The Operations Subcommittee is made up of the following workgroups; Communications Workgroup, Awards Workgroup, and the Readiness & Deployment (R & D) Workgroup.

 The Communications Workgroup is responsible for maintaining a system by which the Dental Professional Advisory Committee can communicate with all USPHS dentists on important issues from the Office of the Surgeon General, the Chief Dental Officer, and the DePAC, as well as communicating with the Chief Dental Officer and DePAC leadership the needs and desires of USPHS dentists (two-way communication).  The Communications Workgroup oversees the publication of the category newsletter (the USPHS Dental Newsletter), which is distributed tri-annually to over 800 dentists and colleagues.  Begun in 2000, this newsletter also incorporates communications from all agencies that employ PHS dentists (IHS, BOP, USCG, HRSA, NIH, CDC, etc.) and from professional organizations (COA, ROA, ADA, AAPHD, APHA, AGD, AAWD, HDA, NDA, and AMSUS) into one source.

 

 The Communications Workgroup is also responsible for developing a maintaining other category communication tools, including two LISTSERVs (the USPHS Dental Bulletin Board and USPHS Dental Discussion List, both with over 350 subscribers), the Dental Category Home Page (web site), the USPHS Dental Directory, and the Dental Category Survey, an annual survey that helps set priorities and an agenda for the Dental Professional Advisory Committee.

 

The Awards Workgroup serves as both the advocate for PHS awards for USPHS dentists as well as the manager of the five annual Dental Category Awards - the Ernest E. Buell Award, the Jack Robertson Award, the Herschel Horowitz Award, the Mid-Career Award, and the Senior Clinician Award.   These five category awards are presented to deserving officers each year at the annual meeting of the Commissioned Officers Association.

 

The Readiness & Deployment Workgroup serves to deal with the joint issues of readiness and deployment as they pertain to the Dental Category.  This workgroup provides USPHS dentists with timely information from OFRD and the OSG regarding readiness.  This workgroup was critical in providing OFRD with deployable PHS dentists with forensic training following the Sept. 11th World Trade Center disaster.