The View from 30, 000 Feet

By the time you read this editorial, I will have returned from the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) Annual Session in Albuquerque, NM. I have never been to Albuquerque, but when I think of the city, I think of hot air balloons. It amazes me to think of the heights the balloons can reach and the view the passengers can see when they look down and across the landscape at several hundred feet in the air. The analogy to this concept in the business world is heard frequently as "seeing the view from 30,000 feet." The editorial review board of the Journal of Dental Hygiene functions much like the concept of the view from a hot air balloon, or the view from 30,000 feet. These volunteers are made up of teachers, administrators, clinicians, researchers, public health dental hygienists, dentists, corporate businessmen and women, and private consultants. They help me lead the journal in the right direction and see things from different perspectives. To obtain a different view, this past year I instituted an Executive Board for JDH, made up of 4 world-renowned ADHA members and editorial review board members representing the academics, research, corporate, business, and consulting. Those individuals are Dr. Margaret (Peg) Walsh from the University of California at San Francisco, Ms. Wendy Kerschbaum from the University of Michigan, Dr. Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, a private contractor and faculty at the University of Southern California and the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, and Ms. MaryAnn Cugini from the Forsyth Institute. I want to thank these individuals for their vision and interest in our profession.