{ outreach in action } by Paul Roberts • Foundation & Outreach Director


Aim Small, Miss Small: The Final 18


I


n the movie, American Sniper, Bradley Cooper’s character is told during his rifle training to “Aim small, miss small. You aim for a shirt button; you might miss it by two inches. If you aim for a shirt, you might miss it by two feet.” This type of think- ing has led the MDA to piloting an innova- tive project with UMKC dental students in the class of 2026 called the Final 18.


As director of outreach, I always keep an eye on the pipeline for future member- ship—our three dental schools. They need to understand the value of organized dentistry. We (MDA and MDIS) emphasize creating awareness from D1 orientation receptions to delicious, fun and positive Food for Thought presentations. We show school support with White Coat sponsorships. We budget to sup- port local ASDA chapter efforts. We provide a meal during board exams. The MDA Founda- tion provides $30,000 in annual scholarships to excellent candidates. And we caringly convert our D4s to active dentist member- ship regardless of their destination. You hope somewhere in all this, a little brand aware- ness, confidence and loyalty are taking root.


However, I also know that of approximately 165 or so dental students who will graduate this year, maybe half stay in Missouri. The total number of graduates jumps to almost 250 when KCU College of Dental Medicine graduates its first class in 2027. Yay for the profession; I hope our efforts yield involved members across the country. But my employ- er is still the Missouri Dental Association. In some ways I realized we were aiming for the shirt and missing by two feet.


So I began to adjust our aim to the shirt button. Survey and anecdotal feedback tells us students want mentoring, and they gain


26 focus | SPRING 2025 | ISSUE 1


more from smaller connection points in person than large as- semblies in the middle of busy days. Thus was born the Final 18.


The moniker refers to the final 18 months of dental school. Our observation is this time period is when student emotions shift from “thanks for feeding me” to “OMG, this is getting real, and I could use some help”. Let’s explore how we are trying to address this.


We invited the entire class of 2026 to participate. We asked them to self-select by stating a percentage of certainty that they plan a career in Missouri. In order to protect intimacy, we were going to cap the project at 12. We ended up with 11 students willing to go deeper. We have a good mix of men and women, and we have both born and raised Missourians and international roots from Syria, Pakistan, India and Vietnam. It’s a beautiful snapshot full of hope and ambition.


I also know my persuasive powers and end- less cheerleading can only go so far because I cannot relate as an actual in-the-fire dentist. Thus we needed some mentors willing to give time and insight to the group. Currently we have seven whose collective credentials include three board members, two faculty and two new dentists.


On February 20, we convened in the Zephyr Room at Jack Stack BBQ for a launch dinner. It was awesome and showed the profession at its best—providers helping one another. Our agenda was primarily to initiate relation- ships, but we also discussed what topics were


most important to them and how can we practically address those in this format while being respectful of everyone’s time commit- ments. The ideas were many and varied and the enthusiasm was palpable.


How this all unfolds and the lessons we learn are yet to come, but this is not an entirely selfless adventure. Built into the curriculum and expectations for the students is that they attend various MDA events and gain a better understanding of how we serve member dentists throughout their careers. We think through relational mentoring and casual ex- posure, we will build comfort, familiarity and loyalty and thus future leaders and engaged members who will recruit others.


It seems like a good plan and a worthy investment, so we aimed smaller for the shirt button with hopes we still hit the shirt. Stay tuned!


Contact Paul at paul@modentalmail. org and subscribe to the weekly MDA Blog he authors at modental.org/blog.


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