Successful Week of Events Wraps in Chicago
Endodontic educators, residents and corporate supporters gathered in Chicago last month for a series of AAE and Foundation for Endodontics-sponsored events. The Educator Workshop, Corporate Community Conference and APICES were held Aug. 24-25, giving all audiences an opportunity to interact and network with each other, as well as AAE leadership and staff.
More than 30 corporate partners joined AAE leadership at the Corporate Community Conference, where “Trends in Endodontics” were a focus. After a welcome and overview from Marc P. Gimbel, D.M.D., chair, Corporate Relations Committee, and Mary T. Pettiette, D.D.S., president, AAE Foundation; Adriana Menezes, senior manager, Operations, Health Policy Institute, and Andrew Blatz, senior research and data analyst, Health Policy Institute, spoke.
AAE President Dr. Patrick E. Taylor also spoke on the “State of the AAE: Strategic Plan Update,” covering membership and global outreach, consumer awareness, and single standard for quality endodontics. Following the presentations, there was a reception with Educator Workshop attendees.
The AAE hosted 63 program directors during the 2018 Educator Workshop, “Assessing and Achieving Predoctoral Endo Competency.” Predoctoral directors worked through case studies after utilizing the Treatment Standard and Endodontic Competency White Papers to solve real-life scenarios. EAC Chair Dr. Craig Hirschberg moderated the conference. Sessions included “Competency: Is it in the eye of the beholder?” and “How does Licensure Impact Predoc Curriculum?”
The 15th annual APICES program also was held during this time, bringing 300 residents together to hear speakers on a variety of topics, including CBCT, clinical diagnoses and practice management, and to learn about the family of AAE organizations. All attendees had plenty of time to interface during meals, breaks and social events — such as an evening of dart games at downtown Chicago establishment Flight Club.
Residents seemed to enjoy the weekend-long experience, where they met their future colleagues, formed new relationships and learned about their specialty. A “sell-out” event year after year, APICES is completely free to all residents, providing registration, lodging and meals, as well as a travel stipend to offset the financial burden of attending.
Those gracious offerings are available because of the support provided by a variety of corporate sponsors.
Residents also showed their school spirit by providing videos representing their programs, which we compiled into a Welcome Video to kick off this year’s event. Watch it here, and view our full APICES photo album here.
