Many of you know Dr. Terry well, as a colleague
and leader in the Second District, a faculty member
at Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry,
and of course, as the longtime editor of this
publication. He’s also an avid outdoorsman and
expert mountain climber, who just a few months
before being installed as your PDA president for
2017-2018, achieved his latest milestone, climbing
to the top of Vinson Massif in Antarctica. This was
his sixth climb to one of the world’s Seven Summits.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Terry always sets his goals high.
He sees an organization that needs to refocus and
redirect itself. Right now much of what Dr. Terry
hopes to achieve during this year boils down to
asking all members, “How can we help you succeed?”
“The PDA is continuing to act as the voice of
dentistry in Pennsylvania,” Dr. Terry said. “We must
continue to engage members and strive to offer
them the most for their membership, whether that
involves advocating for dentists with Assignment
of Benefits legislation or fighting insurance
companies as they find new and creative ways
to deny benefits for dental
treatment. We must also
fight to restore benefits
for adult Medicaid patients.
PDA has to be there to help
members and the public.
“I will continue to look to
other states with programs
that work for their members .
Our membership problem is
not unique. Finding value
that encourages members
to join is one of our primary
tasks. We must focus on the
members that have made
to commitment to join.
We must show our current
members that they count
and we are working for
them every day.”
December 2016, Dr. Terry at the summit
of Vinson Massif, Antarctica.
It was his dream as a young boy to become
a dentist. He’s been living that dream as an
endodontist for the past 30 years.
His passion for the profession is greater than ever,
evident in so many thoughts and experiences he
shared previously in his award-winning editorials.
As PDA president he continues to engage members
with his glass half-full approach, seeking new ways
to provide value to your membership. Dr. Terry is
eager to connect and recruit new members, but
just as importantly, mobilize established members
to become more engaged in the tripartite.
Dr. Terry with PDA past
presidents at the MOM-n-PA
dental mission in June.
We must
continue to
engage members
and strive to
offer them the
most for their
membership”
Dr. Terry has been reaching
out directly to volunteers
on all of our advisory groups
and committees, as well as
the members at large, to
encourage more participation and discussion with
as many people as possible.
“I try to seek out all opinions and suggestions
before I make any decisions,” he said. “Sometimes
this has to be done quickly. I do work closely with
my Board to make sure that all opinions are heard.”
An early piece of his volunteer outreach involved
evaluation of the PDA governance model that
took effect in 2014.
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