IMPRESSIONS
Dr. Stephen T. Radack III
Editor
I’m baaaack! Just when you thought
I had faded into the sunset a little more
than one year ago when my term as your
PDA president ended, now I am privileged
to become the editor of your Pennsylvania
Dental Journal. I have held many positions
at all levels of organized dentistry, and in
two of those roles – PDA treasurer and
president – I often wrote to you, whether
or not you actually read what I wrote.
There were five years of treasurer’s reports,
and thousands of words in 19 editions
of my president’s blog, Club 814, keeping
you up to date on my presidential year.
For good measure, I wrote a few journal
articles here and there over the years.
I am not sure any of that qualifies me to
be the editor of this esteemed publication,
but I do know my way around the
Pennsylvania Dental Association and have
proudly been a part of it for 30 years
since I graduated from the University of
Pittsburgh in 1986.
I am taking the helm from Bruce Terry,
who is now the president-elect of this
association. He is part of the long lineage
of editors of this publication that I have
been reading for years. They include the
late Marvin Sniderman, Judy McFadden,
Rich Galeone and most recently Bruce.
These are big shoes to fill and I will do
my best to maintain the excellence of this
publication. But just as my predecessors
have been, I am lucky to have an awesome
communications staff led by our
communications director, Mr. Rob
Pugliese, a 20+ year veteran of PDA, who
is the man behind the curtain for this
journal.
As I wrote to you when I was president,
PDA is at a serious crossroads in our
association’s history, as our membership
market share is hovering just above 50
percent and two of our districts are below
that number. If this continues to fall, our
voice – and possibly this organization –
will lose its relevance, especially with our
legislators. We are also now the smallest
single state trustee district in the
American Dental Association. It is
imperative that each one of us take a look
at our local and district societies and see
if there might be some small thing we
could do to improve our organization.
Call a friend who is no longer a member
and invite him or her to lunch to talk about
PDA and what it means to you. The next
time you see a new dentist at a meeting
take a walk over and strike up a
conversation. I truly believe in first
impressions and we might only get one
shot to make that new colleague feel
welcome. Let’s make the most of it. If you
are from a local society that doesn’t have
regular meetings, maybe it’s time to have
one. Take the time to go to a student
outreach event or ADA signing day
program at one of our four dental schools.
Let’s become a part of the solution.
We may all be members of organized
dentistry for different reasons, but we still
are all members and we have to put our
collective heads together and grow the
Pennsylvania Dental Association.
I will use the power of this publication,
this awesome member benefit, to attempt
to do that. After all it really is all about
membership, isn’t it? I look forward to
working with Gulia Omene, our associate
editor, the editorial board, our PDA staff
and you to continue the excellence that
we have come to expect from our journal.
PDA will celebrate its 150th anniversary
in 2018 and your journal will be a big part
of that celebration in the next two years.
Please never hesitate to make suggestions,
criticisms or comments. This is YOUR
journal.
Thank you for this opportunity!
—STR3
J U LY / A U G 2 0 1 6 | P E N N S Y LVA N I A D E N TA L J O U R N A L
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