JACD 71-4 - American College of Dentists

dental education system and graduate
more dentists. What is being done now
to address this problem? The first
response appears to be in the direction
of consolidation. I’m asking the senior
people involved in dental education if
they may wish to consider this approach
in dental education—a consolidation of
schools, staff, and services. This would
allow for more efficient process. We are
never going to get the dentists we need if
we avoid this. Further, I say we need
standardization in curriculum and graduation.
Every time I come to San Francisco
I tell myself, “I guess if I were going to go
to dental school now, I’d go to Pacific
because it takes thirty-six months to
complete a four-year program there.”
You will recall I picked the movie
title “Something’s Gotta Give.” It’s not
just dental schools having problems.
Wisconsin Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities says that institutions
face three choices: raise tuition,
raise more money through private
philanthropy, or change the way schools
do business. The first two methods have
been explored to their limits; it is time to
look at the third alternative.
Restricted Mobility
I want to talk about the restricted mobility
of active dentists. There are many dentists
in America, fully licensed and eager to
practice for compensation or on a
voluntary basis, who are all dressed up
with no where to go because of licensure
restrictions. I know about the boards
and credentials that were a valuable
protection to the public eighty years ago.
But how would you like to drive from
California to Nevada and be stopped at
the borderline to take a driver’s test.
America is the only country in the world
that restricts intra-country practice. In
Journal of the American College of Dentists
Doesn’t it ring false
to say, he’s been
practicing forty years,
why does he need forty
hours of continuing
education before he
can make his skills
available to patients
who need care?
Europe, inter-country licensure is a reality.
My motto is, “One country, one exam,
one license, one time.” I’m not the only
one saying this. The dentists of America
want to move around. I’d like to practice
three months in New Jersey and three in
San Francisco.
Retired Dentists
Retired dentists have so many destinations
calling them: casinos, lakes, beaches,
and golf courses. But many of them
cannot go to a dental clinic to provide
voluntary services. They cannot work in
assisted-living facilities or in schools
teaching kids how to brush their teeth
or in the E.R. They do not have the right
credentials—a dental license in a particular
state. For me to pick up a handpiece in
the migrant camps near Stockton,
California, I need to have my malpractice
insurance paid up here and I need to
take my forty hours of continuing
education. Doesn’t it ring false to say,
he’s been practicing forty years, why
does he need forty hours of continuing
education before he can make his skills
available to patients who need care?
Is it inconceivable that such retired
and motivated professionals might be
given an “easy pass?” Now when they’re
down in their condo in Florida in the
winter and it rains and they can’t play
golf and don’t want to stay home, they
can go do some good. Remember the
National Leadership Symposium
Good Samaritan Act? It must be a
voluntary act, the recipient must not
object, and the volunteer must act in
good faith, which means if we are at the
scene of an accident, we can administer
artificial respiration, mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation, or defibrillation and if we
follow that statute, we’re okay. But, if
we turn around and go into an assistedliving
situation and try to get someone
out of pain, we are violating the law.
Everyone knows about Doctors/
Physicians without Borders. I suggest
Physicians and Dentists without Borders.
Let it be in the U.S. first. There is an
organization called Health Volunteers
Overseas. Let’s start by tearing down the
borders between states.
Conclusion
When I look at the profession of dentistry,
I see many intelligent, skilled young men
and women who are passionate about
the future of the profession. None of
them is an Art Dugoni. But by working
together and standing on the foundation
he has built, they can move dentistry
forward. One thing is certain, there is no
shortage of issues for the new leadership
to address. ■
29