Avenue Dental on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane founded the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award in 2014 to recognise the top dental graduates in Australia each year.
Dr Stephen Dudgeon and Dr Eli Burger founded the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award to recognise and support the next generation of dentists in Australia and to help mentor and grow these dentists into quality clinicians. The Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award is available to final year dental students at all Australian Dental Schools. One talented new dental graduate is named Australian Dental Graduate of the Year and is awarded a cash prize of $1000 as the top dental graduate in Australia. Five other exceptional new dental graduates are named runner up finalists of the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award and they each receive a $500 cash prize.
The Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award is available to final year dental students at all Australian Dental Schools. The eligible Universities and Dental Schools are listed below.
New South Wales
University of Sydney Dental School
Charles Sturt University Dental School
Victoria
University of Melbourne Dental School
La Trobe University Dental School
South Australia
University of Adelaide Dental School
Queensland
University of Queensland Dental School
James Cook University Dental School
Griffith University Dental School
Western Australia
University of Western Australia Dental School
These exceptional dentists are also invited to join the Australian Dental Mini Residency in general practice dentistry which is a comprehensive training and mentoring program for new dental graduates. In 2020, we have over 50 recent graduate dentists completing the program at our training facility in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
At Avenue Dental we have found it extremely rewarding to give back to the dental profession and the next generation of Australian dentists through the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award. We have met so many talented, driven, passionate and growth orientated young dentists through the award and the associated Australian Dental Mini Residency. When Dr Stephen Dudgeon and Dr Eli Burger first graduated 15 years ago they were extremely fortunate to have many opportunities in terms of employment and mentoring and training. This is why they wanted to give the same opportunities to the next generation of Australian dentists. At Avenue Dental our purpose is “positively transforming dentistry” and we feel that by recognising, supporting, training and mentoring these recent dental graduates and helping improve the standard of dentistry in Australian we are working towards our purpose.
The Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award started as a pilot program in 2014 at the University of Queensland Dental School. The first winner was a young dentist named Dr Johan Weemaes. After meeting such talented and hardworking young dentists through the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award, Dr Stephen Dudgeon and Dr Eli Burger wanted to do more to support these dentists in their first year after graduation so they founded the Australian Dental Mini Residency. The first year saw six University of Queensland dental graduates attending the training program. The Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award was so successful that we expanded it to include all Australian Dental Schools and the Australian Dental Mini Residency has since expanded to include over 50 dental graduates from all Australian Dental Schools. Now in its 6th Year, the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award is the most prestigious award for graduating dentists in Australia.
Voted the Sunshine Coast's No. 1 Dental Practice
Established on the Sunshine Coast for over 26 years, Avenue dental was voted the number one dental practice on the Sunshine Coast by readers of the Sunshine Coast daily
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