NSDA PRESIDENT JUGGLES EDUCATION, FATHERHOOD, COMMUNITY SERVICE

Maintaining a proper balance has become a way of life for Bradley Harrelson.

The third-year student in the School of Dentistry at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, father of three and holder of a master’s of divinity degree, has had to juggle the responsibilities of being a full-time student and parent who is active in community service and has a part-time career as an educational entertainer.

Through it all, he has sustained one single priority.

“I believe I have an obligation to help meet people’s dental needs, but also to help them spiritually and emotionally,” Harrelson said. “It is important to me to provide dental leadership and family leadership as well. But to do that, you have to manage those priorities properly.”

Now, he has yet another ball in the air.

Last September, Harrelson became just the second dental student from his entire four-state district to be elected president of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA). The first, Dr. John Roberson, who served as ASDA president from 1991-92, also was a third-year student in the School of Dentistry at UMC. But Harrelson had to overcome significant odds to gain the organization’s highest seat.

Every year, each of the nation’s 56 dental schools send two representatives to the ASDA House of Delegates, which meets during Labor Day weekend to vote on association policies and select the organization’s leadership. The ASDA consists of 16,682 members, representing approximately 88 percent of the nation’s dental students, and is divided into 11 districts geographically. The School of Dentistry belongs to District 5, along with Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico.

When the ASDA House of Delegates convened in Houston, Texas, as planned during the first of September, Hurricane Katrina had just finished its devastation of the Gulf Coast region. None of the District 5 delegates from the hurricane-ravaged areas were able to attend the convention. Not only did Harrelson lose what would have been four sure votes, but he was missing several campaign workers as well.

“While I was campaigning, throughout all the speeches and meetings with the various caucuses, there were times when I wondered whether I should continue pursuing the presidency,” Harrelson said. “I remember calling my wife (Kasey) and talking about it with her. She was a tremendous support for me during that week.”

The delegates chose the executive committee first, then selected Harrelson from among the three committee members to serve as president.

According to Connie Lane, executive director of the Mississippi Dental Association, the personable skills that helped secure Harrelson’s election should serve him well as the ASDA’s chief executive.

“Bradley’s ability to relate well to others has given him the skills needed to be an effective leader,” Lane said. “Students will not only have someone who will represent and communicate their position in the national dental community in an upstanding manner, they will also have an individual who truly cares about them.”

That sense of caring is what introduced Harrelson to organized dentistry in the first place. A native of West Point, Harrelson earned the BS in biology at Millsaps College in Jackson. After receiving a master’s of divinity from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco, he moved his family back to Mississippi, where he became clinical director of Mission First, a nonprofit medical and dental clinic for underserved people in the metropolitan area sponsored by First Baptist Church of Jackson.

“We would offer dental services through the volunteered hours of local dentists, dental hygienists and office staff,” Harrelson said. “My responsibility was to run the clinic and recruit dental professionals to participate.”

That recruiting effort led Harrelson to the Mississippi Dental Association, where he spent many hours getting to know dental health professionals throughout the state. But what really sealed his decision to pursue dentistry as a profession was a short exchange between his father, Ken, and his younger brother, Ben, one Christmas.

Ken had been having some pain in his jaw, so Ben, then a first-year dental student at the School of Dentistry at UMC, ran his father through a simple Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) check.

“That interchange between my brother and my dad really made an impression on me,” Harrelson said. “Ben demonstrated how he was already putting his dental education into practice right away. That’s when I decided I wanted to pursue dentistry.”

The Harrelson brothers never got to study dentistry together – Ben received the DMD in the spring of 2003, while Bradley enrolled that fall – but their common profession has strengthened the bond between them, just as it has stoked Bradley’s interest in organized dentistry.

“One of my goals is to show that dental students don’t just whine about licensure issues,” Harrelson said. “We care about problems that will impact our profession in the future. Dental students sometimes fall into the trap where they think they can take care of problems once they finish dental school and go into private practice. But my message is that we, as students, can do things now to shape the future of dentistry.”

“The Mississippi Dental Association has supported community service-related projects that have included Bradley’s leadership,” Lane said. “The MDA is proud to have him represent our state and our Mississippi dental students.”

That sentiment is shared by the dean of the School of Dentistry at UMC. The holder of five degrees himself, Dr. James Hupp shares a special perspective on what it takes to balance educational, professional and family responsibilities. 

“Bradley is a wonderful student and person,” Hupp said. “We couldn’t be more proud of him for his election as president of the ADA. He will represent our school, our campus, and the dental students of America well this year.” 

Harrelson doesn’t expect to sever his connection to organized dentistry once he receives his DMD, either. He is attending the School of Dentistry on an Air Force Health Professions Scholarship, so he will owe three years of active duty to the armed services upon graduation. But wherever his career eventually may lead, Harrelson said he intends to maintain support for his lifelong interests.

“Even if I’m not in Mississippi, I will… continue to encourage dental students to get involved in organized dentistry while still in school.”

 —  Bruce Coleman (1-9-06)

2006-01-06 00:00:00 15274