NMDA Journal Summer 2020

4 New Mexico Dental Journal, Summer 2020 President’s Message Your Colleagues and Your Association Care About You! We are living through a crisis that has not only affected our ability to practice den- tistry but has impacted the health and financial security of the US and the world. With little or no warning, we have had to close or nearly close our practices for an extended period, make the choice to layoff our staff, struggle with relief programs and debt, and restart dental care with extra bur- dens and limitations. Wow. Didn’t see that in the 2020 forecast. What are we to do in a time of crisis like this? Like all of you I am sure, I have had moments of anxiety, frustration, and often struggled to come up with answers as to what to do. I have spoken with many colleagues through- out this time sharing each other’s concerns. We have two choices that we can make when confronted with adversity. We can choose to be frozen by it, become negative, and feel victimized. Or we can have perspec- tive on our blessings (even in times like these) and lead our teams, patients, and practices to survive and eventually flourish again. We will get through this and we will do so with strength, grace, and perseverance. We will never give up. We live at a time and in a country with the most prosperity, health, and freedom in his- tory. We have a vital profession that many envy. It is a profession that isn’t going away and maybe needed now more than ever. And it is one that helps others and is reward- ing. I am a better, more productive person because of dentistry. It is not that I have to go to work every day, but it is truly that I get to go to work every day. While this crisis has been financially costly and personally difficult, I still have my health and family, I have a continued practice where patients need the care I provide, and I have colleagues and an association that care about me and my practice . Our NMDA trustees, committee members and staff had many long weeks and worked tirelessly to proactively confront this crisis. The NMDA has led throughout this crisis and will continue to support members in a way that it is uniquely positioned to help. I have been a member of the ADA since I received my DDS from Baylor in 2001. How- ever, I didn’t always understand this organi- zation and sometimes questioned its effectiveness. My misconceptions have been replaced by a more informed understanding of its greatness. The ADA and NMDA are grassroots organiza- tions. Dentists, through their elected dele- gates at the state and local level, set the priorities for the organization. As a state del- egate and national alternate-delegate, I was struck by many things. First, our district has historically had many of our New Mexico members’ resolutions get enacted success- fully at the ADA. Those who chose to be in the New Mexico House of Delegates, which is traditionally held around the time of our annual Fiesta meeting, can really make an impact on what the ADA and NMDA does. For example, the ADA has been very respon- sive to shift to a more aggressive stance on funding successful state lobbying initiatives on third-party payer (dental insurance) inter- ference. We are already seeing very mean- ingful progress around the nation in that vital area of concern. The ADA has drawn a line and set about stopping “DIY” direct-to- consumer dentistry. The ADA and NMDA truly strive to do the right thing for its members, profession and public in a very pragmatic manner. All voices are heard including dis- senting opinions. Reference committees do amazing work to see that all good ideas are turned into their best intent and moved into action. Finally, when the body of the ADA and NMDA house votes, this position is sup- ported by all and we all work to see it to real- ity. If only our state and federal government could work this way! Without understanding how the ADA and NMDA’s work benefits you, it is very easy to assume that nothing is happening. This could not be further from the truth! For example, during the COVID-19 shut-down, the NMDA trustees and staff worked tire- lessly lobbying the Governor for the timely restart of our practices and supporting our members with every financial resource and bit of clinical and practice management help we could find. This was extended to non-members as well as the right thing to do in a time of crisis. I hope that one positive we take away from this great “COVID” challenge is that orga- nized dentistry is indispensable to our profes- sional success. It is easy to think that areas the ADA and NMDA are still working to impact are deficiencies. However, the reality is without the majority of dentists in our state being a member of the NMDA, we will lose our voice and power to make these improve- ments. In an alternate universe without the NMDA, I believe that each of us would be shocked at where our profession would be. We are surrounded by insurance companies with huge lobbying budgets and an array of dangerous forces that would wreck our pro- fession in short order. The NMDA has made a huge difference to the quality of your ability to practice and serves a function we simply cannot do by ourselves. Please, if you know a non-member, see them as a potential mem- ber and ask them to join the NMDA. Respectfully Yours, Michael Sparks NMDA President 2020–2021 office 505-291-9000 [email protected] Michael Sparks