Endo Around the World
By Jennifer Teng
2/01/09
What do
Australia, Las Vegas, and a desert in Peru all have in common? They
are all sites of the USC School of Dentistry’s innovative contest to
get dental students excited and motivated about Endodontics. As
creator of the contest and Undergraduate Endodontics Program Director
Thomas Levy explained, “Gotta have some fun!”
Inspired
by TV personality Matt Lauer’s program, “Where in the World is Matt
Lauer,” Levy challenged incoming sophomores to take the endodontics
manual along with signs claiming “Endo Rules!” with them on their
winter vacations three years ago. The competition allows students to
get creative by posing and taking photos with the manual in various
parts of the world, doing exciting and many times unusual activities.
The
photos are then judged and the winner receives a $25 Starbucks gift
card. Last year’s winning photograph displayed a dental student
milking a cow in India while reading the manual. Other students have
ventured into other places such as deserts in Peru, Nicaragua, the
Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Rose Bowl, and one student even
posed with the manual while gambling in Las Vegas.
Levy said the competition truly works to inspire incoming sophomores to open the manual and take an interest in endodontics.
“They enjoy it and I enjoy it,” he said.
