ADA/Dentsply Student Clinician Program

The winner of the ADA Dentsply Student Clinician Program was announced at a gala dinner held at Darling Harbour during the recent ADA Congress in Sydney. First Prize was presented to Ms Rujuta Bhide, a final year dental student at the University of Melbourne for her project titled "Investigation into the effect of ozone (HealOzone) pre-treatment and the addition of CPP-ACP (Tooth Mousse) on the effectiveness of carbamide peroxide bleaching of teeth". The second prize was jointly won by Mr Jason Michael from the University of Adelaide and Miss Rita Keng from the University of Otago, New Zealand.

The first prize entitles Ms Bhide to an all expenses paid trip to San Francisco to attend the 146th Annual Session of the American Dental Association held in September 2007, where she will have the opportunity to present her table clinic along with the US and other international winners.

Back in 1959 the Student Clinician Program was conceived by Dr Harold Hillenbrand, then the Executive Director of the American Dental Association and the Chairman of the Board for Dentsply International, Mr Henry Thornton. The program objectives were to stimulate student membership of the ADA, introduce students to dental society activities, encourage original clinical work at the undergraduate level and to recognize future leaders in dentistry.

The program gives the opportunity for each accredited dental school to select an outstanding undergraduate student to represent them and present their research to the guidelines and regulations established by the Association Council.

There are currently 16 student clinician programs worldwide involving Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, India, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. Every year, there is an Annual Session that brings the respective winners from their country to the USA. The judging is within two specific categories: Clinical Application and Techniques or Basic Science and Research.

The Australian Dental Association is involved in the Student Clinician Program and the biennial event is held at the respective ADA Congress hosted by Dentsply. This year in Sydney another successful Student Clinician Programs was attended by members of the Australian Dental Association, Heads of Schools, participating undergraduate students and their supervisors. The judging panel consisted of Dr Karin Alexander, who was the coordinating judge, Dr Angus Kingon and Dr Paul Scott, President of the New Zealand Dental Association.

It was also announced that Mr George Rhodes, the Vice President of Professional Relations and Corporate Communication from Dentsply International has retired after 30 years with Dentsply. Mr Rhodes attended many Student Clinician Programs in Australia and will be missed in this role. His replacement is Dr Linda Niessen, Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Dentsply, who has international recognition for her work on Geriodontics.

A highlight of the evening was a short presentation of the experiences of two past winners of the Student Clinician Program and the impact that wnning the program has had on their lives and careers. There were from 1988 winner Dr Melinda Barva, who is currently working in Adelaide as an Orthodontist and 1985 winner Dr John Cropley who is currently working in Nelson Bay, NSW.

Sincere congratulations go to all five entrants in the 2007 Program (see table on previous page) from their respective Universities for their outstanding contribution. Many thanks also go to the organisers of the Student Clinician Program within the ADA and Dentsply. This event provides a contribution to all undergraduates to support their future clinical endeavours.