2018 PENNSYLVANIA’S DENTAL MEETING
The weekend began with a Board Alumni
dinner on Thursday night. Many gathered at
a local Italian restaurant and we had a lovely
time catching up and chatting. New and
former board members were in attendance.
Friday morning started with an early
morning Past Presidents’ breakfast and
discussion with state Rep. Tom Mehaffie of
the 106 th Legislative District. He is the owner
of a local beverage company and
understands what it means to be a small
business owner. We had a great conversation
and discussed the issues important to PDA
dentists. He really listened and offered his
insights into how state government works.
While some were attending the breakfast,
others were starting their day of CE. PDA
offered courses for the state mandatory
requirement for OSHA and Infection Control,
Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting (Act
31), and Pain Management Alternatives and
Identification of Addiction (Act 124). Dr. Angela
Stout did a terrific job, as did Dr. Steve Moriconi.
I can’t tell you how many dentists and staff
enjoyed and learned from both. The Opioid
lecture was a new program this year and
consisted of a presentation by Dr. Moriconi,
then discussion from a recovering drug user
and a mother of a recovering son who now
runs a non-profit educating youth about
drug abuse. There was also a course on
clinical records management from Dr. Roy
Shelburne, who served two years in prison
for violations of his state dental license.
Friday night’s events included the dessert
reception from Temple University and the
Welcome Reception from PADPAC. It’s always
nice to see how many Pennsylvania dentists
come from Temple, Penn and Pitt, and now
LECOM. The PADPAC reception included
visits from legislators and presentations of
proclamations honoring PDA on the milestone
of our 150 th anniversary.
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JU LY/AU GU ST 2018 | P EN N S YLVA N IA D EN TA L J O UR N A L
Saturday featured Dr. Roger Levin and his
presentation, “New Game. New Rules. New
Playbook. Winning Strategies for Increasing
Production.” Dr. Levin loves to engage the
audience and provided us with a half-day of
insight into how a modern practice can best
function. He stressed the importance of time
management and marketing. He answered
plenty of questions for his audience that
varied in ages from new dentists to more
experienced. The morning went quickly,
and everyone went away with a pearl.
Saturday afternoon was devoted to our
annual Town Hall Meeting of the membership.
I presented topics of interest to discuss and
many members voiced concerns related to
governance of the organization. It’s easy to
listen to every member, but hard to make the
changes that are requested. The Board of
Trustees works very hard and makes tough
decisions every week of the year. Like any
group, there will always be those members
who are happy and those who are not. The
job of the leadership is to continue to listen
and find the most acceptable path forward.
I have appreciated everyone’s help over the
years and I will tell you that I was always
listening. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to
not stop suggesting and thinking forward.
There are always better ways of doing things.