A truly historic and special weekend in Chicago happened to fall on the same weekend of ASDA’s National Leadership Conference this year. With the Cubs winning it all and the Ireland v. New Zealand rugby matchup the next day, the city was alive and buzzing. The energy of the city undoubtedly seeped its way into the already hyped up leadership conference. Opening the conference was keynote speaker Adam Kreek, an Olympic gold medal rower who took us through his journey rowing across the Atlantic Ocean and his subsequent trials and tribulations. His message on achieving happiness was simple and consisted of the fantastic four: health, relationships, community involvement, and self-awareness. Happiness is not, however, achieved through money, fame, and beauty.

The carefully selected speakers and quality content are what make the NLC one of the best dental student conferences in the country. Every year, Colorado ASDA sends our members to build a network with 600 other dental students while growing and developing as leaders. Although there is nothing like being present at the conference, it is worth sharing some of the gems and takeaways from the breakout sessions. Here are some of my notes from a couple of sessions:

Building Your Personal Brand

By Dr. Ryan Dulde

• A personal brand is a true story about who you are and why you matter. If you don’t know, there is no way anyone else does.
• Brands are not invented. Find something real. Make it intentional.
• Brands set expectations, start relationships, and make you unique.
• Futuredontics conducted a survey to figure out why people go to the dentist. Here are some of the results: 70% go for ratings, 70% education background, 70% location and availability, 80% insurance, 86% scope of services.
• Would you go back to the dentist? Here’s what people are concerned about: 87% say it’s important that the dentists is cost sensitive, 91% want cleanliness, 91% want upfront costs, 93% want options well explained, and 95% want quality work.
• Without a brand you are just a commodity.
• A great brand does not leave its story to chance.

How Not to Fail Miserably in Private Practice

By Dr. Chris Salierno (Chief Editor for Dental Economics)

• It is important to take the pulse of your practice.
• Take a look at your practice daily, monthly, and quarterly to assess how you are doing.
• Daily: How much did you produce? How much did you collect?
• Monthly: Productions, collections, and new patients.
• Quarterly: Income statement, profit and loss statement.
• The overhead monster: the national average for dental office overhead is 75%.
• Goals for overhead by specialty:
• 59% for GP
• 42% for Endo
• 49% for Ortho
• 49% for Pedo
• 50% for OMFS
• 51% for Perio
• 64% for Prost
• Overhead breakdown for GP practice:
• Staff = 25%, Lab = 10%, Rent = 5%, Supplies = 5%, Misc. = 14%, this leaves you with a 41% Net Income.
• Patients don’t care about what you do in their mouth unless it hurts, turns black, or falls out.
• The patient experience starts before you meet them.

This is just a snapshot into the 20+ breakout sessions that were offered over the weekend. Other topics included were mindfulness, non-traditional post graduate options, and effective communication. CE credit was given for each session attended and can be used towards an Academy of General Dentistry Fellowship Award after graduation. The closing session was a story told by Doc Hendley, the founder of Wine to Water, and described his journey through Sudan in an attempt to bring clean water to those in need. Side note: A surefire way to make your dental school problems feel small is to do a little research on the water crisis.

The National Leadership Conference attracts students who are excited about dentistry, want to make a difference, and strive to be better leaders. Valuable breakout sessions, CE credit, and epic five star social events in the evenings are all part of the experience. If you are interested in attending a National Leadership Conference in the future, be sure to ask how you can get involved!

You know that story that you hear from a friend of a friend that their friend was accepted into dental school days before the school year started? Well…that was me. And let me tell you…that was a complete disaster turned serendipitous blessing. However, let me rewind for a hot minute. I had a pre-December interview for CU (cue the excitement). Walking out of the interview, I thought I had nailed it. The interviewer even laughed during it, yet I eventually received the crushing news that I was waitlisted. If I didn’t get in, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. At the time, I was working for AppleCare as their technology support specialist. I thought about taking a year off and continuing my work for Apple. This would give me ample time to improve my dental resume with more shadowing hours, retake the DAT, rewrite my personal statement, and attend various missions and outreach opportunities. However, on the Wednesday before Orientation Week, I was sitting in Pei Wei enjoying some Pad Thai when I got a call from Barbara telling me of my acceptance…I have never danced for joy as much as I did in Pei Wei at that very moment (and probably scarred some people with my horribly happy dance moves). My future was no longer uncertain! I packed up my entire house in the following two days and left for Colorado on a 16-hour drive from Arizona. Tack on a new apartment search, transportation, endless paperwork, and you can see why my life felt like COMPLETE CHAOS.

Fast-forward two weeks….

I was finally settled in and came to a realization that a mini life crisis had ended. I could now appreciate how amazing CU is and what I had to look forward to for four years. First of all, the campus is beautiful (from the classrooms to the grassy hangout areas). Everyone in my class is a gem, and the upperclassmen are extremely helpful with tips on how to succeed in different courses and wax labs. Thus far, I have learned so much academically – I’ve probably learned more information this month than I have from all of undergrad – and so much about myself. I have learned that my brain will absorb the most information between the hours of 8pm and midnight and that study groups do actually work. Over these next four years, I look forward to growing my involvement in and outside of the school. With all the constant studying, taking a break to volunteer, grab dinner, or even hangout in downtown Denver will definitely benefit the brain and give it a rest. This is a great place to call home right now.

Like many others, not everyone gets into the school of their choice on December 1^st, so I would say:

• Never give up. This is especially true with your personal statement – I can honestly say I went through at least five drafts, with two of those starting completely over. I would suggest asking different types of people (your acquaintance who knows everything about dentistry, your friend who obsesses over rap music, the tutor at your local library, etc.) to read your statement and ask for critical, honest feedback from their point of view. Variety is key. One more thing, I would advise you to not ask for feedback from your parents (at least I didn’t). They might not be the best choice to give you the blunt, constructive criticism you need.
• When people say that the hardest part is getting in, it is true. Once you are in, the faculty sincerely want you to succeed (one of my professors even offered us his lunch hour every day to come in for help for the exam).
• Life throws you curveballs, so take the risk and catch as many as you can. Be adaptable.
• Apply to the school you actually see yourself going to
• If you get waitlisted, write a letter of intent…or many (I wrote about five to Barbara. And yes, the admissions committee does actually read them. On my very first day of orientation, Barbara told me how excited she was for me because she knew how much I wanted it).

Good luck!