[00:00:00] Joel Berg:  Welcome to Newly Erupted brought to you by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. And thank you to Cheng Crowns for their sponsorship of this episode. Cheng Crowns is the maker of pediatric crowns. The crowns dentists trust. Be sure to visit them at www.chengcrowns.com. Today we are here with Dr. Jessica Lee. Dr. Lee has been very active in the national leadership positions for over 20 years and currently serves as president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. She's the demerit distinguished professor of pediatric dentistry and chair of the division of pediatric and public health at the University of North Carolina. She's also a professor in the department of health policy and management in the Gillings school of global public health at the University of North Carolina in chapel Hill. Dr. Lee received her MPH and DDS degrees from Columbia University and a certificate in pediatric dentistry and PhD in health policy and management from the university of North Carolina at chapel Hill, where she was also an NIDCR national research service award recipient. She is board certified in pediatric dentistry and an active member of the medical staff at UNC hospitals. She practices and the dental faculty practice at the school of dentistry at North Carolina Chapel Hill. She has also authored over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts. She's involved in teaching clinical practice and research. Her primary research interests are in health literacy, access to dental care for young children and health disparities. She is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards, including the 2008 APD Jerome Miller for the Kids Award. In 2010, she received the presidential early career award for scientists and engineers from President Barack Obama. In 2011, Dr. Lee was named the Pediatric Dentist of the Year by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Lee, thank you for being our inaugural guest on Newly Erupted. I couldn't think of anybody better. 

[00:01:56] Jessica Lee: Thank you, Joel. I'm so excited about this new podcast series. You know, we need to do so much more to reach out to our residents and our younger pediatric dentists. So I'm so pleased to be here today. 

[00:02:08] Joel Berg: Well, when we came up with the great news that we're launching this new podcast series for our younger members, I couldn't think of anybody better. So thank you for being with us today. I want to kick off with your, in your role as the chief of us, the President of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Tell us about some of the initiatives that are going on within the leadership. What does AAPD doing these days in the midst of COVID before and in the future? 

[00:02:35] Jessica Lee: Wow. Where do I start? The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the AAPD is doing so many great things. You know, I, I love this Academy. I've been involved since I was a resident, actually, since I was a dental student and was fortunate to get involved when I was a resident. And then of course, a practicing pediatric dentists and a faculty member. They're doing so many things, and I'm happy to go into any one of these a little bit further, but you know, we do a lot of things in advocacy.

[00:03:04] We have advocated and for the residents that are listening, you know, we spent years advocating for support for residency programs. So if you're one of those dozens of programs that got HERSA funding to start and support you as a resident, you know, you have AAPD to thank for that because we get to the Hill year after year and say, you know what? We need to support our residents and we need to train. Right. Pediatric dentists. And certainly with advocacy component, we've done so much more with, with what's happened with COVID. We've had to advocate for our private practitioners who needed relief as small business owners. We've had to advocate for just basic PPE protective personal equipment for what we need to practice every day and see our patients.

[00:03:51] So we've done a lot in the area of advocacy and I'm certainly happy if you expand on that a little bit more, because I could spend a whole session talking about advocacy and we also do a lot of CE courses too. And I think the CE courses are going to be a question that we'll delve into a little further, because you know, there's so many people giving continuing education courses and, and we could talk about the offerings the AAPD has. I mean, they've got things that are targeted to residents as in the board review courses, the prep courses to get them ready to be a board certified and, and just, you know, comprehensive review courses for those that just want a review of pediatric dentistry or sedation. So we, we do all of the above.

[00:04:33] Joel Berg: That's fantastic, I think, and we're talking to our junior members here, our future leaders, you're the president of AAPD. I know a fair amount about all the great things you've done with the Academy and with other parts of organized dentistry. But when you look back at your entry point, How did you first get involved and what was the trigger that said, you know, I really aspire to become this leader of AAPD for our younger members.

[00:04:59] Jessica Lee: Yeah. Joel, that would, great question. I, you know, I think people ask you, well, how did you, did you set out to be the president? You know, I think, becoming a leader just happens. It's a call. It's a calling for many of us. And I feel very fortunate that the calling came from the AAPD for me. I think it's an honor to be in this position and it's a privilege every day to serve the Academy in this capacity. I think people can look at this organization and say, well, how do I start? You know, it's a great big organization, but we're really not, we're actually very local. I got involved with my mentors at home.

[00:05:36] In my residency program I got involved in, in and attending council meetings. I think the things that residents don't know is that our council meetings are open to any member, including resident members to sit in on. And so if you get through the annual session, find a council that you're interested in, sit in, you know, ask a member to be your mentor along the way. And that's a great way of getting started. One of the other bigger ways of getting started and getting involved is our public policy conference that happens every year. The majority of pediatric dental residents attend this conference, to get their advocacy Coda requirement. And so, you know, at that conference, there's a great deal of networking that can happen. And I always say, you start to get the feeling that AAPD is a family. And I think it truly is, you know, cares about you as a resident, you as a pediatric dentist, and certainly cares about what we all care about. And that's the children. 

[00:06:31] Joel Berg: Right. So you've got a busy plate. You're a busy person. I've known that for many years, that I've known you, Jessica, how do you juggle it all? You know, you're a full-time academic and a chair of a department and being asked to do a million things. And now you're AAPD president. How do you get it all done and still smile and laugh as you just, 

[00:06:49] Jessica Lee: Yeah, I have to almost laugh about it. And you know me well enough, Joel, that I just,  I'm a very positive optimistic person. And I think pediatric dentists in general are. We work with children every day and our residents certainly are. And because they're unpredictable, I, you know, I couldn't think of doing anything, but what I do now, I love having something different to do every day.

[00:07:12] You know, if I'm doing research, I have a research day. If I'm a sedation clinic, as I was this morning, sitting with my resident and teaching her about how do you sedate a kid and how do you manage a child, or if I'm seeing my own patients. And yesterday I was in the operating room. I just think that it just keeps life so interesting to have something new every day. I wouldn't have it any other way. Um, of course, 

[00:07:33] Joel Berg: You love what you do and you love what you do, therefore it's fun. It  doesn't feel like a burden. Yeah. 

[00:07:39] Jessica Lee: I think that is absolutely the key to all of it. Yes. 

[00:07:43] Joel Berg: I think that is a common thread, as you said, amongst us pediatric dentists residents, or otherwise we, we do have fun with what we do. We chose this for that reason. So it's good to see you as a leader doing that too. Cause it's, it's inspiring to all of us. I want to move forward to some other. Important questions, you know, as we go forward, we can't ignore the fact that COVID has impacted the world and certainly us in our profession. So what's what what's changed in the landscape for pediatric dentists. What should our future of pediatric dentists be thinking about? 

[00:08:12] Jessica Lee: Wow, you know, who would ever predicted that we would have this pandemic in our lifetime? Certainly COVID has changed life as we know it for all of us, actually, you know, we would have never guessed back in March that we would still be managing this pandemic now. January of 2021, I think it's, in some ways COVID, it's brought us close together. It's brought us in touch with our humanity, you know, where I see pediatric dentists reaching out to each other, trying to connect and get information on how w how we're doing things, what we're doing. But certainly we hit a very dark time, when we shut down our offices, when programs had to shut down. When dental clinics and dental schools, many of our first-year residents really didn’t get to finish their last year of dental school. You know, it took so much away from us. That, it could have, and it could have, I don't think it did, but it could have broken a lot of us in our profession because it was so challenging because we have worked so hard and I'm speaking to the residents.

[00:09:18] Now the residents have worked so hard to be promised this great profession, you know, to come in this great residency, to have all these opportunities and you know, their residents, I hear from now they're questioning now, whether that's available. And my only answer is absolutely. Absolutely. I talked to pediatric dentists now and they're busier than they were pre COVID. We're busier than we are pre COVID. We're more connected than we were pre COVID. So, absolutely I think all the good things about pediatric dentistry that were pre COVID. If we've only come out stronger on this other side, now we can get some of the nuances of how COVID has changed our practice behaviors because of the, you know, aerosols and transmission and, and things like that.

[00:10:03] But, if I look at the profession of pediatric dentistry as a whole, you know, my advice to the dental residents and the younger pediatric dentists is that, yes, we had a very dark time, I think, where we are now, you know, we have friends calling upon each other. We're very connected. The world's got smaller, and our practices are actually busier than ever. 

[00:10:25] Joel Berg:  Yeah, well, that's great. Great information. Great advice. Take on the situation. I wasn't planning on getting into this because I think it's a whole podcast, but your area, one of your areas of expertise is on health literacy. And I can't imagine a better time to redirect our efforts toward improving health literacy. So rather than get into that now, I just maybe, maybe. Ten second comment. Cause it's a whole podcast. Your take briefly today on the importance of health literacy going forward as based on what we've seen in COVID.

[00:10:57] Jessica Lee: I think it's brought out the fact that we need to have better health literacy. We need to be better communicators with our patients. Because those families that we do not communicate well with, we did not get through to, you know, we felt like we communicate well. We feel like we, we argue about prevention. We make our case and in areas where we did not get through those children are coming back and now they're the emergencies. Because we're closed for, a few months and those small cavities or no cavities got bigger or the kids are coming with campy. So yes, absolutely. We need to refocus our attention on health literacy and health communication. I'd love to do a future podcast on that. 

[00:11:36] Joel Berg: Well, if you got an award in the white house for your work, I think we all need to hear about it. So I'm going to invite you back for that one. I think that's a really important subject for all of us. One of the things that shifted immediately was the education system was disrupted completely at all levels, including with us.

[00:12:13] And we saw everything go online. We had to work on our residency programs. Our CE for our members shifted online. There seems to be now just an, maybe an overabundance of webinars available on demand. How do you recommend us as consumers of this information, to best consume it? 

[00:12:33] Jessica Lee: Yeah, we see webinars and CE courses are going online everywhere. Every time I turn, I feel like there's a new one and I think that in some ways it's great because it's become so much more convenient. You know, I can sit around on a Saturday afternoon and knock out a few CE courses and become up to speed on a topic that I've been trying to catch up on. But in some ways, you know, you got to consumer be aware, there are so much information out there.

[00:12:58] That's hard to kind of tell what's the true science and you know, what do I really need to know to make myself the absolute best practitioner? I say, go to the people, the known names, the resources, you know, so it's a group that knows what they're talking about. The AAPD vets, you know, their speakers, you know, we have a speakers Bureau that does review, of our speakers. And I say that you've got to make sure that you understand the speaker. If they've got any disclosures. And I'm not saying any disclosures are bad, they are, you know, with being tied to groups or organizations or financial interests, you want them to disclose that, but go to the people that you trust, go with the names that, you know, and you're, if you're a resident.

[00:13:42] Your faculty will almost tell you, you know, here that here are the areas. Here are the groups that really give on. Good CE courses, you know, and, and understand, you know, the organism or have a history of doing that. There are a lot of new names on the market and it flooded glitz. Cause it's, you know, it's on the web, but really you want substance above blitz. You know, this is, how are you going to practice? So you're looking for substance above that. So going to some trusted names and you know, there's always our reference manual for a check. Our reference is vetted. The AAPD, writes policies on any topic that you, that you are looking for. I keep mine by my side. I love my hard copy. Although I know it's online, I'm still a hard copy person I can look at in clinic. 

[00:14:25] Joel Berg: I just got my Bible in the mail the other day and we, we all did. It's a, it's a heavy document. Don't injure yourself, but it's filled with valuable information. And I also have to mention, since you're talking about this CE topic and thank you for that excellent advice that, you know, we're always recruiting the talent of the future of the talent pool that you referred to with the Speakers Bureau. And I think it at a very young age in one's career, it's a good time to think about, do I want to be an educator? What are the skills I need to become a better educator, understanding the literature, delivering the message, et cetera. So I think the APD provides a channel to, for young members in that regard too.

[00:15:04] Jessica Lee: Yeah, absolutely. I would encourage any young members to look at that, Speakers Bureau of any other way, other ways to get involved. Absolutely true. 

[00:15:14] Joel Berg: Yeah, and I think we can help mold together where, you know, the experience of, you know, the way you describe judging somebody as an independent person who looks at the literature is giving correct information. There are trainings that we could share as mentors with others of how to be better at doing that. So speaking of advice, you know, our new graduates will be finishing in just a few months. During this COVID year, they'll finish in June, around the country. And what advice do you have for them and looking for, for a job, are there red flags things to look for, or look out for, et cetera.

[00:15:47] Jessica Lee: So I'm going to take this opportunity and give a little bit of a plug for some of the hospitals and academic institutions that are looking for positions. So I would tell our new graduates that, you know, You may have gone through your training and work up until now and think that you've got this picture of a prior practice and yes, there are some amazing private practices out there, but I would also consider hospital dentistry and in academic positions. There are lots of openings where you can actually step into a position where you are surrounded by seasoned people.

[00:16:20] If that's kind of an opportunity for you. What I look at in any job, whether it's private practice or hospital or an academic position, it's about the right fit. And, I have this conversation with our residents a lot. Ask if your gut, your instinct doesn't feel right, don't do it. That's the biggest red flag is, yes, you can go through your 10 point checklist, you know, if it fits all the criteria, that's fantastic. But for some reason, your intuition saying to decide to fit, it's probably not a fit, but I, you know, some of the tangible things I would say, look for a good mentor. If you're going to an associateship, you know, you are out of practice, you're at a residency and going into practice, but you know, you still have a lot to learn.

[00:17:06] You know, you are gonna bring a lot of things to that practice, but you want someone to mentor you and be willing to kind of be by your side for all the questions that you may have. I still remember getting a call from a resident mine who opened up her own practice. This was about 10 years ago and she called me because she was trying to figure out, you know, she had a question.

[00:17:25] There was no one around her. So I think one of the key things, uh, um, is that you, you want to have a mentoring type nurturing environment. You do want to make sure that they're focusing on you and your development and your skillset. I think, yes, you want to make a good living. Yes. You've got loans to pay off, but don't let that be the sole driver, because if that is then that's all they'll talk about. And then all of a sudden your personal wellbeing and the balance just kind of gets a little bit off kilter. So I would make sure you get that balance. The finances, but also your personal wellbeing and making sure that your intuition says this is the right position for me. 

[00:18:03] Joel Berg: And I, and I've heard you, Dr. Lee also talk about the opportunity that exists in regard to what you just said of, you know, checking out all those things that you may need, or want to look at another state from a different place from where you you're trained and look at programs to give you all those elements that you just described.

[00:18:21] Jessica Lee: Yeah, I think there are many people like, I'm in North Carolina and I get messages all the time from residents that are looking to move to North Carolina. And so people are like, well, how do I start looking if I'm not in a program there, but I decided that's where I want to live. I'm like, you've got a great resource residency program. Directors are often in contact with each other. So I would look up the program in the state, that you want to move to the state. Pediatric dental organization often has an alumni meeting that you can attend or even another website. You know, they may have classified like North Carolina Academy of pediatric dentistry.

[00:18:58] Ash has classifieds on, people looking for associates in North Carolina, but getting involved in your state chapter, of pediatric dentists or the state that you want to move to. Actually, it's probably one of the best ways to figure out how to connect with pediatric dentists and find that right associate ship that you might want to, you know, develop, in another state. If you're not doing a residency program there. 

[00:19:22] Joel Berg: Yeah. And we're people who connect with one another, as you referred to earlier, we interact. Well, we get along with each other all around the country and we're very helpful and especially to our younger practitioners. So I think that's a real opportunity for people. So if a resident in their training wants to get involved with the AAPD. And I certainly, as you do encourage everybody to try to aspire to do that, to the extent possible, how can they contribute in their local level versus the AAPD? You know? So how can they get involved at each of those levels, their state component, the state association, or the AAPD itself. How do they get started? 

[00:20:00] Jessica Lee: Yeah, it's, you know, this is a question I often get from residents. It's like, they have so much energy and they do want to get involved and they do want to do good. You know, they want to contribute to a profession. They've worked so long to be a part of. And I absolutely want them involved at the PD level, which is a national level, but please don't forget each state has a state component, which is the state Academy of pediatric dentistry. As I mentioned, the North Carolina Academy of pediatric dentistry or the California society of pediatric dentistry, they are organized at state level. And often you'll already meet these people through your residency programs and then volunteer for assignments, you know, volunteered to be on a committee, an advocacy committee or volunteer to put together the lobby days to the state legislature.

[00:20:50] And you start that state level. You kind of start to get your, when I say, you get your training wheels on you, you've got a smaller group, the people that, you know, and you start to kind of get the bug of, wow, this is fun. I'm actually making a difference. And I was thinking that life is so much better when you feel like you're making a difference on the whole instead of individual.

[00:21:10] And then of course we have the districts. All of a sudden you've gone from a state to a complete region where you're getting involved, all of the other five districts that we have. And then of course, there's always the Academy, the AAPD’s always looking for volunteers and we rely so much on our volunteer leadership to make the organization that the best organization that we have. We do have a resident's committee. People don't forget that we do have a residents committee. So we do have a group that's focusing on the residents only 

[00:21:40] Joel Berg: They're the ones that came up with this podcast idea and named it and got it started. So it's that resident's committee 

[00:21:46] Jessica Lee: See, they're coming up with great ideas, you know, so get involved.

[00:21:50] Joel Berg: Absolutely. And they already have developed a long list of topics for this, this new podcast that we're starting today with you, Dr. Lee. So as a final question, you have so much advice to give, and I think we all listened to you and I always call you Jessica than only the president, but the chief nurturing officer of the AAPD, because you're a very, you have a very calming effect on us.

[00:22:14] And I think we called on you in that regard when you started your presidency during COVID and was very helpful. So, if you combine the sort of mental health, which we've had as a new and very important agenda item, along with the professional improvement subjects that we've discussed today, what specific advice for residents do you have, who are about to graduate and become newly erupted into the profession?

[00:22:40] Jessica Lee: That just makes me smile, Joel. Thank you. I mean, I have been, you know, this has been such a great session. It's been such an honor and I've, you know, to reach the residents and, what would I tell them? I'm like, I've heard from so many that were frustrated because they felt like they didn't get graduation and they didn't see the new ones and the graduating ones now, are you saying, well, do I really, am I ready? Am I ready to be out there? I have not, you know, I've missed a big block of my training. I hadn't felt like I've got the experiences I wanted to experience. And my advice is that you are ready, don't doubt yourself. You are always going to be supported by this family of pediatric dentists.

[00:23:21] And I always called pediatric dentistry of family that, you know, we are among probably the, the nicest, most supportive group of people that I've ever met. And I've felt privileged to have been part of this profession for about 25 years. If you can believe that I can't believe it's been 25 years. But I also say, don't be so hard on yourself because, one thing that we are cause to get to where we are and to achieve so much, we are perfectionists. We achieve at a high level. And I think, you know what? Yes. Achieve at a high level. Yes. Celebrate your successes, but make sure that you also understand that life is short and make sure you take care of yourself and be happy. You know, it's always like the next bar, you know, many of the residents now they're like, okay, I've got to get the best grades to get in dental school.

[00:24:08] I got to get the best grades to go, go to the best residency program. Then it's like, what's next? I'm like, you're here, you've arrived. Let's enjoy it a little bit and give yourself a break. And you know, it's an amazing profession. Yeah, make sure you enjoy the process and not look for the next goal that you're trying to achieve, because that's what we've done all our lives to get here.

[00:24:29] Joel Berg: That's right. You've, you've nurtured us into giving us permission to make that shift, as you said, from always going for the next school and moving, moving, moving on a conveyor and now let's be present and enjoy. And I think it's good. It's good for us. That's a great message. Thank you so much, Dr. Lee, for being with us today. On our first episode of newly erupted and couldn't think of a better guest and you outdid yourself.

[00:24:57] Jessica Lee: Thank you, Joel. It's really been an honor and it’s been a lot of fun .

[00:25:00] Joel Berg: And thank you again to our audience for tuning in to newly erupted. Our inaugural episode today brought to you by the American Academy of pediatric dentistry.

[00:25:08] And thank you again to Cheng Crowns for sponsoring this episode, we will see you here next time.