Linda Brookman
Title: Dental Hygienist (RDH) and Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice (RDHAP)
How long have you worked here? 17 years
How long have you worked in the dental industry? 40 years!
Where did you grow up? I was born in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Orange County, California when I was four. After graduating from USC in 1979, I stayed in Santa Monica.
What do you do for fun? Any hobbies? I love to play tennis, ski, hike, travel, and read. And I love the ocean!
Do you have kids and/or pets? I have three sons, Jordan, Myles, and Max. I have a husband, Dan. Two dogs; a Jack Russell and a Jack Russel Mix - Lili, and Freddie
What is something most people don't know about you? I love adventures! Rock climbing, canoe trips, camping, snow-shoeing, sailing, backpacking and more.
Do you have a favorite app? My Pandora music is my favorite app. My second favorite is Audible Books.
If you had a couple of weeks off to travel, where would you go? and why? I would travel to Australia and New Zealand - and I'm going there in August! I would love to go to Japan too. I like to experience different cultures.
Do you have a favorite movie? Book? Restaurant? Sports team? Too many to name. Dodgers are my favorite team. Watching and attending tennis tournaments is my favorite sport to watch.
Do you have a favorite charity or like to volunteer anywhere? Dental charities: so many people cannot afford dental work or even preventive care.
Anything else you would like to share?
My resume: Linda Brookman, BSDH, MSEd, RDHAP, and a fellow in Special Care Dentistry, is an Associate Professor of clinical dentistry in the Department of Dental Hygiene and in the Division of Dental Public Health & Pediatric Dentistry at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC. She is the Co-director of the Neighborhood Mobile Dental Van Prevention Program where she supervises dental hygiene students who provide preventive oral health services to children in inner-city elementary schools in Los Angeles. Ms. Brookman is also the supervising dental hygiene faculty for the Geriatric Mobile Dental Unit at Hollenbeck Skilled Nursing facility. She has worked in private practice for 40 years and has taught in academia for 17 years. She has co-taught internationally with Ms. Anna Pattison on Advanced Instrumentation. She has lectured nationally and abroad on Interprofessional Education/Collaboration and Mobile and Tele-dentistry. Ms. Brookman has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on instrumentation and mobile dentistry. She has collaborated with a dental service organization and created pilot-programs with them for RDHAPs to provide oral health care in alternative settings in the community. She is an honorary member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU), a member of ADEA, ADHA, SCDA, WSP, CDHA, and CDHEA.
Becky Thaler
Title: Dental Hygienist
How long have you worked here? 1998
How long have you worked in the dental industry? Since my son was small and my hair was long
Where did you grow up? Yorba Linda, CA
What do you do for fun? Any hobbies? I like to race C15, J24 and C14 sailboats, camp, sew, read, cook, entertain and make my dog’s life amazing.
Do you have kids and/or pets? I have a son and 3 granddaughters in Philadelphia and a standard poodle who is too cute.
What is something most people don't know about you? I’m crazy about science fiction.
If you had a couple of weeks off to travel, where would you go? and why? Spain because I speak and read the literature but have never been.
Do you have a favorite movie? Book? Restaurant? Sports team?
Movie: right now it’s Roma
Book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Restaurant: Lazy Daisy
Team: USC!
Do you have a favorite charity or like to volunteer anywhere? I trained as a CERT for LAFD and continue to refresh my training, most recently getting my HAM license to assist in disaster communication.
I volunteered as faculty at USC’s mobile dental clinic from 1981 to 2015 helping give comprehensive dental treatment to indigent children in our California communities, starting as a volunteer student myself.
I volunteered as assistant producer for the National Leukemia Broadcast council for a number of years, and continue to be involved in my community.
Anything else you would like to share? I have traveled and taught advanced periodontal instrumentation to dental professionals, faculty, and students all over the US and world with the Pattisons.
I taught at USC School of dentistry for many years in the departments of dental hygiene, predoctoral periodontics, and community dentistry.
I love to learn and apply my skills at a high level to transform disease into health and maintenance.
Iris James
Title: Insurance coordinator
How long have you worked here? 24 years
How long have you worked in the dental industry? 31 years
