2B Editor’s Letter & News HYGIENE TRIBUNE | March 2010 Dear Reader, During a recent seminar, there was a pointed discussion about “I can” vs. “I will.” As I sat there listening to the lecturer, I began to think about these two statements in a way I hadn’t before. I scribbled the two phrases on my note pad hoping to reflect on them after I returned home. About a month after that meeting I was still thinking about “I can” vs. “I will” when a situation arose to help me crystallize it for myself. One day, a fellow hygienist asked if I could help her find someone to fill in at her office for two days during a planned absence. I of course said, “Yes, I can.” To both of us this actually meant, “Yes, I will.” In actuality, I was successful locating a fill-in for one day, but not the other. When I realized I might not find someone to fil in the second day I began contemplating covering the day myself. “I can work that day,” I thought, but I didn’t make the statement, “I will work that day,” until I had exhausted all other possibilities. My point here is that saying “I can” didn’t mean I wanted to. Not until I had no other choice did my thought become, “I will.” However, once my train of thought switched to I will, real action took place. As a result of this, I have realized that our professional world is made up of those who choose either an “I can” or “I will” mentality. When you treat patients, do you think about what you can do and then opt not to because you don’t want to? Do you live in an “I can” world until there are no other options and only then switch to “I will”? Hygienists with an “I can” mentality are not treating patients optimally. Although living in an “I can” world is easy, it is an “I will” world where the rubber meets the road and patients are truly taken care of to the best of our abilities. Here is another thought: Maybe there needs to be a third statement added to this lecturer’s discussion: 1) “I can.” 2) “I will.” 3) “I must.” We owe to our patient’s to HYGIENE TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Hygiene Newspaper · U. S. Edition Publisher & Chairman Torsten Oemus t.oemus@dental-tribune.com Vice President Global Sales Peter Witteczek p.witeczek@dental-tribune.com Chief Operating Officer Eric Seid e.seid@dental-tribune.com Group Editor & Designer Robin Goodman r.goodman@dental-tribune.com Editor in Chief Hygiene Tribune Angie Stone RDH a.stone@dental-tribune.com Managing Editor/Designer Implant Tribunes & Endo Tribune Sierra Rendon s.rendon@dental-tribune.com Managing Editor/Designer Ortho Tribune & Show Dailies Kristine Colker k.colker@dental-tribune.com Online Editor Fred Michmershuizen f.michmershuizen@dental-tribune. com Product & Account Manager Mark Eisen m.eisen@dental-tribune.com Marketing Manager Anna Wlodarczyk a.wlodarczyk@dental-tribune.com decide if the answer we choose is in the best interest of our patients’ oral hygiene. HT Best Regards, Angie Stone, RDH, BS Sales & Marketing Assistant Lorrie Young l.young@dental-tribune.com C.E. Manager Julia E. Wehkamp j.wehkamp@dental-tribune.com ADHA set to launch Survey/Research Center The American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the largest national organization representing the professional interests of more than 150,000 dental hygienists across the country, recently announced that in concert with its Strategic Plan commitment to operational excellence through the use of data- and knowledge-based decision making, that a new ADHA AD Dental Tribune America, LLC 213 West 35th Street, Suite 801 New York, NY 10001 Tel.: (212) 244-7181 Fax: (212) 244-7185 Survey/Research Center will be launched. The goal for the ADHA Survey/ Research Center is to become the professional association resource for information on the dental hygiene profession and to support data/information needs for ADHA on the national, state and local level. “Advancing the dental hygiene profession and building our association require solid data to facilitate the decision-making process,” said ADHA President Lynn Ramer, LDH. “Increasingly, top performing professional associations consistently use data for decision making. The ADHA Survey/Research Center will formalize the data gathering process for our profession and allow us to make solid, data based decisions.” McKenzie Smith, MPH, MEd, will be responsible for directing the ADHA Survey/Research Center and will oversee association research initiatives in his capacity with the center. “This is an exciting development for the ADHA. The establishment of the ADHA Survey/Research Center is the first step toward building our dental hygiene research capabilities and working with a broad array of users including corporate partners, government agencies and national and state groups who need the latest data on the profession of dental hygiene,” said ADHA Executive Director Ann Battrell, RDH, MSDH. For more information on the activities of the ADHA Survey/ Research Center, contact McKenzie Smith at surveycenter@adha.net or visit www.adha.org. HT Published by Dental Tribune America © 2010 Dental Tribune America, LLC All rights reserved. Hygiene Tribune strives to maintain utmost accuracy in its news and clinical reports. If you find a factual error or content that requires clarification, please contact Group Editor Robin Goodman at r.goodman@dental-tribune.com. Hygiene Tribune cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. 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