JACD 71-4 - American College of Dentists

2004 ACD Annual Meeting
6
to enthusiastically promote our mission.
By accepting the honor of Fellowship,
you commit to continue the leadership
role that makes you eligible to become
a Fellow.
Involvement
The sections form the enthusiastic lifeline
and foundation of the College. We
must maintain our history of leadership,
innovation, and growth. We accomplish
this through effective programs at the
section level and by nominating proven
leaders for candidacy in the College.
I ask each Section to acknowledge
and welcome all new Fellows at your
Section meetings. Invite every new
Fellow to participate in activities which
promote our mission. Without participation,
individuals become complacent,
resting on their achievements, denying
creativity, and inviting stagnation.
Each member can make important
contributions to the College by the
unlimited opportunities that exist.
Certainly we can never afford to
indulge in the hollow posturing and
chest thumping of a mutual admiration
society. Our Sections should not be
satisfied with a yearly dinner meeting,
with or without other organizations.
No! Strong section leadership needs to
develop a number of projects to promote
excellence, ethics, and professionalism
such as White Coat Ceremonies or
ethical dilemma courses. A White Coat
Ceremony presents a white clinic jacket to
incoming dental students in a respectful
celebration. It conveys the mantel of
professionalism and its responsibility.
This past June, the third-year Indiana
University dental students participated in
the Indiana Section’s ethical dilemma
course. Students broke up into small
groups and discussed clinical cases that
presented difficult ethical challenges.
Fellows moderated the roundtable
discussions, and at the end the students
presented their findings. I am pleased to
share that the positive feedback from the
students was tremendous. The interaction
with the dental students opened communication
and enhanced their ethical
judgment skills. Indiana, Mississippi,
Florida, and other states are now using
this format. Consider sponsoring an
Ethics Achievement Award. Such a statewide
award seeks to recognize a dentist
who promotes ethics and professionalism.
I also urge sections to be involved with
ethics curricula in our dental schools, as
well as providing ethics seminars for
those already practicing dentistry. This
is what it means to be selected to lead.
“The Conscience of Dentistry”
Our leadership is needed to ensure that
the public will receive dental health
services of the highest possible quality.
In this day with so much offensive, tasteless,
and nonprofessional advertising, I
urge you to renew your commitment to
promote the highest ideal of professionalism
and ethics among your colleagues.
With advances in technology,
treatment procedures, and diagnostic
improvements, overtreatment is rearing
its ugly head in medicine and dentistry.
The new attitude that puts financial gain
above ethics adversely affects society and
its perception of our profession. There
are colleagues who falsely report claims
to insurance carriers. Others allow their
name to be associated with dental products
not authenticated by valid research.
Some perform procedures beyond their
training and ability.
Even though these behaviors are
practiced by a small number of dentists,
they create a negative public image.
We cannot allow dentistry to fall into
unethical practices much as the corporate
world has in the past few years.
Fellows and Candidates seated in
this room exemplify the kind of leaders
we need in society and government
affairs today.
National College Projects
“You cannot suddenly fabricate foundations
of strength; they must have been
building all along,” says author
Phillip Yancy, “Strong leadership builds
foundations and focuses on the future.”
Past and present College officers and the
Board of Regents accomplish this with
futuristic thinking. Let’s review projects
where the College makes a difference.
We initiated and sponsored three
Ethics Summits of Oral Health. The
summits proved to be major and
important endeavors. The third summit
focused on a specific theme, “Truth
Claims in Dentistry.”
Another project is the “Ethics
Handbook for Dentists.” It is distributed
to first-year dental students and practicing
dentists. It highlights ethical and
professional responsibility and promotes
ethical conduct in dentistry.
Every other year, selected regency
hosts our summer conference. These are
held in some of our most famous resorts
and locations. They’re a must for everyone.
I not only enjoy the camaraderie,
but I also learn a tremendous amount.
The speakers are always stimulating and
there are activities for everyone in the
family, including children. The 2005
conference will be held in June at the
beautiful Queen’s Landing at Niagara-onthe-Lake,
Ontario, Canada. Along with
the fun, leadership workshops will be
offered. These workshops help develop
new ideas and enhance communications
within the College. I invite all of you to
attend this exciting event.
2005 Volume 71, Number 4