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Advocacy Event Spotlight: "I'll take licensure reform for $500."
Stop reinventing the advocacy wheel. Rather than plan an event from scratch, learn from the leaders that have planned successful advocacy events at other chapters.
During Tuft's Advocacy 101 meeting, students are divided into teams to participate in a jeopardy-style challenge. They can
test their knowledge and wager points to help their team become ASDA Jeopardy champions. Questions are fun and engaging while highlighting the importance of dental advocacy. The topics include some of ASDA's key advocacy issues: dental student debt, licensure reform and midlevel providers. At the end of the event, students have a better understanding of what advocacy means, why it is critical for students to be active with advocacy and ideas for how they can get involved.
Have questions about this event?
Contact the Council on Advocacy or reach out to the Tufts students who lead the chapter advocacy efforts: Sho Taniguchi, Tufts '21 and Devon Ptak, Tufts '20.
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ASDA advo-cast on 10/17: bite-sized discussion on the big issue of licensure
ASDA's Council on Advocacy understands the busy schedules of dental students. To make advocacy content more easily digestible, they created a new webinar format: advo-casts. These 30-minute presentations will dig into big topics like student debt reform and midlevel providers with bite-sized discussion.
Register for the first-ever advo-cast: Action-oriented Licensure Reform at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Oct. 17. Three licensure experts will talk about the status of licensure reform and how they achieved reform at their states.
Register today!
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November is Advocacy Month: E Pluribus ASDA
"Out of many, ASDA."
ASDA's advocacy initiatives are successful as a result of the many dental students that are dedicated to learning about the issues and then engaging at the local, state and federal levels to inspire change. This November, ASDA will focus on the importance of students taking local action to make a national impact.
ASDA chapters are encouraged to plan and carry out advocacy-related events throughout the month. From hosting the ASDA Advocacy Molar Bear to participating in lunch-and-learns, ASDA members across the country will engage in important advocacy efforts.
Learn how you can get involved.
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What's the issue?
Several states have adopted midlevel provider legislation this year. Here are summaries on three of these states:
- Connecticut: The state now allows dental therapists to practice in public health settings and under the supervision of a dentist. The Connecticut Health Policy Project reported that dental hygienists can become dental therapists after completing at least 18 months of additional training.
- Montana: According to theNational Indian Health Board, the adopted legislation allows dental therapists that are certified by the Community Health Aide Program to practice in Indian Health Service settings. These dental therapists can provide preventive services under a dentist, excluding dental extractions.
- Nevada: This adopted legislation allows for the profession of dental therapy to be governed by Nevada's Board of Dental Examiners. These practitioners must graduate from a dental therapy program and can perform preventative, therapeutic, palliative and restorative or surgical treatment of intraoral or extraoral procedures.
Why is it important?
ASDA's
C-2 policy states that the association believes that only the dentist should perform the following functions: diagnosis and treatment planning, prescribing work authorizations, performing surgical/irreversible dental procedures and prescribing drugs and/or other medications.
Next Steps
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ASDA takes action on the POST GRAD Act
What's the issue?
In June, the Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates that Add to Debt Act (H.R. 3418), was introduced by Representative Judy Chu (D-CA). The
September Advocacy Brief provides a summary on how this Act will help dental students and other graduate students by reinstating their eligibility for Federal Direct Subsidized Loans.
Why is it important?
To further support this act, ASDA created an action alert for students to send a letter of support to their congresspeople. In less than five minutes, you can send this templated letter to your congressperson in support of this Act.
Next Steps
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ASDA thanks representative for reintroducing VET CARE Act
What's the Issue?
 Barriers to care limit or prevent people from receiving adequate health care. Many veterans do not qualify for comprehensive dental care
through the VA. This barrier could contribute to more complex overall health care needs.
This summer, Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) reintroduced the Veterans Early Treatment for Chronic Ailment Resurgence through Examinations (
VET CARE) Act. If passed, it will create a pilot program providing no-cost dental services to qualifying veterans.
Why is it important?
The goal of the pilot program is to observe if the dental care provisions contribute to fewer health complications, and ultimately result in lower costs for overall care. The objective of improving the oral health of veterans aligns
with ASDA's H-8 Veterans' Care policy. ASDA's House of Delegates showed their support for veterans' dental care by passing this policy in 2019. The policy advocates for initiatives to improve the oral health of all military veterans and supports legislation promoting eligibility expansion of dental care at the VA.
Next steps
Impeachment: what does it really mean?
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. That week alone, several news providers created 24-hour impeachment trackers and, the word "Impeachment" reached peak popularity as a searched term on Google. As the buzz surrounding impeachment grows, so does the misinformation about the actual impeachment procedure.
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Advocacy Brief shares news about ongoing issues and legislation that are of interest to dental students and organized dentistry. Inclusion of items does not imply their adherence to ASDA policy.
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