3

The project is called “Bridge the Gap” and it involves a modest group of 10 plastic and maxillofacial surgeons, an anesthetist, and two dentists—all based in The Netherlands. Its aim is to teach and train the surgeons of the National Hospital of Maxillo-Facial Surgery in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Viet Nam to perform cleft palate and facial related surgery.
For unknown reasons, Viet Nam and Laos have a high incidence of children born with a cleft lip, jaw, and palate disorder. This disorder prevents these people from normal speech, breathing, and eating along with the unattractive facial deformity that condemns them to be social outcasts. With the exception of this deformity, the patients are otherwise normal. However, sufficient knowledge to operate on these patients is missing in these areas of Southeast Asia.

Dr. J.R.D. Backer first met with Professor Lam Ngoc An, Director of the Maxillo-Facial Institute, in 1994 as a guest of the Vietnamese Dental Association and the Academy of Dentistry International.

Half a year later, Dr. Backer introduced his “Sharing of Knowledge” idea and won the support of KLM Airlines. With their financial help, he was able to assemble a small team of Dutch surgical specialists to begin a working relationship with the Viet Nam Institute; and to introduce a group of Vietnamese surgeons, young specialists, nursing staff and operation assistants to The Netherlands. This established a formal working relationship between the Medical Faculty of Ho Chi Minh City and the University of Amsterdam. Thus, the “Bridge the Gap” Foundation was born.
Besides the goal of training Vietnamese surgeons, the Bridge the Gap Foundation assisted the Viet Nam dental school in organizing a children’s department, a preventative care department, and create scientific outlines for monitoring surveys.

By 2000, the Foundation had established a contract and protocol with the Ho Chi Minh City dental school to provide these treatments to children. Their Foundation also assists in providing new and modern medical and dental equipment to the hospital and dental school.

Another stumbling block was that the Viet Nam Institute had to charge their patients about $50 to cover the costs. The Foundation made arrangements to cover these costs and to be able serve the neediest of the needy. In some cases, this meant traveling out to the farthest provinces to operate on those children who could not possibly come to the Institute for treatment. Over the last decade, some 1500 patients have been treated and nine qualified Vietnamese surgeons have been trained.

In 1999, tremendous floods in Quang Nam Province washed away much of their equipment and supplies. The Bridge the Gap Foundation team worked in that province in 2000 and were impressed by the situation and wanted to help. In 2001, the Foundation shipped dental units and x-ray machines, along with other equipment, to Viet Nam to help restore the situation in Quang Nam.
The Netherlands Embassy in Hanoi, the Netherlands Consulate in Mo Chi Ming City, and the Viet Nam Embassy in The Hague have greatly helped out.

In 2003, the team worked in Saigon and Chau Doc. In 2004, they continued at those sites. By 2005, the team worked at My Tho.
Currently, their assessment is that after 10 years of surgery and training, Viet Nam has enough skills to solve their own medical problems. So, the Dutch team went to Laos, visiting Vientiane, their capitol. They have aimed to have an agreement signed with the University Hospital Mahosot with the approval of the government for 2006.
The Bridge the Gap Foundation, for which Dr. Backer is Secretary, has no political, racial, or subversive motives for this project. It is just professional fun, a scientific exchange of knowledge, and working together with our highly valued colleagues in Southeast Asia.

While the deadline for the 2005 Grant Applications to be submitted in their final form to the Foundation Grants Chairman is long past, the work of the Foundation Trustees has begun in earnest. The grants received in approved form, have been reproduced, distributed to designated separate groups of the Trustees, and are being reviewed for presentation at the Annual Foundation Board Meeting in Philadelphia this October. The Grants Chairman will compile the reports of the separate designated Trustees for a general presentation to the Board as a whole. The Board will review the grant applications and determine which ones to fund and at what amount.

With this year’s long-term bonds program catching up on the reduced interest rate, our fair market value of the principal has diminished. Thus, the turnover rate has resulted in a lower interest yield of about a 4% loss. This will need to be reflected in reducing the amount of funds available in awarding to the grants.

The October Foundation Board Meeting will be a difficult one for the Trustees and their red markers to try to meet our expectations for funding as many grants and for what amounts.

The Board and their financial advisors have seen this coming and have decided on a two-fold plan.

One part of the plan is to convert from a nearly exclusive long-term, high interest bond investment program to a diversified equity portfolio. There will be some expected volatility in these investments, but history tells us to expect the equity market to swing to the positive side. This change in focus could only have been achieved after the high-interest bonds came due. And that is what the excellent stewards of the Foundation have been closely following to make the conversion as these bonds were called in.

The second part of the plan is to expand the capital base through a fundraising effort. Past PFA President C.F. Larry Barrett has undertaken this project, which has already produced some success. Once his program is in place and finalized, your Foundation will be asking for your help to achieve this expansion of our capital base through your generosity.

But between our 10 years of high interest bond yields and this year’s switch to a comparable yield equity portfolio, due to the lower bond market interest rates, we are going to need some sharp pencil work and your increased generosity to continue the excellent work the Foundation has achieved over the last decade.

California, Southern Section

Last year’s grant to the UC-San Diego Student-Run Free Dental Clinic Project of San Diego was highly acclaimed by last year’s October issue of the ADA News. The UCSD Pre-dental Program encourages students with an interest in dentistry to get involved with mentoring, education, and volunteerism by providing these individuals with a “hands-on” experience with dentists. The project is run by Dr. Irvin Silverstein with about a 60-person core group. It involves the students into learning about dentistry, serving as volunteers, reaching out to the community schools with oral hygiene instructions, learning about dental student life, and a variety of other dentally related subjects. The success rate of students choosing dentistry as a profession in 2003 was 53 were accepted into some dental school and 13 entered UCSD School of Dentistry

The project operates three local health care centers with the newly renovated Pacific Beach Clinic opening last April. PFA was listed as one of the contributors that have made this possible, along with the ADA Foundation, the California Dental Association Foundation, Delta Dental of California, Dentsply International, and Sullivan-Schein Dental. In fact, the keynote speaker at the UCSD opening of the Pacific Beach Dental Clinic, held at the UCSD School of Medicine, was UOP’s dental school Dean Art Dugoni.

Nebraska

Chair Francis Cavolvic introduced the Foundation 2005 Scholarship recipients at their annual Luncheon Meeting last April in Lincoln. The student recipients were Lenny Hopper of the UNMC College of Dentistry and Albert Zambito of Creighton University Medical Center.

Oklahoma

Chair William Goodman hosted their annual Breakfast last April, where the Oklahoma College of Dentistry Dean (and PFA Fellow) presented the Foundation Scholarship Award to dental student Mike Wallace. Aaron Bulleigh was presented the PFA student Achievement Award.

Oregon

Dr. Phyllis Beemsterboer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry in Portland, reported that Dean Jack Clinton presented the Foundation Scholarship Award to dental student Sterling Card last May.

Illinois

Past PFA President and current Foundation Treasurer William Kort attended the University of Illinois School of Dentistry’s Honors Day to present the PFA Foundation Scholarship Award to dental student Siddhi Doshi.

Scholarship recipient Siddhi Doshi receives award from Foundation Treasurer William Kort

Wisconsin

Chair Glenn Maihofer presented the Foundation’s Scholarship Award to Marquette University’s junior dental student Karen Potaczek at their annual Luncheon Meeting last May. Marquette’s School of Dentistry Dean William Lobb was in attendance.

South Carolina

Senior dental student David M. Hicklin of the Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine was named this year’s recipient of the Foundation Scholarship. He was presented the Award by Dean John J. Sanders. David Hicklin, a Spartanburg native, has served as past President of the American Student Dental Association.

Senior David Hicklin receives the Foundation Scholarship Award from Dean John Sanders