California Society of Pediatric Dentists

CSPD Foundation's Inaugural Year News and Articles: 2001-2002

October 2001

A SUCCESSFUL CSPD FOUNDATION
INAUGURAL YEAR

Thank you all for supporting and contributing so generously to the CSPD Foundation during its Inaugural Year. It is very gratifying that over 35% of CSPD members have joined the Foundation and that 69 of these are Presidents' Circle Members. We, of course, look forward to your continued support and an even greater number of members for our future campaigns and programs. We are also very grateful for the corporate support for our initial educational program and Presidents' Circle reception received from:

Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals
Marsha Freeman and Associates
Camarillo, Oxnard & Simi Children's Dental Group
Children's Dental Group, Scott Jacks
Oak Park Dentistry for Children

We are proud to have presented our first program, "A Consensus Conference: California Pediatric Dental Teaching Crisis", just preceding this year's CSPD Annual Meeting in Anaheim. The attendance and enthusiasm of our members was matched only by that of our presenters. Standing room only was the setting for our keynote speaker, Dr. Norman Tinanoff. He set the stage and helped us focus on the current problems associated with the teaching crisis affecting our specialty which include:

There are scores of vacant pediatric dental teaching positions in the United States,
The average age of the full time faculty member is such that many of these persons will not be teaching within 10 years,
Currently, part time faculty are attempting to fill the roles in which full timers are needed, and this promises to become a more widespread situation.

Graduating pediatric dental students are not considering faculty positions due to a number of factors:

Outstanding loans and debt from their educational years,
A change in the philosophy of many young graduates from that of providing a health service to that of acquiring a large income rapidly in order to pay off their indebtedness and expand their lifestyles,
The enormous income differences between that of educators and practicioners.
Faculty may have inadvertently discouraged careers in academia by negative statements to graduate students.

Dr. Tinanoff's presentation was followed by insightful discussions by the Directors or Department Chairs of pediatric dentistry representing all of the California dental schools. Some suggestions presented by this panel included:

Programs of loan forgiveness for full time educators,
Expansion of licensure for foreign graduates who become full time faculty,
Tenure programs which recognize and reward excellence in teaching and administrating departments, not just research and publications,
Possible courses to teach prospective part timers how to teach and become active members of a university faculty.
Guidance and mentoring of new faculty so that they become better teachers more enthused about their professional choices and not disillusioned by the difficulties that they face.

Best of all were the thoughtful (and often difficult) questions posed by attendees in the audience. The sharing of knowledge was very open and satisfying. We all believe that the subject was very timely, the causes of the problems easily identified, but that solutions would be far more difficult for our specialty and the entire profession of accomplish. The Board of Trustees for the CSPD Foundation realizes that the conference was just the beginning of a long process. If any CSPD member has additional comments or suggestions relating to the crisis in pediatric dental education, please forward those thoughts to a member of the Foundation Board.

The scope and magnitude of these problems creates a major challenge for our Foundation. How do we begin to respond? What projects will help our teaching programs at this early stage of the Foundation's development? We know that we must nurture a steady growth in our funds and attract outside sources of revenue, so as to be able to respond with programs in a greater, more meaningful scale, as most solutions require ongoing financial support for the schools. We also believe that part-time teaching by a greater percentage of our members can also aid each department. Here is a perfect avenue for all of us to volunteer and have a direct effect upon what students learn about caring for children. During the next few months we shall be pursuing these initial answers while watching our Academy's response to similar educational issues. We shall share our anticipated projects with you as they are being considered, created and eventually unfold. Your input is always desired.

We welcome Gila Dorostkar, Lonnie Lovingier, Michael McCartney and Randall Wiley as new Foundation Trustees and thank Warren Brandli, Weyland Lum, Ann Azama and David Perry for their tireless activity in initiating our Foundation and its programs.

Again, thanks to all of you for such a momentous beginning. We need your continuing support as we enter our campaign for this New Year. We also encourage you to volunteer your time and efforts to help with these very worthwhile projects.

If you have any questions regarding the Foundation, our goals and plans, or how you may participate, please contact Dr. David Good, our Foundation President, or me.

Richard Sobel
Foundation Trustee

October 2002

The CSPD Foundation Enrolls New Supporters

Our new Foundation has seen excellent support from the CSPD membership as evidenced by the success of its inaugural fundraising campaign. We掯e made a great start at accumulating the funds that will support the work of the Foundation in the years to come. As we begin our 2002-2003 Foundation campaign, the Trustees are aware that we need to increase the core assets of the Foundation to be increasingly effective and to attract corporate donors.

The Foundation Trustees have instituted a program that will address the critical teaching crisis in pediatric dentistry in California using the findings of the Inaugural Consensus Conference that was held last spring. That conference was convened at our Annual Session and will be used as a basis for formulating strategy and implementing our early planning efforts. Projects are being developed that will support educational programs across the state with an emphasis on faculty development.

The first and most wide ranging of these plans is a Faculty Development Program that will increase the support for and the quality of part-time academicians at our schools. It will also help provide guidance, structure, and mentoring to both new and experienced faculty members. Jacob Lee offered to direct this project with assistance from a committee composed of Tom Barber, Marty Rayman, and Dick Mungo. The shape of this project in large part will be the result of a survey of department chairs and CSPD membership that will be conducted by the committee in the near future. I urge all CSPD members to give this survey special consideration and attention.

Support for students who are considering pediatric dental specialty training and/or academics is very important to all of us. We will begin to actively support the undergraduate pediatric dentistry student groups at each school early in 2003 and will encourage and foster the consideration of academics as a career goal. We will also begin development of a faculty grant program to encourage and aid participation in mentoring programs to help attract students into these professional pathways. By facilitating one-on-one relationships between students who have the potential and interest in pedagogy, we hope to nurture a fruitful mutual relationship. In addition, the Foundation is now the funding agency of the CSPD Postdoctoral Research Awards presented each year at our Annual Meeting. We intend to expand and enhance this program, again encouraging a more active role in the educational process, both for students and our members.

The Trustees join with me in expressing our appreciation to those members who have made a contribution to the Foundation in its inaugural year. This year and in the years to come, we will continue to look for support from every pediatric dentist in California as we move forward with the projects that are so important to the future of our specialty. Please consider volunteering to serve on a Foundation committee. We are actively interested in your continued involvement.

Please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss your involvement in the Foundation or to provide input to our programs and strategic plan.

David Good,
President