 Every
day, most Americans receive the highest quality of health care
available in the world. They have available to them superbly
trained health professionals (dentists, physicians,
pharmacists, dental hygienists, nurses and allied health
professionals); high quality health care facilities; and
brilliant research scientists. Our national and state
investments in scientific research, most often within
universities such as USC, have provided all of us with a
wealth of knowledge about how to diagnose, treat and/or manage
the many diseases and disorders that challenge the human
condition. More Americans are living longer and living better
than ever before. In the last 100 years, the human life span
has essentially doubled in the United States. And, it is not
good enough.
Painfully, we also realize that
these tremendous advances in science and technology have never
been fully translated into better quality of health care for
“all” Americans. Today, almost one-third of our nation’s
population are either underserved or not served by the
advances in quality health care. In California, a state of
34.5 million people, almost 11 million people do not have
access or do not elect to access comprehensive oral health
care. This striking evidence reflects many factors such as
individual social and economic issues (formal education,
salary levels, culture, gender) as well as the statewide
distribution of oral health care providers and lack of dental
insurance as a function of employment status. Culturally-based
value systems that do not include oral health care and fear of
treatment are also factors.
From another perspective, these
California circumstances offer enormous opportunities for the
oral health professions to truly reduce oral health
disparities and to enhance our “value added” to the
quality of life of many more Californians. Our USC School of
Dentistry is committed to making a significant difference by
reducing oral health disparities from Bakersfield to the
Mexican Border. Our mobile clinics, various hospital
agreements (Los Angeles, Long Beach and, most recently, San
Diego), community-based clinics such as the USC Dental Clinic
at the Union Rescue Mission and QueensCare/USC Dental Mobile
Clinic, the Children’s Dental Center in Inglewood and the
Norris Dental Science Center are all making a major
contribution to reducing oral health disparities in Southern
California. I am very proud to be associated with these
activities and their benefits to the larger society.
Most, if not all of us, are
dedicated to “doing well and doing good.” Our academic
programs are designed for our graduates to become highly
successful in all areas of their endeavors. One potential
deterrent to success are the frustrations related to major
student loan debt upon graduation. On many levels, we are
working to address this obstacle. For all of our students
(dental hygiene, predoctoral programs, residency programs and
graduate students), I urge you to study and utilize emerging
tools available to you to reduce your student loan debt and to
thereby enhance your freedom to make professional choices that
excite and challenge you.
The general student loan debt
forgiveness program provides $35,000-per-year (plus taxes)
reduction of your loan in return for your paid services in
such programs as the Indian Health Service (USPHS) and
DentiCal Access to Oral Health Care in underserved areas in
California. Loan repayment contracts are available for careers
in clinical research funded by the National Institutes of
Health, and, often, loan repayment can be negotiated when
considering careers as full-time faculty in schools of
dentistry or when negotiating to become an associate in a
private practice. These options should be considered by each
of you as you advance your careers as an oral health
professional. A useful discussion of this topic can also be
found in the January 2003 issue of the Journal of the
California Dental Association.
Opportunities abound!
“You must be the change
you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi
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