ACD/SPEA Collaboration
The American College of Dentists is the oldest major honorary organization for dentists. Founded in 1920, the College was created “to elevate the standards of dentistry, to encourage graduate study, and to grant Fellowship to those who have done meritorious work.” The mission of the American College of Dentists is to advance excellence, ethics, professionalism, and leadership in dentistry.
The Student Professionalism and Ethics Association in Dentistry is a national, student-driven association that was established to promote and support students’ lifelong commitment to ethical behavior in order to benefit the patients they serve and to further the dental profession. The objectives of the Association are to act as a support system for students in strengthening their personal and professional ethics values and collaborate with leadership of the dental profession to effectively advocate for our members.
For the past 10-years, the American College of Dentists (ACD) and Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA) have shared a collegial and successful friendship. Through the effort of many individuals and leaders, both associations have grown and synergistically increased each other’s effectiveness. At a local level, ACD and SPEA support one another through encouraging each other’s chapter continuity and strength, ACD assistance with SPEA funding, participation in each other's functions, communication between chapters, and SPEA's recognition of ACD Fellow excellence. At the national level, ACD and SPEA support each other through leadership liaisons, participation in each other’s media presence, and SPEA representation in national ACD meetings.
Find Your Contact
If you are looking for contact information to create a relationship with your ACD or SPEA member please follow the link below. Once clicking on the link, you will be able to find active chapters in your region, ACD member contact information for your chapter, and the SPEA member contact information for the individual school. Please take this opportunity to create a partnership with your local members as both the ACD and SPEA have several great attributes to bring to the counterpart.
Northeast
SPEA Regency 1
X
ACD: New York, Western New York, Hudson-Mohawk, New England, Quebec, Atlantic Provinces
Canada
SPEA Regency 2
X
ACD: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick
Southeast
SPEA Regency 3
X
ACD: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Washington DC, Puerto Rico
Great Lakes
SPEA Regency 4
X
ACD: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky
West Midwest
SPEA Regency 5
X
ACD: Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado
South-Southwest
SPEA Regency 6
X
ACD: Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona
West Coast
SPEA Regency 7
X
ACD: Southern California, Northern California, Utah, Nevada, Oregon ,Washington
If any information in the above spreadsheet is incorrect, please click below to submit changes!
Meetings in a Box
Meetings in a Box are examples of meeting ideas that your chapter can use to bring a group of students together. Meeting ideas include Ignite Presentations, hosting panelists and debates, D1 welcome events, and more, to help boost your chapter and success. These files contain what the goals are for the meetings, what you will need, how to prepare for a successful event, and how to follow up in a professional way. Students have hosted luncheons or after school activities using these ideas. Check them out here!
Cases to Present
Corporate Caring
You are employed by a large, high-volume practice which provides care for many Denti-Cal patients and working poor. The position pays well and is enabling you to live well and service your debts. The working conditions are reasonably good and you like those you work with.
As you become more familiar with the practice, you find that in many ways patients are being treated badly. They are not given all the treatment options because it is assumed that they can afford only the least expensive care. Often this "less expensive care" is done with unusual time pressures, push to produce, and under less than ideal clinical circumstances.
What stance should one take in this situation?
Pain Killer Problems
A 19-year-old male presents as an emergency in the office of his parents' dentist, a general practitioner. He had never been seen by the dentist before. The nature of the emergency was severe pain, lower right mandible. A health history showed no significant findings. On clinical examination, deep occlusal caries was noted, right first molar (#30). A periapical x-ray was taken. Caries extended into the pulp and a periapical lesion could be demonstrated. The patient was assured that pain could be relieved by removal of the tooth and a routine extraction was performed. The patient was given prescriptions for antibiotics and an analgesic requiring a triplicate form and reappointed for a one week follow-up appointment.
Two days later, the patient called complaining of severe pain in the same area. He was offered an appointment that day but said he could not get off work and asked for a renewal of the pain medication which was granted. He was given an appointment for the following day. He did not show up for the scheduled appointment. The following week, the patient called again reporting severe pain and requesting additional pain medication. The dentist refused to renew the prescription, and offered to see the patient that day but the patient refused, becoming agitated at the dentist's refusal to prescribe. The dentist then called the parents of the patient to inform them of the events in the case and his suspicions of drug abuse. He then indicated that he would no longer treat the patient.
ACD Pearls
Distinguished Members of the American College of Dentists took their time to share some of their most pressing issues in the dental field. This videos can aid SPEA chapters on the importance of the ACD and why our region members can be so helpful to dental students.
For More ACD…
Please look for further information on the American College of Dentistry website linked here!