Walking in an ASDA Wonderland

Darius Warner, D1 from Indiana University School of Dentistry, shares his transformative experience attending the 2022 ASDA District 7 Meeting.

We’re dental students, so it’s no secret that we get thousands of emails. One day while perusing those thousand, I saw one talking about ASDA District 7 Meeting. I was familiar with the acronym ASDA and kept hearing this term “ASDA Fever,” but not so much about what it actually was. We just had ASDA Fever Week at our school, but ohhh, how little did I know about what it meant to ACTUALLY have ASDA FEVER!!! After talking to some friends and submitting our applications to attend, we got the email saying “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO GO TO ASDA D7 MEETING!!”

Upon entering into the resort, a wide-eyed D1, I was not ready for the journey that was to ensue. As I waited to check-in for the conference, all I kept hearing about was ASDA Fever and how excited everyone was to meet and talk to Judd Burns. Over the course of the weekend, we had keynote speakers present on topics such as community collaboration in dentistry and burnout in dental school. One of the biggest takeaways I garnered from the burnout presentation is that there are multitudes in levels of burnout that one can experience. Burnout does not only come from living, eating and breathing one task. Regardless of if that task is something you enjoy, burnout can still arise in different aspects. These aspects can present as emotional burnout, when you feel that what you’re doing is not adequate, or burnout in the form of imposter syndrome. All of this was very informative, but I still had one VERY burning question… when will I get to personally talk to and meet JUDD BURNS?!

ASDA D7’s Meeting theme “Let’s Chat” was everything the title said to be and more. As a new dental student, we sort of live in a bubble, so it was refreshing speaking to students from other schools and learning how their schools operate and how they became set on their journey. One session that energized me particularly was “Maximizing Technology for a Productive Practice,” led by Dr. Robert Benavides of Pacific Dental Services. In this session, I increasingly understood the importance of many different technologies and their place in dentistry. This energized me to start seeking out and working these experiences into my kit, to increase my understanding and use of these systems before graduation. There was also a vendor fair to which…. WHO DOESN’T LIKE FREE STUFF?!

While there was a break in the conference for presenters, all of the schools were given a community service task. IUSD put together kids and adult goodie bags full of oral hygiene products. This was for sure a highlight to the weekend, as IUSD made it a competition between each other about which side could bundle the most bags! Our goal was to make 100 bags, but the competition was so “intense” that we ended up making 200 bags!

As we moved through the highlights of all the events that happened… HOW COULD WE NOTTTT mention the ASDA D7 Formal?! Absolutely STUNNING. Might we all give a round of applause to Judd Burns for the organization of the stunning event. An absolute dream. We were able to talk, mingle, and sit down to share a meal with other students, vendors, and speakers. Many topics were addressed ranging from dental, personal, and even reality tv! That night, award ceremonies happened and schools were awarded for their participation in ASDA.

As we packed up to sadly leave the hype that was the ASDA D7 Meeting, I finally got to meet THE LEGENDARY JUDD BURNS! Judd and I conversed for what had to be an hour about dental school, ASDA, and how much work he and his team put into making the ASDA D7 Meeting what it truly was. If there is anything that I can say, is that you can tell Judd’s heart and soul was put into this conference. Judd showed me what it looks like to go the next level and beyond in what you love, and I hope to emulate that and pass it on as I spread the word about my ASDA FEVER!

Photography by Josh Montgomery