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Role models

Background.—When we were in graduate school, ourinstructors served as role models, showing us what wecould eventually become. Often these role models hadbeen associated with the founding fathers of orthodontics,for example, but they eventually passed away and were re-placed. Who are the role models for today?

Role Model Development.—Each of us looked up atsomeone as we grew up. Younger brothers and sisters lookup to older siblings, older siblings look at parents, and par-ents look to grandparents. The same pattern is found in pro-fessional circles. New applicants envy and respectorthodontic residents, who look up to second- or third-year residents, who formulate their vision of practice basedon established practitioners who have influenced them.

Good role models remember that nearly every decisionthey make eventually influences and shapes the lives andopinions of those around them. Being a good role modelfor others is a high calling and a great social, parental, andhuman responsibility.

Handling the Responsibility.—Orthodontists mustmake appropriate decisions about patient treatment,

232 Dental Abstracts

practice management, parenting, spouse interactions, andall the other daily activities of life. Good role models alsoreap rewards daily as they see people who respect anddepend on them becoming positive role models for thosein the following generation.

Clinical Significance.—What kind of rolemodel are you? Each of us takes on a role modelperson as others look at the way we conductourselves daily. Role modeling begins even atthe earliest ages in family life and continuesthroughout your life.

Kokich VG: Where are the great role models? Am J Orthod Dentofa-cial Orthop 141:671, 2012

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EXTRACTS

NO TIME FOR PREVENTION TRAINING

Only about a quarter of fellowship programs for cardiologists offer training in prevention that meets the publishedguidelines set forth by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF), American Heart Association, and Amer-ican College of Physicians, among others. These organizations recommend that cardiologists in training receive at least 1monthof experience in settings devoted to prevention. Settings could be clinics specializing in cardiac rehabilitation aftera heart attack, diabetes treatment, weight loss, or smoking cessation. The accreditation criteria for graduate medicaltraining programs also require cardiology fellows to have both training and experience in prevention. Dr. Quinn Pack,a preventive cardiology fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, noticed that some fellowship programswherehe applied seemed to emphasize preventionmore than others. He and his colleagues sent out a survey to about 200 pro-grams, but less than a third responded. Although 24% of responding programs met the guidelines, another 24% had nocurriculumdedicated to prevention. Pack states, ‘‘Prevention andmanagement of risk factors (for heart disease) is not anemphasized—and almost neglected—portion of the curriculum. We don’t know how it affects (doctors’) knowledge.’’

Dr. Roger Blumenthal, professor at Johns Hopkins University and chair of the task force that wrote the ACCF guide-lines, was disappointed. ‘‘What we would hope is that they’re applying the basic preventive cardiology principles forthe rest of their cardiology time.’’ Pack reports that the training emphasizes diagnosis and managing acute heart con-ditions, with much time spent learning how to read stress tests and insert stents. These skills are more technical thansmoking cessation efforts and tend to be reimbursable procedures. Medications, diet, smoking cessation, and lifestylechanges, however, are often the things that make a real difference to patients, Pack adds.