PFA Dental World Newsletter — July/August • 2003

Table of Contents - July/August • 2003

Dental World

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July/August • 2003

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Central Office Report
by Secretary/Treasurer Richard A. Kozal

The first quarter’s end report has 4290 dues statements mailed, 541 second notices to U.S. Members, 338 International dues statements sent out, and letters to 1297 Life Fellows.

New Fellowship Certificates were prepared for 111 members from Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, Utah, Guatemala, India, and Korea.

The PFA Data-Base Programmer has completed the huge task of updating and cleaning the PFA membership roster files. The time and expense involved will result in a substantial savings to the Academy’s Dental Abstracts/Dental World subscription mailing costs, as well as dropped/deceased/moved without forwarding address members no longer to receive these publications.

The ADA Housing packets for the annual meeting in October have been mailed out to all the Board members.

The March Executive Committee Meeting Report has been mailed out to the Board as well.

All the PFA business accounts are up to date and current. The 2003 Budget has been finalized and the 2002 Financial Report reviewed. While revenues increased in 2002, PFA expenses were also up.

The New Fellows Nomination form can be printed (in color) from our PFA Web site. The site address for this new function is:

http://www.Fauchard.org/download.htm
Free Adobe Reader program required to view and print.

At the same address, the PFA logos can also be downloaded and then printed for any needed purpose.

Section Chair Caucus

by Dr. Ray Maddox

The Meeting of Section Chairs attending the ADA annual Session and the PFA Meetings has grown in the two years Dr. Maddox has chaired the Caucus. In recent years, the wealth of information derived from this session has helped to drive international policy at the Board level. The contributions of the Chairs has been so great in their participation that the Executive Board has recommended that the Leadership Conference, held every three years, be tabled and that all efforts be concentrated on the recommendations from the Section Chair Caucus.

This year, the Caucus will be held on Friday morning, 24 October 2003, at 10 A.M. in the Pacific J Room of the San Francisco Marriott Hotel. Immediately after the Caucus, the Meeting Chairman will address the PFA Board of Trustees with their recommendations and comments.

As a guide to those topics discussed last year, we present Dr. Maddox’s report and subsequent explanations by the appropriate officers.

There were eight major areas of interest: dues, mentoring programs, annual meetings, new member induction, new member recruitment, PFA Foundation, organizational publicity, and information sharing between Sections.

Section Dues

Section dues structures were discussed and compared. Some Sections have no additional dues, but a “pay as you go” format for their affairs to those charging up to $40 a year. The average was $25 per annum. The Chairs asked if the Central Office could collect these dues when the international dues statements are mailed out.

Secretary/Treasurer Richard Kozal responded that due to the variance in the dues from Section to Section, depending on their individual needs, that to do so would be horribly complicated and expensive. Different dues envelopes would need to be printed for each Section, a computer program formatted for each Section’s mailing list, a separate bank lock box (and cost) for each Section, and then a compilation of the dues collected to separate out the International dues from the Section dues, and checks issued (with what regularity) to each Section for their dues. The expense of doing this was investigated several years ago and found to be far more costly than each Section’s handling their own mailings and keeping in personal touch with their own members. It is easier to decline Section dues to an impersonal statement than one from a friend, or the cost of both dues resulting in a Fellow deciding to drop membership. In parcels, the dues seem less of a burden to pay than one greater sum.

Mentoring Program

All reporting Sections had some active mentoring program running in their areas–some PFA sponsored, others PFA co-sponsored; but most were run separately with PFA participation.

Annual Section Meetings

Every Section reporting had annual meetings at least. Some were co-hosted with ICD and/or ACD. Those that stood alone have organized programs and induction of new Fellows. A few had a second meeting encompassing a continuing education session hosted by the Section or in conjunction with a local dental school program.

Those Sections holding no meetings were not found to be very active, had a low membership, and were not involved in any dental projects.

Induction of New Members

A formal Fellowship Induction was discussed either like ICD and ACD do, or at the Section level. Standardization of a Ceremony was debated. But many Sections had already established traditional ones for themselves that were servicing their local history and cultures. Limited requirements, such as the presentation of certificates, awarding of the PFA pins, and the beribboning medal ceremony, were discussed.

However, the Chairs did think that a standard Invitation Letter could be developed and should be used.

New Member Recruitment

Debate ensued between the “exclusiveness” of PFA Fellowship as an honor organization and the need for members to participate in Section projects, attend meetings, provide a supply of active officers, and bolster the international roles sponsored by the Academy. A high percent of members made the honor less so, while fewer members provided less capability to do mentoring or other service projects.

The best solution determined by the Caucus was to have a Membership Development Officer that would identify qualified candidates without being limited by a certain percent of the overall dental community. Everyone agreed that they continued to need new members as the lifeblood of the organization, and that qualified younger members would be groomed for offices to enhance the Section organization with their energy and their own contacts.

The PFA Foundation needs your support!

If you’d like to help the Foundation fund grants for good causes and scholarships for good students, please send a check to:

Foundation of the Pierre Fauchard Academy
1441 Avocado Ave., Suite 508
Newport Beach, CA 92660


	Section Chair Caucus
	continued...
	Publicity for the Organization Publicity about PFA was discussed so more dentists would be aware of all the good that we do and desire to become members. The Editor noted two ways to accomplish this. The first is to appoint a Section Editor who would be responsible for doing local news releases about their Section activities to their area’s dental publications. That editor would be better aware, and have the contacts, to get them in print—even in local newspapers. The second method is for more Sections to notify the Editor in advance of an activity or event so it can be reported ahead of time in Dental World, and then to follow up with pictures and copy after the event. If the event is significant with enough copy and pictures, it would be run as a feature article, like last year’s Canadian Dental Association’s 100th Anniversary or the Guatemala Chairman’s dental service project in the rural areas of his country. PFA Foundation The PFA Foundation grant process for Sections was discussed. Though a “fast track” grant application had been developed for Section Chairs to use that was easier to complete than the regular form, many Sections had not applied for any grants. Of those who had, some have applied for several and often were rewarded. Some restrictions were placed on Section grants, such as that the project needs to be sponsored by the Section and a majority of those participating had to be PFA members. This was to avoid a good cause from getting around the formal paperwork and project reporting by applying through the Section Chair.		They suggested that such projects be reported in Dental World, but as the attending Editor pointed out, such projects have been reported regularly such as the Massachusetts CHIPs Program and the Special Olympic projects sponsored by Kentucky, Connecticut, and other Sections. All they need to do is have an idea for a program, organize it, and apply to Foundation Executive Director Shig Kishi for the Section Chair form. This is no guarantee that their project, if it does not meet the Foundation guidelines, will be accepted, only that it will be considered priority for acceptance above other grant requests. Section Information Sharing The Chairs stressed the importance of the Section Chair Caucus held at the annual ADA Session, where many would be attending anyway. Sharing of ideas stimulated other attending Chairs to conceive of projects or events for their Sections. Editor Brophy also noted that reporting such activities in Dental World stimulated other Chairs not in attendance, or inactive, to think about doing a similar project in their areas. Chairman Raymond Maddox thanked Editor Brophy for his participation in the Caucus. The general feeling was that everyone benefited from the time spent sharing information and from the discussions.

Table of Contents - July/August • 2003

Presidents Message

Central Office Report

Smallpox Bioterrorism

Section Chair Caucus

Bay Cliff Health Camp

Section Chair Caucus Continued

Awards

Foundation News

Past PFA President Martin Naimark 2003 Calendar

PFA Annual Meeting Schedule
Desk of the Executive Director

FDA Dental Amalgam Review Foundation Section News

PFA Dental Museum
Section News- International

The Legacy Continues…
Section News- United States

PFA Adds Another Book
Beverage of Choice for Teens

Minority Dentists Honored

Dental World
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