In our very first officer spotlight, I spoke with Roxana Ghaderi about her role as ASDA legislative liaison, her favorite skincare products and her orange tabby, Rumi.
So, tell me about yourself.
I am a current D2 here, I am from Frisco, Tx but I went to UT Austin and I majored in neuroscience and I graduated in 2019 and came straight to dental school.
What drew you to dentistry?
I think for me, I didn’t have a straight path of knowing what I wanted to do so I kind of had to do a lot of experimenting and a process of elimination. I kind of knew that I wanted to be somewhere in the health care field, and I feel like dentistry is where all my interest aligned. For example, I love to paint so you have the artistic component and with anything in the healthcare field you have the scientific component as well.
I love interacting with people and we have that really special thing in dentistry where you get to have that intimate connection with your patients. You also have the legislative aspect because advocacy is such a huge part of the profession. So, dentistry is where all these interests met at fixed point and I don’t think you really have that combination of art, science and advocacy in any other kind of profession.
What has been your favorite and least favorite class in dental school so far?
My least favorite class so far have been immunology and physiology. My favorites have been any of the sim lab classes like operative, fixed, and removable.
What do you do to unwind in your free time?
In my free time, and this is embarrassing, I love to watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and New York, because those are the best ones. I just like watching mindless TV where you don’t really have to use your brain too much. I also love to spend time with my family and my cat, who is in Frisco but it is only a 45 minute drive so I like to go on weekends when we don’t have anything coming up in the next week.
So, what’s your cat’s name?
My cat’s name is Rumi, named after the Persian poet. He’s a super cute orange tabby and he’s honestly a model.
Note: Roxana has an Instagram for Rumi and you can follow him @acatnamedrumi
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring only one book, what book would it be?
Probably a book on how to survive because I have zero survival skills. I am not a camping person, more of a glamping person. I probably would not survive.
Follow up question. You’re still stranded on the island, but someone can bring you 4 skincare items, what would you choose?
I would choose the Lush Coffee Face Scrub, Burt’s Bee’s Chapstick, an SPF 150 sunscreen to reduce those wrinkles, and the Kiehl’s face moisturizer.
You previously worked at an advocacy firm, tell me how you got into the role and what it was like?
I got involved in advocacy my second year of undergrad. I was involved in volunteering with foster care programs and it was something very dear to my heart. I ultimately wanted to have a bigger impact and started a few programs. I later realized that a bigger way to make an impact was through legislation, so I reached out to a few people in Austin who referred me to my bosses, one of which was the former mayor of Austin.
My role there evolved over time. As a legislative liaison, I would set up meetings between representatives and senators in the Capitol. I would write memos and do research on house and senate bills. This was a local firm so a lot of the work we did were based on issues in Austin or Corpus Christi or San Antonio, where our clients were. We also did a lot of health care legislation through the hospitals in Austin that we had contracts with. That’s what got me involved in the health care legislation side of things.
Tell me about your role as legislative liaison in ASDA. What does it entail?
Before COVID, the role was supposed to contain more in person events and we were supposed to work with the Texas Dental Association (TDA) and the Dallas Country Dental Society (DCDS) closely to provide networking opportunities through advocacy events with local dentists to students. Now, I am trying to limit zoom meetings because of zoom fatigue so I am making it a point to emphasize education. What I have done is sent out educational information about what is going on at the Capitol and what issues TDA and the American Dental Association (ADA) are focusing on.
So to put it simply, my role involves educating students on what is happening in regards to dental legislation. We have also paired up with DCDS to provide CE for students. That way, we can all be in the know of what is happening in dentistry when it comes to laws, policies, and innovations. It helps get us out of the dental school bubble and gives us a glimpse of what actual dentists are dealing with.
Tell me about some of the key issues ASDA is focusing on this year?
ASDA is all about advocating for the students, so the focus is on student loans and interest rates, especially now that interest rates have gone down due to the pandemic. Another issue is tuition and that ultimately comes down to whether the state decreases funding for the dental schools or maintains it. What happens is if the state reduced the budget for the dental school, the school makes up for that deficiency by increasing our tuition rates. So, students reaching out to senators and representatives and advocating for the state to either maintain or increase their budget for the state dental schools is really important, considering it affects us and the loans we take out.
How can people get involved?
You can go on ADA.org and click on their advocacy tab and visit the legislation action center. It will bring up the three main issues that ADA is emphasizing. For example, one of the issues is in regard to students and higher education. Another is the McCarran-Ferguson act that has to do with state insurers and competitive rules and the Ensuring Lasting Smiles act which aims to give all Americans the best oral health care possible. This differs from issues that TDA is focusing on. For both organizations, you can sign up for text alerts that inform you about key issues and tells you how to get involved.
I also sent out the TDA newsletter, The Root, over the summer. The newsletter gives you information about what is happening in the Capitol and where TDA stands on these issues. You can also find issue briefs on the TDA website that gives you step by step information on 6 issues that TDA is promoting.
Interview by Linda Asiamah, ASDA newsletter editor-in-chief 2020-2021