8 emotions you feel during Lobby Day, as told by puppies

ADA Dentist and Student Lobby Day is just around the corner. Whether it will be your first time attending or you’ve participated before, you will experience a whirlwind of emotions, as will many of your ASDA colleagues. Knowing that your peers feel the same way is reassuring — but knowing that puppies feel the same is just plain adorable. Here are eight common emotions you’ll experience throughout Lobby Day, as illustrated by pups.

How to organize a state lobby day

Lobby days are a fun and effective way to develop relationships with your congressional representatives. The goal of a lobby day is to inform politicians about the issues that affect the dental profession and the oral health of the greater community. Meeting with legislators during a lobby day will hopefully persuade them to vote in a certain way on active bills. But how do you plan a lobby day?

Contour Extended: Hidden Figures in dentistry

Dear Hidden Figures,

Perhaps you have seen the new motion picture that describes the life of Katherine Johnson, an African-American math prodigy who grew up in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. She grew up counting numbers and manually computing equations. In 1953 she began working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), later known at NASA. She joined hundreds of other women as a human computer. Pre-dating Apple or Microsoft, these women helped to win the race to space. As a math computer, she completed calculations for Alan Shepard, John Glenn, the Apollo moon landing mission, and the start of the space shuttle program.

Sharps exposures: what do I do now?

Saltz, a fourth year student, in clinic at NSU “Adam, stop suturing. You’re bleeding.” A look of terror flushed over me as I removed the needle from the extraction socket. I recalled my patient’s mention of Hepatitis B and immediately panicked. Thoughts of possible co-infection with HIV or Hepatitis C set in. My first sharps injury, and there I stood, helpless and afraid, as I bled from a cut to my thumb.

We learn all about these types of occupational exposures in the classroom. But sometimes, when faced with a real-life situation requiring a rapid decision, it can be hard to know how best to react. While we work carefully to avoid these incidents, they can and will happen. It’s our duty to protect our patients and ourselves by quickly managing and accurately reporting these exposures as they occur.