Dr. Jay Freedman Second Trustee Region
Get to Know Your PDA Board of Trustees
Dr. Jay Freedman Second Trustee Region
A Note from Your Editor In April 2025, we had several new trustees begin their terms on the PDA Board of Trustees, and in fact, many more than usual with the transition to our new governance structure. The new structure includes additional trustees for three of our trustee regions( Second, Fifth, Tenth).
Over the next three issues of the PDJ, we will spotlight our trustees that began their terms in April. In this issue we are featuring one of our new trustees added for the Second Trustee Region.
– STR3
Did you always know you wanted to be a dentist when you were younger? If not, what did you want to be when you were growing up?
Growing up, initially I wanted to be a general surgeon. One of my first cousins, who is quite older, was a surgeon and had served in Vietnam. When visiting one day as a young teen in middle school, I asked him how he dealt when he lost a patient that he was treating and his answer was,“ I got used to it.” I realized then that I would not be good emotionally dealing with life and death situations and started to think about alternatives in the medical field. I wanted to embrace my hand skills and science to help people and somewhere in high school and I can’ t say exactly where I decided I would pursue a career in dentistry.
When and where did you attend dental school? I attended Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia and graduated in 1978.
Where do you currently practice? I currently own a private practice in Abington Pennsylvania where I have been practicing since 1980. It was a startup!
What motivated you to become involved in organized dentistry? My motivation was the desire to leave our profession better than it was when I started. I improved the lives of my patients every day and that brought me great fulfillment. Working to improve our profession for the sake of our patients and colleagues was why I became involved in organized dentistry.
26 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL