GSDM Students and Faculty Enjoy Successful ADEA Annual Session

The 2017 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session and Exhibition was held at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California from March 18 – March 21, 2017. During the four-day event, members of the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) community were treated to a variety of informative and interactive educational sessions, workshops, and engaging plenary sessions.

GSDM faculty who attended the 2017 ADEA Annual Session were; Dr. Louis Brown, Dr. Joseph Calabrese, Dr. Theresa Davies-Heerema, Dr. Richard D’Innocenzo, Dr. Larry Dunham, Dr. Margaret Errante, Dr. Neil Fleisher, Dr. John Guarente, Dr. Michelle Henshaw, Dr. Laura Kaufman, Dr. Celeste Kong, Dr. Cataldo Leone, Dr. Hesham Nouh, Dr. Ronni Schnell, and Dr. Michael Slesnick. Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter was also in attendance.

Prior to the Annual Session’s first day, Dentsply Sirona invited GSDM, along with fellow dental institutions, to present on their use of Digital Dentistry in the instruction of Implantology. Drs. Fleisher and Nouh discussed their new preclinical course designed to introduce second-year students to our digital dentistry curriculum. Dr. Bendayan also participated in this pre-annual session event.

Many GSDM faculty members were also active at the ADEA Annual Session, as Dr. Calabrese and Dr. Slesnick were part of the poster presentations, and Drs. Fleisher and Leone presented to their colleagues regarding critical thinking. Lastly, Dr. Kaufmann presented on her work in Geriatric Dentistry.

Dr. Kong was appointed by Dean Hutter to represent GSDM by presenting to the CAD/CAM Special Interest Group (SIG) session, attended by six other dental institutions. Dr. Brown also presented to the group, about GSDM’s different approaches to the integration of Digital Dentistry in all facets of our curriculum.

The GSDM ASDA Dental Education Committee won the ADEA Outstanding Activities Award. The Committee was honored for their achievements over the past academic year, where they doubled the number of events related to dental education and helped build peer learning connections. Members of the committee are Molly Conlon DMD 19, Scott Jegard DMD 18, Asia Yip DMD 19, and Bowen Zhou DMD 19.

Asia Yip DMD 19 was also selected for the ADEA Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program, which helps students who aspire to further their careers in academic dentistry. She presented her poster, titled, “The Impact of Peer-Guided Instruction on Student Readiness for Clinic Transition.” Tamara Gordon and Charles Lewis, members of the GSDM ADEA Student Diversity Leadership Program, also attended the ADEA Leadership sessions held during the Annual Session.

On Saturday morning, over 700 predental students who are very interested in pursuing a dental career convened at the ADEA GoDental Recruitment Event. In its eighth year, students joined admissions officers from over 45 dental schools to learn the ins and outs of applying to dental school. Dr. Elizabeth Andrews, DDS, M.S., Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine and Dr. Leon Assael, DMD, C.M.M., Chair-elect of the ADEA Board of Directors, welcomed the students.

This year, the keynote address was delivered by Maj. Gen. Roosevelt Allen, DDS, Director of Medical Operations and Research and Chief of the Dental Corps, Office of the Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Falls Church, VA. As Director of Medical Operations and Research, Maj. Gen. Allen executes health care policy in support of 44,000 personnel and 75 medical treatment facilities with a budget of more than $6.4 billion. He ensures a quality, cost-effective, prevention-based health care continuum for 2.6 million beneficiaries worldwide.

Throughout the weekend, there were three Chair of the ADEA Board of Directors symposia; one on Sunday morning, one on Monday morning and one on Monday afternoon. The Monday afternoon symposium featured several leading-edge ideas to be shared in a fast-paced session based on TED Talks. A new addition to ADEA this year was the inaugural event of the “In the Mix” Series on Sunday, which paid tribute to a rich history of more than 20 years of “Discourse & Dessert” events at the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition. The “In the Mix” Series continues the legacy of important conversations around issues of diversity, inclusion and gender. Dr. Anne L. Koch, DMD, took the stage this year to highlight the barriers transgender individuals face in receiving quality medical care.

As he did last year, Dean Hutter invited all GSDM students and faculty attending the  ADEA Annual Session to a luncheon on Monday afternoon.

The 2018 ADEA Annual Session and Exhibition will be held in Orlando, Florida from March 17 – 20, 2018.