivation, but only performanceapproach goals predicted better (letter grade) achievement. This demonstrates that although students are interested in learning, their driving force for academic achievement is a pat in the back.
Consequently, the benefits of Pass Fail grading may include reduced stress, enhanced well-being, a less competitive learning environment and a greater focus on learning rather than on studying minutia purely for highergrade achievement (Spring, 2011). Although past studies have reported conflicting results in regard to the influence of Pass/Fail grading on academic performance, our study found that student preparation may slightly decline. Scoring creates a competitive nature that Pass/Fail grading systems were designed to reduce. Are we eliminating this driving force for academic performance and effort by implementing Pass/Fail grading?
Spring, L., Robillard, D., Gehlbach, L., & Simas, T. (2011). Impact of pass/fail grading on medical students well-being and academic outcomes. Medical Education, 45, 86787.
Many argue that if students arent driven by their own intrinsic motivation to learn, they shouldnt be in that particular field. Professor Tim Wilkinson, associate dean of Medical Education at the University of Otago, states, Do we want to graduate doctors who will only learn if someone pats them on the back and rewards them? It is clear that the goal of health professional educators is to train individuals who possess enough desire and interest in that particular field so that grades will not influence ones study
Figure 4
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Scored Pass/Fail
< $200
> $1000