Impressions
Would you say YES ? by Dr . Stephen T . Radack III , Editor
I am sure many local and district dental societies around Pennsylvania are experiencing the same thing these days … the lack of members willing to volunteer to serve as an officer , on a committee or even represent the district at the PDA level . It is hard to believe there was once a time that one had to “ wait their turn ” to serve , and that might still be the case in some of our larger districts , but not here in the Ninth District and our five local dental societies in Crawford , Erie , Lawrence , Mercer and Venango Counties .
I recently attended the first in-person , post-pandemic Crawford Country Dental Society meeting in Meadville . The hope was that this would reignite the local , which always had almost 100 % attendance at their monthly meetings . It was great to see so many old friends that turned out . I hadn ’ t seen many of these colleagues in years . Unfortunately , only four of the attendees ( including myself ) were still practicing . What was also a little disheartening was that three of the “ leaders ” of these district and locals were folks who were already serving in their capacity for the second time .
How do you convince a colleague to say YES to volunteer ?
I know we have had these discussions many times over the last year . Obviously , the pandemic put a real damper on what it means to be part of a local dental society from 2020-2022 . Zoom is nice , but in-person meeting with one-on-one contact is the lifeblood of our associations . Trying to fire up the dental meeting machine last year in Erie was a challenge , especially with the office chairs empty ! Our president was ready to step down after serving two years during COVID . I knew we needed to bring back an experienced leader to get the ship afloat and moving forward again . After discussing this with a core group of past Erie County Dental Association ( ECDA ) leaders , I made the phone call to a past ECDA president , past PDA trustee and recently retired chair of the ADA Council on
Communications , and Dr . Sam Mansour said YES ! Through his leadership this past year we had monthly in-person meetings again , continuing education , a holiday get together and the return of the staff appreciation dinner .
Now Sam ’ s year as our president has come to end , and we decided to ask a group of seasoned and young colleagues to step up and run the meetings . I know we appreciate these folks for saying YES , but will we ever get a secretary-treasurer , vice-president , and president again ? In the Ninth District the president-elect chair has been vacant since our current president was installed last September . In the past , as the secretary-treasurer ( and someone who knows many of our members ), I have been the official recruiter of the next district president . I am thankful that so many have said YES when asked to serve , but the pool is shrinking and there have been many more nos than yeses . I won ’ t stop asking . What is the alternative ? Is there a governance model without any officers ?
I know it is not just locals and districts that are trying to fill vacancies . There are several opportunities at the PDA level . Do you have expertise or a passion for membership , communications , government relations , access , dental practice or environmental issues ? Your district and PDA need you to say YES ! What is the time commitment ? This seems to be the biggest roadblock to saying YES for potential volunteers these days . One good thing to come out of the pandemic is that we do not need to meet in person to be productive and effective leaders . Many of the committees , advisory groups and task forces meet virtually . Gone are the days when you had to travel to Harrisburg and attend those meetings at the PDA Central Office .
There are many opportunities to serve at all levels of organized dentistry . I need YOU in Erie and in the Ninth District , PDA needs YOU and our profession needs YOU and your ideas and perspectives . You will not serve alone . There are so many colleagues who have been there and are more than willing to help YOU , and YOU will make lifelong friends ! If YOU are asked , would YOU say YES ? I did !
— STR3
JULY / AUGUST 2023 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 5