Regent Reflection

Ned Nix, Regency 7

The ACD Board of Regents and Executive Committee are a “Power Packed” bunch of leaders! It has been my pleasure to contribute to ACD business at meetings in Asheville, North Carolina; Houston, Texas, and at countless Zoom meetings along the way. Our section goals begin with cultivating leaders in dentistry mentoring and collaborating with them to be nominated as candidates for fellowship in the ACD.

Greetings ACD Fellows from sunny California! It is my privilege to be in my second year representing Arizona, Northern California, Southern California, Hawaii, Nevada, and New Mexico. Enthusiastic regency leadership is in place, and I have had excellent communication with all of the section chairs. I would like to take this moment to thank all our section chairs: Randy Snider (Arizona), LaJuan Hall (Northern California), Donna Klauser (Southern California), Richie Sato (Hawaii), Dan Orr (Nevada), and David Manzanares and Jennifer Thompson (New Mexico).

The ACD Board of Regents and Executive Committee are a “Power Packed” bunch of leaders! It has been my pleasure to contribute to ACD business at meetings in Asheville, North Carolina; Houston, Texas, and at countless Zoom meetings along the way. Our section goals begin with cultivating leaders in dentistry mentoring and collaborating with them to be nominated as candidates for fellowship in the ACD. My second charge has been to establish a professional relationship with Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA) chapters at every dental school in the Regency. We are off to a great start!

University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) and University of the Pacific (PacificDugoni) SPEA chapters have been very active. Both cohorts host meetings at their respective schools and collaborate with each other. All SPEA student members are welcome at all events hosted by either school. UCSF has traditionally kicked off the academic year with a “Mentor Mixer,” and Pacific-Dugoni has followed with a discussion on “Professionalism.” I am involved with Fellow Jean Creasey (Northern California) in establishing a SPEA chapter at the newest dental school in our state, California Northstate University College of Dental Medicine.

We are fortunate to have the SPEA Regency 7 Regent, Joany Xue, on the SPEA board from UCSF. Former SPEA Regent Erin Welter continues to take a leadership role mentoring her successor and staying involved with SPEA National. Erin has been accepted into a Pediatric Dentistry residency, and she will be a candidate for Regent Intern in the future. Joany, Erin, and I attended the entire SPEA Annual Session in Houston. SPEA leaders are the best, brightest, and most enthusiastic group of students. The profession is in good hands with our current and future SPEA leadership.

ACD President Robert Lamb has visited the Regency and we have been fortunate to have him present to the PacificDugoni students last Fall during his visit. Dr. Lamb will be attending the Northern California Section Annual Meeting and Awards Gala on May 7, and he will go on to meet with the SPEA students at UCSF the next day. Inspired by Dr. Lamb, I will also be making my second regency visit in May. I will be presenting “Nicomachean Ethics: The Doctrine of the Mean” at the ACD/ICD/ PFA breakfast in Anaheim, California on May 19.

Highlights from Regency 7 supporting the mission pillars of Ethics, Excellence, Professionalism and Leadership are as follows:

Under Chair Randy Snyder’s leadership since 2011, the Arizona Section has organized the ACD/ICD/PFA Annual Luncheon at the Western Regional Dental Experience, which is their state dental convention. They have established SPEA chapters at both of their dental schools. They have nominated up to ten new Fellows every year, and Dr. Snyder has been at every Convocation during his tenure. Dr. Snyder’s term will conclude at the end of May 2023 and David Hancock, Ethics Professor at Midwestern University, will become the new Section Chair. Eric Curtis, Secretary, and Howard Sorensen, Treasurer will continue in their leadership roles.

The Southern California Section, under Chair Donna Klauser’s leadership, accomplished many section activities. They created the website www.acdsca.org, to keep current Fellows engaged with the Section’s board meetings, a link to ACD national website that provides free ethics CE online, highlights of ACD’s national meeting including the convocation, and quarterly features of Fellows performing exceptional service for their communities. The section received the Model Section Award and one of their own Fellows, Les Arnett, received the Lifetime Achievement Award (he has sadly passed this year). They collaborated with their local dental societies to provide a lecture on ethics in the Fall 2023 at CDA Presents. The Section’s newsletter, Accolade, is the current Section Newsletter Award winner.

The Northern California Section has been busy under the leadership of Chair LaJuan Hall. The Section inducted three dynamic Directors-at-Large, Gurrinder Atwal, James Stephens, Alice Tai, and Secretary Charmaine Ng. The event featured one of America’s top 50 Board Directors and Stanford University adjunct faculty member Timothy Chou, Ph.D. Timothy conducted a fascinating discussion on Health

Care Leadership in the Age of Digital Transformation. They welcomed Past President of the College and current ACD Foundation President Richard Jones in October and are planning for President Robert Lamb’s visit this Spring at their annual meeting and awards gala at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Student Regent, Joany Xue, with the assistance of the Section leadership, has organized a fantastic lineup of Board Member speakers, including President Lamb, for a ten-week hybrid Ethics in Clinical Dentistry elective course at UCSF during the spring quarter. The Northern California Section maintains its status as a Model Section. The section’s newsletter is a frequent Section Newsletter Award winner. Congratulations to Section Editor Jean Creasey and outgoing Editor William van Dyk.

Under Chair Richie Sato’s leadership, the Hawaii Section accomplished much. One of the requirements needed to renew a dental license in the State of Hawaii is to take 6 CE credits biannually. This year in January, Hawaii held its first post-COVID in-person dental convention, “The Hawaii Meeting,” and the ACD Hawaii Section co-sponsored a 3-hour CE ethics course for dentists and hygienists. The Section

is also planning a University of Hawaii School of Dental Hygiene White Coat Ceremony where students entering the clinical phase of their education are presented with white embroidered clinic coats donated by the ACD Hawaii Section. In the Nevada Section, Chair Dan Orr coordinated the American College of Dentists Student Leadership Award and Distinguished Faculty Award at the UNLV School of Dental Medicine which were based on demonstrable traits of ethics, excellence, professionalism, and leadership.

The New Mexico Section was revitalized under the leadership of former Regent Gary Yonemoto. The new Section Chairs Jennifer Thompson and David Manzanares have reorganized the section as it has been dormant for many years. Past Chair Dave Moore will continue to support the section as Secretary/Treasurer. Drs. Thompson and Manzanares are looking forward to furthering the ACD’s commitment to the ethical practice of dentistry. I am excited to be traveling to New Mexico to meet with their ACD Fellows this year!