The Houston Fill EDITION 5: FEBRUARY 2014
Inside this Edition: Welcome………………………….
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Letter From the President……….
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Community Service……………...
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Upcoming Events…………..……
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District 9 Meeting……………….. Pre-Dental Day……..…………… ASDA Going Global…..……… Meet the New Officers…………
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Wisdom Tooth: The next time you brush your teeth, take a moment to look at your surroundings. If you are closer than six feet to a toilet, airborne particles from the flush can travel and adhere to your toothbrush. Yuck!
Welcome to the Spring 2014 Edition of The Houston Fill! It is finally February 2014 and we have lots of ASDA Events coming your way. In this edition, you can read about the District 9 Meeting and what the officers learned during their trip to Colorado. You will also see an update on community service projects, like the toothbrush and toothpaste drive donations. Finally, take a look at the last page to meet the new officers for the 2013 – 2014 year!
Publications Editors: Macey Cartrite, Laura Nelson, and Michelle Boecker
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Katie Sowa ‘15 We hit the ground running this semester with our ASDA chapter. The semester started with a few Lunch & Learns and our District 9 Meeting. The District 9 meeting is a great way to collaborate with leaders from other schools, all the while enjoying the slopes of Breckenridge, CO. At this year’s meeting, our chapter won District 9 Chapter of the year! This is a pretty exciting accomplishment since we’ve worked so hard all year. Each of our ASDA officers and members have been instrumental in reaching this level. Thank you for your support. At the end of this month, 18 members from our chapter will be attending ASDA Annual Session. I will be running for National ASDA President and could not be more excited. I’m looking forward to visiting the district caucuses and helping them understand why I’m the right fit for ASDA President. I want to thank the current Houston ASDA officer team, my classmates, and the faculty for all of their support during this election. I’m looking forward to representing UTSD well.
The University of Texas School of Dentistry American Student Dental President: Katie Sowa ‘15 President-elect: Graham Reed ‘16 Immediate Past President: Sam Carrell ‘14 Class Delegate: Andrew Naeger ‘17 Treasurer: Hunter Owen ‘15 Historian: Khushbu Patel ‘14, & Hieu Pham ‘17 Outreach Coordinators: Tim Woernley ‘14, Kelsey Edmonson ‘15, Shivani Patel ‘16, & Clara Yoo ‘17 Legislative Liason: Bryce Gates ‘14, Kyle Hale ‘16, & Glennis Katzmark ‘17 Events/Meetings Coordinator: Aaron Menchaca ‘14, Andrew Smith ‘15, Marisa McKee ‘16, & Mary Becker ‘17 Pre-Dental Coordinators: Iliana Saavedra ‘15, Paola Salazar ‘16, Chris Thorburn ‘16, & Alex Edgerly ‘17 Publication Editors: Laura Nelson ‘16, Macey Cartrite ‘16, & Michelle Boecker ‘17 Website Manager: Andre Ngyuen ‘15, & Matthew Franzen ‘17
American Student Dental Association Executive Committee President: Jiwon Lee, Columbia ‘14
Disability/ Life insurance Be sure to sign up for FREE life insurance and disability for ASDA members while in dental school. If everyone signs up, our ASDA chapter will receive a monetary award! So take 5 minutes and do yourself and ASDA a favor by signing up!
ADPAC As a dental student, you can have a voice in legislation decisions by joining the American Dental Political Actions Committee (ADPAC)! Student dues are just $5 and can be paid to ASDA legislative liaisons:
Kyle Hale (DS2), Bryce Gates (DS4), Glennis Katzmark (DS1)
Vice President: Martin Smallidge, Pittsburgh ‘14 Vice President: Tyler Rumple, Washington ‘14 District 9 Trustee: Daryn Lu, Oklahoma ‘15 All views in this newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily of the American Student Dental Association or The University of Texas School of Dentistry.
www.insurancefordentalstudents.com 2
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Upcoming Events: Med Pro L and L DATE: 2/12/14 Vendor Fair DATE: 2/13/14 5 – 7:30 @ Cooley
SIGHT Health Fair Nov. 23, 2013 Kelsey Edmondson ‘15
ASDA Annual Session DATE:2/26/14 Predental Day DATE: 3/8/14
This past November, some of our ASDA members participated in a health fair put on by Students Global Health in Texas, aka SIGHT. Student representatives from UT medical school, Baylor College of Medicine, U of H pharmacy, and U of H optometry school were also present. They provided patrons of the health fair with vision, hearing, blood pressure, and blood glucose screenings. The event was held at Alliance Multicultural Center in Bellaire, a cultural and educational community center. They were able to provide dental screenings and oral hygiene education for approximately 175 people. Many of the health fair patrons had recently emigrated from regions such as Nepal, Burma, and eastern Africa and had not had access to dental care for most of their lives. This was an excellent cultural learning experience and volunteers from different classes had a great time getting to know each other. ASDA has been invited back to the Alliance this spring for another health fair, aimed at serving international refuges that have recently arrived in Houston. ASDA gives much thanks to Dr. Neumann for guidance and supervision at the SIGHT health fair.
Please contact Shivani Patel ‘16 or Kelsey Edmondson ‘15 for ways you can become more involved in community service projects at the UT School of Dentistry at Houston.
Pacific Dental L and L DATE: 3/13/14 ASDA Family Picnic DATE: 4/3/14 SIGHT Health Fair at Lockhart Elementary DATE: 4/12/14
The Alliance health fair for refugees living in Houston DATE: 2/22 8:30-12:30pm
Best Buddies - TBD
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District 9 Meeting Christopher Thorburn ‘16
District 9 includes the dental schools in Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. UT Houston ASDA won Chapter of the year for their outstanding achievements on the local ASDA level.
Getting to attend District 9 Retreat was one of the most memorable and fun experiences of my dental school career thus far. Not only were the speaker topics interesting - building a practice, networking, and being passionate about our industry - but I can say with full confidence that we heard from a future ADA President who gave the most impassioned and thoughtful seminar I’ve heard on bringing change to a static organization.
Skiing was, of course, a great part of the trip. However it came at a cost as I hit a tree on the first day. Despite the recovery I was able to spend time with some great people from around our district and share ideas about how to improve ASDA at our schools. Meeting past ASDA national Presidents and Vice Presidents was the highlight of this trip for me. Their advice and mentorship has already been called upon and I consider myself extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to attend this meeting. For anyone considering applying for an officer position or who thinks we need a new position they could fill, I strong encourage you to contact us about what you can do. It’s trips like this that help flesh out the dental school experience and prepare you for what comes after graduation. Chris Thorburn, Class of 2016 Pre-dental Coordinator, UTSD ASDA tel: 830.822.9100 4
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ASDA Pre-Dental Day 2014 Paola Salazar ‘16, Pre-Dental Co-Chair ASDA is excited to host its first annual “Pre-dental day” on March 8, 2014. Students from universities all over Texas were invited to participate. One hundred students total will be joining us in this event from the University of Houston, Baylor University, Texas A&M, Texas State, UT Pan-American, Rice University, Houston Baptist University, St. Edwards University, Texas Christian University, East Texas Baptist, Tyler Junior College, Lamar University, Wharton County Junior College, St. Mary’s University, and Stephen F. Austin University. When and where is Pre-Dental Day? Saturday March 8th, 2014 8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. The University of Texas School of Dentistry 7500 Cambridge St. Houston, TX 77054 What is pre-dental day? Sessions include a tour of the school grounds, topics on the application process, interviewing, personal statements, life as a dental student, and addresses from the Dean and Associate Dean of Admissions. All attendees will have the opportunity to experience drilling in the simulation clinic along with waxing in separate breakout sessions. How can you help? Contact Paola Salazar Paola.salazar@uth.tmc.edu How do pre-dental students register?
Undergraduate students will be enjoying a day filled with activities including workshops on writing personal statements, sessions discussing student life, as well as questions and answer sessions with dental students. Additionally, they will get a chance to drill and wax in the school’s preclinical labs, bringing them that much closer to the life of a dental student. ASDA, with the help of dental student organizations such as the Hispanic Student Dental Association, Asian American Student Dental Association, Texas Association of Women Dentists, Student National Dental Association, Alpha Omega, and Student Professionalism and Ethics Association, are making this possible. This project would not be possible without the help of all these organizations, ASDA’s Pre-dental Co-Chairs (Christopher Thorburn, Iliana Saavedra, and Alex Eldgerly), and Dr. Pierpont and Dean Valenza. The goal of pre-dental day is to allow undergraduate students, who are interested in a career in dentistry, a chance to explore UTSD and learn more about the profession. In addition, all the activities planned aid as enrichment that will help them in their application process.
http://houstonasda.com/pre-dental/ 5
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ASDA Going Global: Update on Toothbrush and Toothpaste Drive Donations Kelsey Edmondson ‘15 In the November 2013 issue of The Houston Fill, we reported that your donations for the Patriot Day Toothbrush and Toothpaste Drive for the troops were in route to an Army base in the Horn of Africa. The donations have arrived! Captain Barrett (a graduate of Baylor College of Dentistry) stationed in Djibouti, has used our donations to aid in presenting a “Tooth Talk” about preventive oral hygiene to local civilians. ASDA gives our continued thanks do Dr. and Mrs. Fullerton for sponsoring the shipment of the donations.
Middle row, left: Education Center, Dikhil, Djibouti Middle row, right: Captain Barrett demonstrates flossing 6
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MEET THE NEW OFFICERS
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Chris Thorburn – Pre-Dental Coordinator
Andrew Naeger – Class Delegate
Mary Becker - Events Coordinator
Clara Yoo - Outreach Coordinator
Glennis Katzmark - Legislative Liaison
Alex Edgerly - Pre-Dental Coordinator
Hieu Pham - Historian
Not pictured: Michelle Boecker - Publications Editor Matthew Franzen - Webmaster 7
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The UT Houston School of Dentistry 7500 Cambridge St. Houston, TX 77054
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