Ethics and Professionalism Student Award Winner Named

Paige Sapienza, a May graduate of New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry’s Associate in Applied Science Degree Program in Dental Hygiene, is the recipient of the fifth annual Alla J. Wheeler Ethics and Professionalism Award.

Sponsored by Dimensions of Dental Hygiene, this award is presented to a graduating dental hygiene student who has demonstrated high levels of professionalism and ethics. This peer nominated award commemorates Alla J. Wheeler, RDH, MPA, a clinical assistant professor of dental hygiene at NYU and a Dimensions‘ Peer Review Panel member and contributor, who passed away from cancer in June 2010. Sapienza was selected for exemplifying ethics and professionalism throughout her dental hygiene education.

“Receiving the 2016 Alla J. Wheeler Ethics and Professionalism Award is a great honor, and one that I do not take lightly,” Sapienza tells Dimensions. “This peer-to-peer recognition is inspiring and motivating, especially as a recent graduate. The encouragement this award and my classmates have given me sparks a heightened enthusiasm as I begin my dental hygiene career.” Sapienza, of Merchantville, New Jersey, will use this award as a springboard into her career at Sapienza Dental, where she will “work side by side with my parents [and] follow in their footsteps in helping our community achieve its dental health goals.”

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. June 2016;14(06):10.