March 29, 2024
Vicki and MDA OPA in the National Spotlight
You might expect a little bias from me but the truth is MDA is a force to be reckoned with nationally. This past Tuesday on the ADA monthly Power of Three call with all the key ADA staff and state executives, Vicki Wilbers, MDA Executive Director, was asked to share about the Oral Preventive Assistant (OPA) project. She did a great job tracing the progress made to this point by an entire team of MDA members and partners. And while there’s still some hurdles to overcome, all the first wave of feedback is very positive. Here is a solid example of a strategy that can address workforce issues, add value to members as their dental team upgrade their skills, and bring in additional revenue for the association. You could almost hear jaws drop over Zoom. Good job to all involved. Missouri may be the Show Me State but we might consider the We’ll Show You State as another motto.
Food for Thought in the Kirksville Spotlight
On a much smaller scale but nonetheless as important, we were in Kirksville Wednesday with the MOSDOH D1s and D2s for our spring Food for Thought event. Students happily circled the Jimmy John’s table and then made shrewd trades in order to get the right combo of chips and cookie. Jerri WIldhaber from our sponsor, MDIS, kicked off the day before featuring our speaker, Dr. Misty Williams from Columbia. Dr. Willaims is a New Hampshire native who came to dentistry after a career in political science. She shared some touching stories of how she learned what she wanted from the profession. People were very attentive and had good questions. And of course we ended the hour with a palooza of prizes.
The Week Ahead
The calendar flips to April and for my money my preferred year would be six months of April followed by six months of October. April is an uber busy month for component meetings, student travel, and more so the blogs should have plenty to report. Next week has some calls about collaborative access to care opportunities followed by a trip to Dexter on Friday to hear the latest developments with the Smiles of Hope clinic. Here’s a positive Facebook video about the clinic featuring Dr. William Kane.
Quote of the Week
On this beautiful Easter weekend, the MDA staff family wishes all our MDA members, their families and dental teams a dose of hope and new life this spring.
