Hillenbrand fellow caps ADA year with new role in Idaho

Dr. Quinn Dufurrena went from rural Nevada to Chicago and now has his sights on making dentistry better for Idaho.

Where will the next successful applicant go?

The ADA Hillenbrand Fellowship opens doors and Dr. Dufurrena’s experience is no exception. The 2007 Hillenbrand fellow has spent the last year immersing himself in the varied aspects of the dental care system, from sitting in on Association Board of Trustees and council meetings to witnessing firsthand in Washington and across the nation the roles federal and state government agencies play in oral health.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “When I started I had no idea of the massive amounts of resources that are here at the ADA.”

Dr. Dufurrena will use his new knowledge right away. Upon completing his fellowship in August, he’ll become the new executive director of the Idaho State Dental Association.

Dr. Dufurrena said he learned of the Hillenbrand Fellowship in 2006 while flipping through an issue of the ADA News in between patient appointments.

“That’s exactly what I’d like to do,” he thought, enamored with the idea of learning more about leadership in private sector organizations.

In April 2007, he received a call from ADA Foundation President Arthur A. Dugoni informing him he’d been chosen for the prestigious fellowship. As an alumnus of what used to be the University of Pacific School of Dentistry when he graduated in 1983鈥攖he school is now called the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry鈥攊t was a thrill to talk to the former dean.

At first it was a little bit intimidating going to work at what he refers to as “the power center” of organized dentistry, but Dr. Dufurrena quickly adjusted to the pace of his crash course ersatz master’s class.

The ADA and its vast amount of resources in Chicago, Washington and Maryland, continue to amaze him, and he hopes to inspire others to follow.

To describe his experience at the Association, Dr. Dufurrena compared it to a golfer working alongside Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus鈥攑eople who have reached the top of their game, only instead of athletes, he works with some of “the best minds in dentistry.”

“It’s great,” he said.

A typical Chicago day includes waking up at 5 and walking the three blocks from the apartment he shares with his wife to ADA Headquarters.

From there, he spends part of the morning studying or researching some aspect of dentistry such as access or dental education. Then, depending on the ADA meetings schedule, he tries to attend as many council and committee meetings as he can.

The fellowship has meant more than working in Chicago. He’s also spent time traveling and representing the ADA everywhere from Washington to California. He attended a teledentistry conference in Seattle and a dental consultants’ conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

During his first nine months, he audited business classes from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, concentrating on leadership in organizations and negotiations. On those days, he wouldn’t get home until after 9 but instead of exhausting him, the packed schedule gave him energy.

“I don’t want things to settle down,” he said. “I like things being busy.”

He recently completed his law degree online and knows it will come in handy when studying or organizing teledentistry programs that cross state lines since just about “everything done in dentistry has legal implications.” As the former peer review officer for the North Eastern Nevada Dental Society, he has seen the need for dentistry in certain areas.

Dr. Dufurrena said he got the idea to concentrate on teledentistry鈥攖he delivery of dental services and information through telecommunications technologies鈥攆or his fellowship project while living in Nevada. “It’s perfect for rural settings,” he said.

Dr. Dufurrena wanted to look at the technology and dentistry’s progress with the medium. While medicine has used it for decades, the process is relatively new in dentistry.

He feels the fellowship has helped him become more confident when making presentations to large audiences and conveying ideas and concepts unfamiliar to practicing dentists.

Seeking an executive director position was a goal he set out to pursue, and he’s excited to begin working in Idaho.

He encourages those dentists interested in making a career transition from practice or education or research to consider applying for the fellowship.

“It takes a year to appreciate the resources the ADA offers and the rest of my career to utilize them for the good of our wonderful profession,” he said.

The ADA Foundation Hillenbrand Fellowship is named for Dr. Harold Hillenbrand, ADA executive director from 1946-69, and is awarded every two years. It was created to introduce practicing dentists to national career paths in health policy leadership and management.

The 12-month program comes with a stipend and focuses on non-clinical organizational experience and education and allows fellows to select a special project and area of study. It provides fellows with an intensive orientation to all ADA agencies and departments, orientation to other organizations serving oral health, a basic orientation to federal and state government agencies playing key roles in oral health, academic courses and project experience.

For details, visit www.adafoundation.org and click on grants and scholarships. Interested applicants have plenty of time to consider applying for this prestigious fellowship: details will be announced later this fall and the application deadline will be in February 2009.聽