By: J.R. Franco

It is easy to get lost on the path of life, and as I have shared with my kids, I propose that using art is the best way to make sense of life’s journey. The following songs, poems, and prose are how I make sense of the world and teach what I believe are the most important lessons to learn before our time on this spinning blue dot is spent.

“Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root…” – Billie Holiday

Having lived most of my life in the American South, I grew up with its delicious food, famous hospitality, and soul-moving music – paired with deeply-rooted racism. I was influenced by Southern culture and the Bible Belt, while also trying to find meaning in how Memphis, TN, could have an idyllic persona while also being the city where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was all formative to my views of justice and equality.

“I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” – Langston Hughes

History is context, so I share some of my history with you. During the Cold War, Panama was ruled by a popular dictator, Omar Torrijos Herrera. After his death in a plane crash in 1981, Panama entered a period of political instability that eventually culminated in Manuel Noriega’s rise to power, marked by rampant violence and human rights violations.

Socrates: “Is the physician, taken in that strict sense of which you are speaking, a healer of the sick or a maker of money?” – Plato

A healer of the sick should be the obvious answer. And this is why patient-centered care is so important. If we, as dentists, want to be true healers, we must discard distractions from insurance companies, structural challenges in the health care system and short-sighted visions. Instead, we need to commit ourselves to advocating for a system that allows us to provide high-quality, evidence-based care. When I look to see how we are supported in prevention, I see the support lacking. The system needs to change.

“No man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the Main” – John Donne

If we can unleash the power of evidence-based dentistry to its full potential, we will see the benefits of emphasizing prevention of disease instead of managing its aftermath.

Much like how dentists advocate for their patients, Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera advocated for the people of Panama by revealing the truth of Noriega’s crimes. As a result of publicly defying Noriega, Roberto Diaz Herrera was eventually imprisoned and his family endangered. My name, Jose Roberto (J.R.) Franco, represents both sides of my family. My paternal grandfather was Jose Franco, a famous Panamanian author, and my maternal grandfather was Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera. I was in London with my parents when we received word that Noriega had sent people to kill us.

“Baby, we were born to run.” – Bruce Springsteen

As health care providers, we must stand up for the people in our community who need advocates, just as my grandfather did. The voiceless and the underserved need the best, strongest, and loudest among us to make sure the system works for our entire community. This is why we need to organize as a profession. The system is too big for us to do this alone, but in numbers we can make a change. Unifying through organized dentistry can amplify our voices, drive policy change and protect the health of our surrounding communities.

I have always wanted to be a dentist because I saw myself as someone who had a responsibility to give back to the universe what it gave me. As a result,
I have dedicated my career to non-profit work.

I am grateful to serve as president of MDDS. I hope I can contribute effectively and be deemed valuable to organized dentistry and to the patients in our surrounding communities.

I am also grateful for the words on the Statue of Liberty that were present as my family arrived as political refugees in New York.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – Emma Lazarus

And finally, to my kids, I am grateful to be your father. Don’t let the MDDS header fool you; all these words were really for you. 🙂