Lasting Impressions | Fall 2017

42 © NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 43 Alumni Impressions ‘Nordstrom experience.’ We work really hard to build a loyalty-based practice, not a convenience-based practice. Eighty percent of our new patients are internal referrals.” TOGETHERNESS WORKS There are positives to being in business together, Tara Kois said. “We share the business ownership, so that’s a plus. And, it’s a bonus to do it together, but not be side by side 24-7,” she said. Dean Kois feels the same way. “For me, it’s all pluses. I can’t imagine it any better,” he said. “Tara focuses more on family dentistry, and I do more of the cosmetic, rehabilitative, and reconstructive procedures. It works very well for us.” In terms of their business relationship, Dean Kois describes himself as a driven personality type. Tara Kois, he said, is quieter, more reserved, and methodical. It’s a combination that works for them. In her limited spare time, Tara Kois enjoys cooking, traveling, and gardening. Dean Kois, who also teaches at the Kois Center his father founded, said he has no spare time. “But I’m not complaining. We’re busy, but we created something. I’m doing what I love.” John Kois, Dean’s father, agreed. “The opportunity to practice dentistry in an environment that is collaborative, positive, successful, and focused on continuous improve- ment is rare. Sharing that practice and a podium with colleagues who are also family members is something only dreams are made of.” Dean’s twin brother also pays a role. Although not a dentist, he is the CEO and business mind behind the Kois Center. “This journey began for us while Dean and Tara attended the College of Dental Medicine at Nova Southeastern Uni- versity, and I am thankful for the education and leadership they received,” John Kois explained. “With their hard work and diligence, those professional beginnings continued to evolve, resulting in the accomplishments we see today. I am so proud of them, because their unique synergy adds joy to our lives and continues to fuel our joint passion for dentistry beyond anything I could have imagined.” In addition to their dental careers, Dean and Tara Kois are parents to two daughters, ages 8 and 4, and a 6-year-old son. Although Dean Kois knew at age 6 he wanted to be a dentist, Tara Kois said the jury is still out on whether any of their children will follow in the family footsteps. “We can’t tell yet.” When asked if he had any advice for current dental school students, Dean Kois said, “Dentistry is really a continued path of growth and learning. It doesn’t end with dental school. If you want to be able to help and heal your patients, you have to evolve over the years and learn to provide the best to your patients.” The CDM gave the couple the groundwork. “We’re happy, we’re productive in a field we love, and NSU gave us a good foundation for all that. As the years roll by, I think NSU is a great school with a great faculty, and the university put us into play to do everything we wanted to do,” Dean Kois said. u One of the highest honors an NSU CDM student can achieve is induction into the Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU) Chi Psi chapter—the national dental honor society. This year, OKU inducted 12 CDM students and 2 faculty members. The group meets annually for the induction ceremony, which offers national recognition of a student’s highest achievement, noted Harvey A. Quinton, D.D.S., a professor in the CDM Department of Cariology and Restorative Dentistry. The CDM student inductees were Nhung Dang, Lizette M. Garcia, Jared M. Gibby, Sravanthi Kadiyala, Jodi B. Malek, Steven W. McDaniel, Heidi Mederos, Jonathan Murray, An D. Nguyen, John T. Ritter, Anne A. Shaffer, and Maria R. Yang. The college’s dean, Linda C. Niessen, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.P.P., and Ana Karina Mascarenhas, B.D.S., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., associate dean of research, also were inducted. Quinton—inducted into OKU in 1992 as a Columbia University faculty member—said he considers it an honor to identify inductees at NSU and asks them if he can introduce them at the ceremony, calling it a “good bonding situation among the students and the faculty.” Omicron Kappa Upsilon was established in 1914 at Northwestern University Dental School to recognize students who distinguish themselves by high levels of scholarship. The NSU Chi Psi chapter was founded in 2000 as the 68th chapter of 70 chartered chapters and has 200 members in the categories of alumni, honorary, and faculty. Alumni members are senior students from the upper scholastic 20 percent of the class. “From this group, a number constituting not more than 12 percent of the entire senior class are selected who have, in addition to scholarship, demonstrated exemplary traits of character and potential qualities of future professional growth and attainments,” Quinton said. Leading NSU’s Chi Psi chapter are Jason Portnof, D.M.D., M.D., presi- dent; Quinton, secretary/treasurer; and James Schiuma, D.D.S., immedi- ate past president. u CDM Impressions 12 CDM STUDENTS INDUCTED INTO DENTAL HONOR SOCIETY John Kois, left, founded the Kois Center, which promotes continuing clinical dentistry education, where his son, Dean, also teaches. CDM students and faculty members were among the representatives from South Florida universities and hospitals who provided free oral evaluations for adults during the Summer Family Oral Health and Pool Event sponsored by the Green Family Foundation Neighborhood- HELP™ South Miami. GFF NeighborhoodHELP™ South Miami is a medical education and service delivery program, funded by Baptist Health South Florida, that works with many community partners to provide vital services and raise awareness of the importance of preventive health care, including oral health, to the South Miami community. u STUDENTS, FACULTY MEMBERS PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY EXAMS