Help OSAP Spread The Message About Safety!

OSAP Annual Fund Drive In Progress

You should have recently received an e-mail from OSAP asking you to consider making a year-end contribution to the OSAP Annual Fund Drive for the OSAP Foundation. Your commitment to this year's Annual Fund Drive for the OSAP Foundation can help ensure that OSAP can continue to be the world's leading advocate for the safe and infection-free delivery of oral healthcare. OSAP is the recognized authority of, and voice for, ensuring safe, infection-free access to oral healthcare.

Please respond to this appeal by making a gift to the OSAP Foundation. If you have not yet responded, click here to make your donation.

Whether you are a regular contributor or have never done so before, please take advantage of this opportunity to support the OSAP Foundation and make a difference today.

Together we can improve the world through advocacy and education for infection prevention in oral healthcare...Because Safety Matters!

Dr. Carmen Carrington-Betts Awarded Highest Honor From Panamanian Dental Association

OSAP member Dr. Carmen Carrington-Betts was recently recognized by, and inducted into, The Order of the Great Master Augustin Pio Arango.  This honorary society is named after the founder of the Dental Association of Panama.  

This honor is the highest honor given by the Panamanian Dental Association and is a special recognition awarded to a select few who have obtained special achievements of service and who are highly respected by their peers. Dr. Carrington-Betts is the first woman to be awarded this honor. Dr. Carrington-Betts has been recognized for her tireless efforts in the work that she has done in infection control and HIV-AIDS awareness, as well as her work done in protecting patients and the dental healthcare community from communicable diseases. 

OSAP Supports Call To Action On Sharps Safety

OSAP recently issued support of the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center 2011 Consensus Statement and Call to Action Concerning Sharps Safety in the United States. OSAP congratulates the University of Virginia's International Healthcare Worker Safety Center (IHWSC) for its development and recent release of an evidence-based, practical and progressive consensus statement concerning sharps safety in healthcare facilities. The Statement offers a rational set of suggestions that should help decrease the occupational risk for exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Click here to access the OSAP Statement.

Olivia Wann Receives Law Degree

On December 3, 2011 OSAP member Olivia Wann was the proud recipient of a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree from Nashville School of Law in Tennessee. Ms. Wann is the President of Modern Practice Solutions, LLC located in Dover, Tennessee.

Ms. Wann is also a Registered Dental Assistant and she possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree in Healthcare Administration that she received Magna Cum Laude in 2007 from Saint Joseph's College in Maine. She says that while studying for her BS degree, she particularly enjoyed a course on the legal aspects of healthcare, and it was her late mother who encouraged her to pursue a legal education. 

 
Speaking about learning and pursuing educational degrees as an adult, Ms. Wann offers these reflections:   

I strongly encourage the readers who are interested in returning to school to move forward with their goals.  Don't let work, family obligations or fear of failure deter you.  There's never a perfect time to go to school as an adult and life happens.   College and law school helped me learn how to process information differently-to view situations from multiple perspectives.  Learning is never a waste of time regardless of the path you seek.    

And,  

In making a career choice, determine what you truly like to do.  I've met dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, administrative personnel and even lawyers who never want to retire because they love their jobs.  Find your love, hone your skill and....NEVER GIVE UP.

True words of wisdom. Congratulations Olivia!

ASPH 6-month Fellowship at CDC, Atlanta, GA

The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) has announced new fellowship training opportunities with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The six-month fellowship positions, which will begin March 2012 and end in September 2012, offer an exciting opportunity for School of Public Health graduates completing their degrees now, as well as recent graduates from the last five years. These mentored training experiences are designed to help recent graduates prepare for careers in governmental public health practice. Assignments will be at CDC
headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

Detailed information about the fellowship opportunities and complete application instructions can be accessed on the ASPH Graduate Training Programs section of the ASPH website, viewable here.