Local organization wins AGD Student Chapter of the Year

March 23, 2023 | by Caleb Vierkant

Texas A&M School of Dentistry’s student chapter of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) was recently named Student Chapter of the Year. It was presented on the AGD website and newsletter back in November of 2022.

Founded in 1952, AGD is the only professional association that exclusively represents general dentistry. At over 40,000 members, the organization works to promote the field of general dentistry and offer members opportunities for furthering their education and careers.

D3 Chloe Nguyen is president of the Academy of General Dentistry FellowTrack organization. The purpose of their group, she explained, is to offer a fast track for students to later join the AGD. They do this through opportunities to earn continuing education credits, networking dinners and hosting special guest speakers.

“I joined last year when I was a D2, and I applied to become an officer,” Nguyen said. “I attended most of the meetings, and I really liked it. I thought it was a good opportunity, not just because of the free food. It’s been really rewarding; we’re able to make connections for the students so they’ll be able to get to know dentists.”

Nguyen said they were nominated for the recognition by Dr. Akeira “Cookie” Warner, a past president of AGD FellowTrack and recent graduate of Texas A&M School of Dentistry. The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the local organization, and AGD as a whole, Nguyen said. Attendance and interest in the group was really down. However, through FellowTrack’s efforts, the group has sprung back to life.

“Over the pandemic, AGD involvement had gone down since everything was over Zoom, and we wanted to bring participation back to the pre-pandemic numbers,” Nguyen said. “We got that and more! We now have about 40 to 50 active members. It’s really good. We’re pretty much back to how it was before COVID.”

The Student Chapter of the Year award comes with a certificate and a $1,000 prize, which went to the Dallas AGD Chapter. The money will be used to help the FellowTrack organization, Nguyen said.

“I’m really honored to have won this award,” she said. “I hope we’ll be able to continue the legacy of AGD and whoever joins us gets the most out of it. “I’d like to thank my faculty adviser Dr. Ighani, Dr. Warner for nominating us, my fellow officers Yafet Zemmedhun and Bryn Martin and all of our wonderful AGD members for helping make this happen.”