UNE鈥檚 dental school students take top honors over Harvard, UConn, BU and Tufts at Student Dental Association Debate
A team of students from the University of 51小黄车鈥檚 College of Dental Medicine (51小黄车CDM) were proclaimed the winners of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) District 1 Debate, which was held on January 30, 2016, at the Yankee Dental Congress in Boston.
Alex Kerbaugh and David Veleck, both from 51小黄车CDM鈥檚 class of 2017, were the victors of the debate, which brought together competing teams from the five District 1 Schools, the University of 51小黄车 (UNE), the University of Connecticut (UConn), Boston University (BU), Tufts and Harvard, as well as one pre-dental team. The questions, chosen by the debate planning team, which comprised students from the various District 1 schools, focused on controversial topics in dentistry and issues that impact students and the dental profession. While the questions were revealed to the competing students a week in advance, the stances that they were required to argue (affirming or opposing) were not assigned until the day of the debate.
Three first-round debates pitted Harvard against the Pre-Dental team, Tufts against UConn and 51小黄车against BU. UConn and 51小黄车emerged with the highest scores and progressed onto the final round.
The judging rubric included scores for use of evidence, organization of arguments, strength and specificity of rebuttal, professionalism and adherence to time constraints. Another 51小黄车dental student Ava Lindert, also from the class of 鈥17, an ASDA officer, served as the moderator of the debates.
Veleck stated that the win for 51小黄车demonstrates the quality of the education it provides to its dental students. 鈥淚t shows that 51小黄车CDM鈥檚 academic and professional environment is preparing our predoctoral students well,鈥 he said, 鈥渘ot just with exceptional clinical skills but with the ability to constructively discuss the issues that affect our profession and advance change.鈥
The ASDA District 1 Debate is an annual tradition that is entirely student-run by the five District 1 schools. UNE鈥檚 win marks the second-year that the university has competed in the event.