Dental organizations to offer diversity workshops

Aug. 2, 2005
Better patient understanding goal of workshops.

The American Dental Association (ADA) � in collaboration with the National Dental Association, Hispanic Dental Association and the Indian Dental Association, U.S.A. � will present a series of workshops to help dentists and dental team members better understand and provide care to a more diverse patient population.

The workshops will take place in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26; Los Angeles on Nov. 6; and Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 10, 2006.

General dentists, specialists and dental team staff, dental school faculty and those involved in research that wish to enhance their communications and ability to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate care for diverse patient populations should plan to attend. Dentists and team staff are eligible for six hours of continuing education hours for attending the workshops.

The keynote speaker at all three workshops is William A. Guillory, Ph.D., a national authority on diversity, empowerment and leadership.

The full-day workshops also feature two speakers on oral medicine topics. In Orlando and Washington, D.C., Dr. Michael Glick, editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association and faculty member at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, is the presenter.

In Los Angeles, Dr. Linda Niessen, vice president of clinical education at Dentsply International and faculty member at Baylor College of Dentistry, will speak.

Aetna is the sole corporate sponsor of the workshops.

Registration fees are $160 for dentists, $80 per team member if one or two team members attend, and $60 per member if a dentist brings three or more team members.

For more information, visit www.ada.org/goto/multicultural, contact Ron Polaniecki (312) 440- 2599) or Stephanie Starsiak (312) 440-4699) by phone or e-mail [email protected].