Each year, ASDA members publish more than 100 articles in ASDA News, more than 50 articles in Mouth and at least 156 posts to this blog. That’s a lot of content. Behind the scenes of these publications is ASDA’s Editorial Board–eight dental students who dedicate their time to planning, writing and editing your ASDA publications. It’s thanks to them that you read about millennials, creative diagnosis, and lasers this past year. They are also the folks that bring you Life Hacks Week and “just for fun” posts here on the blog.
ASDA’s Editorial Board sifted through all the articles and blog posts of 2015 to narrow down nominees for three Gold Crown Awards: Best News Article, Best Feature Article and Best Blog Post. Criteria included relevance, originality, research and presentation. For blog posts, number of visits, social shares and Facebook likes were also weighed in the decision. Here are the nominees for the 2016 Gold Crown Awards for best articles and blog post…
We’ve all used media in some form or another in our chapter. Promotion, event recaps or even simply for entertainment. But have you ever thought of using it to improve your public speaking skills? Neither did we.
Everyone says that the key to reducing stress is balance and exercise. Well, they’re right. Dental school is one of the most stressful, frustrating, and nerve-wracking times in our lives. Without some sort of stress outlet there’s no way we’d make it. For some people, it’s pumping iron at the gym, power cleaning at Crossfit, or zenning out with some vinyasa. For me, it’s lacing up my trusty Saucony’s and hitting the trails or the pavement. I began my on-again-off-again relationship with running in the 7th grade and feel that I owe many of my accomplishments to it. 
During my first year in dental school, Dr. Greer, an oral pathologist and novelist, told our class that we each needed to have a hobby other than dentistry. At the time, I didn’t know how I would find time for that. But Dr. Greer’s remarks left an impression on me. And the next year I did something about it.
On behalf of ASDA’s Editorial Board, I’d like to thank all the authors and bloggers who contributed to ASDA in 2014. Thank you for your time, your ideas and your contribution to the organization. It’s because of volunteers like you that we are able to build a knowledge-base for dental students in the U.S. And it’s because of you that ASDA News was found to be members’ favorite ASDA publication in a 2014 readership survey!