Lasting Impressions | Fall 2014

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 15 M ark S. Schweizer, D.D.S., M.P.H., spent 22 years as a dentist in private practice before becoming an educator at NSU’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM). In both roles, he worked as an advocate for public health issues centered on access to dental care for HIV/AIDS patients. But this past year, Schweizer, an assistant professor and director of Development and Special Projects at the CDM, was able to educate Congress on dental education. Schweizer was the recipient of the ADEA/Sunstar Americas, Inc./Harry W. Bruce, Jr. Legislative Fellow- ship. This fellowship affords a dental educator the opportunity to spend three months in Washington, D.C., working with the American Dental Educators Association (ADEA) on Capitol Hill, educating on issues that affect dental education. The professor’s area of special interest and exper- tise focused on the dental funding component of the national Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Of partic- ular relevance to dental education, Schweizer said, is the funding allotted to community-based dental partnerships and the dental reimbursement program. “Continued funding is contingent on the federal budget,” said Schweizer, adding that money for the Ryan White program is secured from discretionary spending. A current issue in front of Congress that could jeopardize continued funding is the Affordable Care Act. “Should there be a shortfall in the budget; the fear is that funds from programs like Ryan White will be moved to overcome the shortfall,” he said. Currently, 19 dental schools receive Ryan White Part F funding. NSU’s College of Dental Medicine receives $219,950 a year for five years. This valuable source of funding is used to establish community-based partnerships that serve as educational sites for den- tal students. “This is a great learning experience; it increases awareness, cultural competency, and deal- ings with underserved populations,” he said. The dental educator also was able to work with Florida legislators—Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson and U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. ADEA’s legislative group was very significant in bringing attention to its issues, he said. One of his proudest accomplishments, he added, was having the ADEA lobbyists cite his paper on Ryan White Dental Reimbursement. Schweizer’s paper explains why dental schools are unable to utilize the reim- bursement to its fullest. “Both the paperwork and the process are too cumbersome for dental schools, which do not have the infrastructure, as a result dental schools are losing out to hospitals.” Another highlight was showing Casey Lynn, Vince Napoli, and Jason Watts, then third-year CDM students, how the advocacy process works as they accompanied him to various legislators’ offices. “It is important that they do advocacy for the dental profession. As dentistry changes, they have to be involved in the process,” said Schweizer. (A profile on Watts is on page 28.) Summing up his time on the Hill, Schweizer said his months were quite challenging, yet rewarding. He said he now has a greater comfort level with the political system and found it valuable to “see the process.” He also added that it was enlightening to listen to the budget hearings. But the bottom line is that “it’s very difficult in this climate, everybody is fighting for dollars and there is only so much to go around,’’ Schweizer said. “Securing more funding would be ideal; however, at this point, the goal is to maintain funding.” u By Linnette Dobbs-Fuller Educating Congress for Dental Education