Building professional relationships.

As I enter the third quarter of my term as president, I have to say that the highlight thus far has been my participation in a dental mission to Honduras with the U.S. Army. I was able to represent the association, practice my profession, and volunteer my time for those less fortunate. I will have more details on this mission, with photographs, appearing in the next issue.

During my time in Honduras, President-elect Deb Von Alman attended the ADA Board of Trustees meeting. She was invited to speak to the Board about ADAA's position on expanded functions, access to care and mandatory education for dental assistants. Deb will represent our association once again in April at an ADA task force on Workforce Models. The ADA Board of Trustees created a task force on Workforce Models to

* identify the best ways to utilize the dental workforce to meet the needs in both urban and rural settings

* develop a position paper focusing on auxiliary workforce

* outline recommendations on present and future auxiliary personnel needs

* outline auxiliary personnel roles and responsibilities

* outline solutions to address access to care in underserved areas.

The ADAA will play a major role in the task force, and we will provide you with details in subsequent issues of the Journal.

I am very pleased to report that the ADAA will be partnering with PennWell Publishing to conduct the first Dental Assistant Symposium next spring in Indianapolis. Our educational director, Jen Blake, FADAA, will be working with PennWell representatives to provide input needed to assure the success of this symposium. Those of you in Indianapolis, and surrounding areas, will be provided with more information closer to the time of the event. Details will appear in our Journal and Dental Equipment & Materials magazine.

We continue to foster relationships with dental and dental-related organizations. The ADAA has recently participated in two events sponsored by the American Dental Educators Association. Our two organizations share a common goal: enhancing education for dental assistants. In addition, we were able to attend a Sunstar Butler Symposium on Managing the Cross Generational Associations during the Chicago Midwinter Meeting. Our Executive Director, Larry Sepin, also had an opportunity during the same meeting to meet with the President and Executive Director of the Canadian Dental Assistants Association to discuss future collaborative efforts. Speaking of the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, we were also able to form a relationship with two more dental companies. They are Premier Dental Products Company and Centrix Dental. We now have relationships with over 50 dental corporations.

On February 20th, I met with the ADAA's auditor, Len Weitz of Mann & Weitz, to review the 2004 financial statements. Also present were immediate past president Kay Mosley, Chairman of the Council on Finance, and Larry Sepin. Mr. Weitz was very pleased that the ADAA had another financially positive year. He was even more impressed that we have continued to increase our reserves, generate more nondues revenues and monitor association expenses very closely. These meetings with the ADAA auditor are held annually and are always attended by the finance chair, the president, and executive director. The purpose is to receive an impartial perspective on how the ADAA is spending your dues dollars.

Our Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., is quickly approaching and I hope that many of you will be able to attend. Please make your arrangements early to ensure that space will be available at the host hotel. I was just informed by SGM Stephen Spadaro that the U.S. Army band will be performing at the President's Gala. This will truly be an Annual Conference highlight. Hooah!

At this time I do need the assistance of a few additional dedicated members to work on the Committee on Volunteerism. This committee has a large task that involves researching the possibilities for dental volunteer efforts available throughout the country and making this information available to our membership. If you have access to the internet and a desire to help with this very special committee, please contact the committee's chair, Carolyn Newman, at [e-mail].

The spring ADAA Board of Trustees meeting will take place April 15-17 and I welcome any questions or comments you may have concerning our association. If you so desire, you may contact your district trustee or e-mail me directly. I have heard from many of you over the last nine months and I appreciate the correspondence. (You can e-mail President Borquez at [e-mail].)