In accordance with the award guidelines, prior to applying for Fellowship, you must first complete 500 credit hours of approved CE and be an active, licensed dentist member in the AGD for three (3) continuous years (36 months) by Dec. 31 of the year in which your award application is received. Your three-year length of membership requirement will begin no earlier than the month in which you graduate from dental school. 

You may earn up to 50 hours of lecture or Self-Instruction credit for approved CE courses you attend as an AGD dental student member. At least 35 of the 50 hours MUST be from live courses. A maximum of 15 CE hours earned as a student from Self-Instruction courses can be applied toward the FAGD award. The credit hours you report will be recorded on your AGD Award Transcript and applied toward the FAGD requirements after graduation. Credits earned as a student beyond the 50-hour maximum will NOT count toward FAGD. 

You may earn credit toward your Fellowship from any AGD PACE- and ADA CERP-approved CE lecture courses you attend. The organization providing the CE course should be able to indicate whether it is AGD PACE- or ADA CERP-approved. Additionally, any CE lecture course offered by your local AGD constituent is eligible for Fellowship credit, while any course you take to fulfill a current dental school requirement is not. 

AGD PACE is an evaluation of the educational processes and organization uses when designing, planning, and implementing CE courses. CERP is a similar evaluation process overseen by the ADA. 

The AGD offers a variety of resources to help you pursue Fellowship early on in your dental career: 

• AGD FellowTrack programs: Administered locally by select constituents, AGD FellowTrack programs help to guide students in their pursuit of Fellowship by directing them to AGD PACE-approved CE lecture courses available in their area. Contact your local AGD constituent for more information.
• Local area courses: Search the AGD CE Directory by topic, speaker, location, and more to find approved CE opportunities close to home. You also can contact your local AGD constituent leaders or dental school liaisons to see if any free or discounted courses are available in your area.
• AGD Scientific Session: Access high-quality CE and more at the AGD Scientific Session, the premiere dental event of the year. AGD dental student members enjoy access to the student, new dentist lounge and your registration includes lectures and admission into the AGD Exhibit Hall.
• AGD PACE-approved providers: Search for current AGD PACE-approved program providers by state to find local CE lecture courses eligible for Fellowship credit. 
• ASDA national meetings: AGD members who are also members of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) may earn credit toward Fellowship by attending educational lectures at ASDA’s Annual Session and National Leadership Conference meetings each year. 

Only CE lecture courses offered outside the scope of your dental school’s curriculum are eligible for Fellowship credit. If you are attending a course in order to fulfill a requirement as part of your school’s curriculum, the course is not eligible for Fellowship credit. However, if your dental school is an AGD PACE- or ADA CERP-approved provider and it offers a course that is not required as part of your current curriculum, you may receive Fellowship credit for attending that course. 

Yes, beginning Jan. 1, 2011, if you were an AGD dental student member at the time you participated in a local AGD FellowTrack program, you are eligible to receive Fellowship credit for all live CE lecture courses you attended through your program. To ensure that you receive CE credit for your activities, contact the coordinator of your local AGD FellowTrack program and check on the status of his or her CE Submission Roster from the year(s) you were registered. 

AGD members can receive credit toward Fellowship for completion of a Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-accredited Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) or General Practice Residency (GPR) program. Credit is awarded as follows:

• Up to 150 hours of participation credit toward Fellowship and Mastership for approved one-year programs;
• Up to 300 hours of participation credit toward Fellowship and Mastership for approved two-year programs; and
• Up to 450 hours of participation credit toward Fellowship and Mastership for non-concurrent completion of both types of approved programs.

To receive credit, send either a copy of your residency certificate or a letter (on official letterhead) from the director of the residency program verifying that you have completed the program. Be sure to include the beginning and ending dates of the program, along with the type of residency completed. Please note that AEGD and GPR programs are the only residencies that qualify for credit. 

If you attended a CE course presented by an AGD PACE-approved provider, you do not need to report anything to AGD Headquarters, as approved providers are required to submit the information on your behalf in the form of an attendee roster. To ensure you receive credit, remember to bring your AGD Member ID card to each course so your name and ID number can be recorded properly on the attendee roster. If the provider is not AGD PACE-approved, you can record your CE through our online submission tool.

If the coordinator of your local AGD FellowTrack program is planning to provide AGD Headquarters with a CE Submission Roster on behalf of your entire class or program, we will record your credits when we receive the roster. If not, please fill out a course completion certificate for each CE course you attend, and save them for your records. At the conclusion of your local AGD FellowTrack program or at the end of the school year, please email scanned copies of all of your course completion certificates to the AGD Membership Services Center at membership@agd.org or fax them to 312.335.3432. 

You can monitor your CE activities with the AGD Award Transcript, which is available online and indicates the total CE credits you have accrued as a member. You can access your award transcript at any time. Please note that the CE credits you earn as a dental student member will not be tracked on your AGD Licensing Transcript, as you are not yet a licensed dental professional and are therefore not required to apply for re-licensure with a state dental board. 

Please allow up to 60 days for AGD PACE-approved CE credits to be posted to your AGD Award Transcript. If your credits have not been posted after 60 days, please contact the course provider. If you submitted non-AGD PACE-approved CE credits, it takes approximately 30 business days from the date the AGD receives your CE to process it and add it to your transcript. For this reason, sending CE credits to AGD Headquarters via email or fax are generally the fastest methods of submission. 

You can view your AGD Award Transcript online at any time. If you notice any errors in your transcript, including missing CE credits, please submit your changes to AGD Headquarters by email to membership@agd.org or by fax to 312.335.3432.