Page 5 - GP Fall 2019

From the Regional Director

Ira Levine, DDS, MAGD goals. They made me feel part of a larger community. I never re-
ally felt that before.
This April the Regional Directors hosted a
Leadership Development Symposium. These Relationships, isn’t that what makes life worth living? To better
have been done every other year for many foster these opportunities, the NYSAGD has been looking to do
years, but this year we used our imagination more social events. Dr. Rhee, our New Dentist Chair, arranged an
to come up with a slightly different format. event called “Chat and Chew.” It was really a fun event. Held in
No more professional speakers. No more rah- Manhattan on May 3 , we had over thirty dentists attend. Net-
rd
rah sessions and find out who you are as a working, socializing and hors d’oeuvres completed the evening.
leader. The concept was that if people were
interested in attending, they were already in- Another upcoming social event is the Picnic/Games to be held in
spired. What we wanted to give them was the information to be conjunction with the New Jersey AGD September 22 at the Al-
nd
effective and specific information that could be brought back to pine Boy Scout Camp in Alpine, New Jersey (rain date September
each region for immediate use. I am happy to say that this was a 29 ). Team and individual games with prizes are planned and it
th
very successful format with a 98% approval rate. should be fun for the whole family. There will even be a bus leaving
from Manhattan to bring people to the camp for a small fee. While
There were some challenges to overcome, but that is expected. What the picnic is a free member benefit, you do need to register. The
I didn’t expect was that I would be inspired by those same speakers registration will have a place to make donations to the AGD Foun-
and by the up and coming leaders of this organization. If you have dation. While a donation is not required, we ask you to consider it.
never experienced this for yourself, you are missing out. It is not all
about the conference itself. Lifelong friendships were made. Skills People think that the AGD is only about Continuing Education and
were learned that can have a positive effect on these leaders person- Advocacy. They are missing the point. This is a community. Please
al lives and not just for the benefit of the organization. join us. I promise that you will have fun.

This brought back thoughts of how I started in my leadership roles “The power of community to create health is far greater than any
in the AGD. Those friends that I had made at those meetings are physician, clinic or hospital. “
still friends today and many have moved up in their leadership Mark Hyman
roles over time. These are people with very similar values and

From the Executive Director

Paula Bostick, Executive Director number of dentists statewide. So I ask myself why a dentist
wouldn’t want to be a part of something that helps in every
We Are Still Available aspect of being a general dentist?

All I can say is, “Wow!” The New York Well, the answer is simply….time. Living in the greatest
AGD has been the most active we’ve been state in the nation where you can go to a diner and get a ham-
in a long time. 2019 started off with new burger at 2:00am if you so please, a wide variety of music
and exciting events and lectures added to and culture with so much to do where do you find the time
our calendar. Each member of our Board after practicing 5 to 6 days a week? The NYSAGD is doing
is doing their part to help keep the organi- all that we can to somehow “fit” into the small window of
zation relevant to our members. We value time that may become available. We have structured courses
what the AGD offers and we want to make the members see and events for various days and times to try to accommodate
that value. The AGD has a constituent in every state along every schedule. Every effort is being put forth to make this
with constituents in Canada, the Virgin Islands and Puerto worth your time, money, and profession. So if you find the
Rico. New York is one of the largest with about 1,700 mem- time, visit our website, read our emails, like us on Facebook
bers. This number is low considering we have a very high or follow us on Instagram.

www.nysagd.org l Fall 2019 l GP 5