Are We There Yet?

Like many of the dentists who have written for The Daily Grind, I had an idea for this blog, but it changed completely with the arrival of the mail today. I was happily greeted with a large AGD envelope marked, “REGISTRATION MATERIALS ENCLOSED.”

A year ago at this time, I was cramming to sit for the AGD Fellowship Exam. This year, I am excitedly preparing for the Fellowship Convocation. My ID badge arrived with two honorary ribbons: one signifying my 10-year anniversary as an AGD member and one declaring I am a 2013 Fellow Awardee.



I’ve written previously about working towards Fellowship, so today I want to focus on the Annual Meeting, only weeks away. First things first, it is NOT too late to attend the meeting. Online registration is still open! This will be my first time attending the AGD Annual Meeting & Exhibits. If your schedule doesn’t allow for it this year, reserve next year’s time now: June 26 to 29, 2014, in Detroit, MI (my home state!). Don’t worry. I’m fairly certain we won’t have snow then!

I have made a conscious decision to attend the conference every year. I hope you commit to doing the same. It is a great opportunity to not only fulfill needed continuing education (CE), but to network with your peers and have a good time, too. The AGD is wonderful about giving us fair warning, so add these dates to your calendar!

AGD 2015 Annual Meeting & Exhibits
June 18 to 21, 2015
San Francisco

AGD 2016 Annual Meeting & Exhibits
July 14 to 17, 2016
Boston

This year, I am doing it all. I am attending the AGD Annual Meeting for the first time, serving as course manager for several courses, and participating in Convocation. It has been an amazing and unforgettable year, and. I have learned so much during this journey.

The AGD has incredible CE programs available. Not only do they provide an opportunity every year to attend meetings that are packed with the best lecturers speaking on current trends in dental science and practice management, but they also provide periodic conferences on Practiceology and Leadership. These are skills they didn’t share in dental school. (Not that we would have had time to learn anything else after competencies, lab cases, exams, etc.) There is no doubt that we get to a point where the physical act of dentistry becomes second nature, but enhancing our ability to be a better practitioner/team leader/mentor is a lifelong process. So, no matter what “hat” you are currently wearing (owner, associate, student), the AGD has a class for that.

See you in Nashville!

Colleen B. DeLacy, DDS