NWD: Congratulations, Dr. Brandjord. Becoming ADA president is, we're sure, both an honor and a challenge. What has the past year as president-elect been like?

Dr. Brandjord: This last year was really an exciting and great year for me. As president-elect, I worked closely with ADA Executive Director Jim Bramson and last year's president Richard Haught, and we have had a great working relationship. In particular, Richard and Kathy Haught took my wife Pam and me under their wing, Richard giving me insight into what to anticipate and expect in different situations and Kathy being there whenever Pam needed her advice on our growing list of duties. While Jim and/or Richard and I made some appearances together, most often we worked separately. It was in the close communication and strategic planning that I could draw on their great experience and take that mentoring with me. Hopefully I can do that this year with Kathy Roth from Wisconsin, our new president-elect. Richard set a high mark for me to strive for, and he was just a great person to work with.

This last year I had some absolutely wonderful opportunities. Perhaps the highlight was testifying about the Indian Health Care Improvement Act before a joint commission and two Senate committees. This was a historic event. Chaired by Senator John McCain, it included Senators Ted Kennedy and Byron Dorgan (from North Dakota) as part of the group. I was well prepared by our staff in Washington, D.C., and that time together was another valuable experience.

Each year about a week after the House of Delegates, the "group of three" I described gets together to plan out the year. Our staffs are there working with us, and we go through a full agenda of requests for appearances, meetings, etc. This year I have a lot of travel. Last year I had planned that I would be on the road on behalf of the ADA somewhere in the 110-120-day range, but by the end of the year it was quite a bit higher. This year when I looked at the total I thought it was a baseball season — I had 162 days! Then this morning I got a call and I have added 14 more days. I can be gone 10 days at a stretch. [laughs]

This weekend I was in Arizona, looking forward to five or six hours at home before taking off again — so of course we blew a couple of tires, had a 5-hour delay, and all I could do was call Pam and have her meet me at the airport with clean clothes. We swapped suitcases, had a short conversation (at least we got to sit down), I kissed her, and got on the next plane. So scheduling is the big variable — plans change all the time. It has really limited the amount of time I can practice. I'm fortunate both Larry [Palmersheim] and Mark [Roszkowski] are very kind about scheduling.

NWD: What is involved in representing the ADA?

Dr. Brandjord: There are three different tasks involved. First, the House of Delegates, as the overriding governing body of the ADA, gives us mandates and agendas they want carried out during the year. Some of this goes through our councils and commissions, the Board of Trustees, and there are a number of task forces, such as the four we have this year. We put these groups together, so just assembling people who represent the positions the House wants is a considerable challenge. One of them has 19 members! That was quite a project. So we do a lot of work within the administrative and organizational structure.

The second job is the travel, being out representing the ADA at the different constituent and component societies around the country, listening to issues, answering questions, speaking to their House of Delegate meetings, connecting them with ADA resources.

The third part is being the spokesperson for the ADA on political issues, whether before regulatory bodies or governing bodies. I have had the opportunity to sit down with the senators from Arkansas, with Senator McCain, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the EPA — all very interesting and rewarding.

NWD: Challenging, too. How about the homework?

Dr. Brandjord: You must have good background, so there's a lot of reading and piles of resource material. Whether or not you agree with them, you have to understand where a given agency is coming from with a decision in order to make your points more persuasive. Then of course a lot of people contact you. E-mails can run more than 100 a day, including individuals asking for your help.

This year help was needed in very large increments. We started with a tsunami in Asia and the recovery effort there. Then came the Gulf Coast and Florida. Helping members through the different organizational structures has become paramount — the destruction of records is a major problem. We work to expedite licensure for individuals; we have raised money through our Foundation for dentists and staff. We have sent mobile units, and we will travel to see how to help with the rebuilding. We have hosted practical seminars for impacted dentists, helping them work their way through the governments red tape for loans and more. The LSU dental school was severely damaged. I have met with their dean, and they are working hard to recover. Charitable issues were demanding this year, but the ADA put together a staff team of 20 to 30 persons to address the issues and respond to these disasters, and they did a marvelous job.

NWD: Tell us about becoming president.

Dr. Brandjord: It is actually just a small portion of the beginning of the third session of the House of Delegates where they swear in the new officers and trustees. It was over very quickly. Following that, I made a short speech, and then it was on with the work of the House. The new Board of Trustees has its first meeting after the House adjourns. Assignments are made, and we try to get up to speed as soon as possible.

NWD: As the new president moving into a structure you were comfortable with, talk to us about your duties and the activities and issues they support.

Dr. Brandjord: Yesterday our group of three sat down and identified the issues we need to address this year. We actually identified 44 initiatives for Hurricane Katrina relief alone, including a clearinghouse for displaced dentists, a disease prevention manual, emotional and psychological support services, financial grants, help for displaced students and allied personnel, enlisting corporate support, an information center on the Internet, a legal support SWAT team ... All in all we identified 15 strategic initiatives plus work carried forward plus 12 new projects from the House and 20 that were ongoing. It is quite a workload for the councils, commissions, task forces, and committees. When I spoke to the House, I talked about four main issues that were the theme of my campaign: regulatory, third party, access to dental care, and dental education. The overriding issue for most of our initiatives and projects is access to dental care for the underserved populations. If we could solve that we would resolve many, many, issues before us. Thus, we again have a Workforce Task Force which will report to next year's House of Delegates.

I also spoke about my three personal goals for the year: (1) to leave things at the ADA better than I found them, (2) to plant the seeds for the future successful growth of the Association, and (3) to give it my all. I quoted Senator Hubert Humphrey: "You can always debate what you should have done, but the question is, what are you going to do?" There is much debating in a House of Delegates, but you have to leave agreeing on the work to be done to resolve issues.

NWD: That sounds like a leadership philosophy.

Dr. Brandjord: [laughs] I hope it works. I am a very lucky person to be in this position. This all is a great opportunity and privilege, and it is a very interesting process. I have learned a lot from it. So many people have helped me out, in the MDA, the Tenth District, across the country ... I could fill up your whole article with names. We have made so many friends. The Haughts — you couldn't ask for better people to work with. My wife Pam. She has hosted any number of international guests and has her tasks in the year ahead because the ADA also hosts events at various meetings and gatherings. Next year we're going to China for the FDI; another meeting is in Croatia ... At the House I did thank four Minnesotans, and I will reiterate that: Mike Till, George Winn, John Nei, and Dick Diercks have given me great support and have been extremely helpful over the years.

 It has been, and continues to be, a challenge bringing people together, but we are all really working on it. And I have been very, very lucky.