AGD Mastership: A lifelong commitment to exceptional patient care.
Complete your journey to excellence by achieving AGD’s highest honor for lifelong learning — the Mastership Award. Mastership represents the highest level of achievement for members in accordance with AGD's mission to advance general dentistry and oral health through quality continuing education.
Mastership Requirements
To earn
- Be an AGD Fellow
- Maintain current AGD membership for three continuous years by Dec. 31 of the year in which the application is received. (Did your membership recently lapse? Learn how you can buy back missed years of membership.)
- Have a dental license that has not been suspended or revoked within the past five years and is not currently under probation, suspension or revocation.
- Complete at least 1,100 hours of approved CE as an AGD member. This includes the first 500 hours applied towards the Fellowship Award.
- Of the 1,100 CE hours at least 400 hours of CE must be from participation courses in specific disciplines.
- Of the 1,100 CE hours at least 600 hours must meet minimum hour requirements in specific disciplines.
- Apply for the Mastership Award.
- Upon approval to receive the award, attend the AGD Convocation Ceremony, held during the AGD Scientific Session, where you will receive the award; successful candidates are allowed three years following approval to complete this requirement. Awardees can register to receive complimentary general meeting registration and a complimentary ticket to the Convocation Celebration the year they receive their award.
For more information, download the AGD Mastership Award Guidelines.
Apply for Mastership
To receive your AGD Mastership Award submit your application and the required fee to AGD by Dec. 31. Click on the blue APPLY FOR MASTERSHIP box below to start the online application.
- You MUST be logged in under your AGD Member ID to access the application.
- The current application fee is $930. You must pay this fee by credit card when submitting your online application.
- You will receive an automatic confirmation email once the application and payment are received.
- Email questions to education@agd.org
Click here for step-by-step directions on applying online for the AGD Mastership Award.
Applications must be received no later than Dec. 31 to be considered for the class immediately following the application deadline. AGD’s Council on Dental Education will review your application by the end of March. You can expect to receive notification of the council’s decision by mail by mid-April.
IMPORTANT: AGD Office Closure Dec. 25 – Jan.1
The AGD office will be closed from December 25, 2024, to January 1, 2025, in observance of the holiday season. The office will reopen on January 2, 2025.
If you have questions about applying for the Mastership Award during the closure, email education@agd.org. If you have met all award requirements by Dec. 31, 2024, other than applying, your application can still be considered for the 2025 award if your question is emailed on or before the Dec. 31, 2024, deadline. Questions will be answered in the order they are received no later than Friday January 3, 2025
Find CE
Search the AGD’s Member-only CE Directory to find courses that will help you meet the Mastership Award Requirements. You can also find AGD PACE-Approved CE organizations in your state and contact them direct for information about their upcoming courses.
Find an AGD MasterTrack® Program
Team up with your colleagues in pursuit of Mastership. MasterTrack® Programs foster camaraderie and enable members to earn Mastership more quickly than they could on their own — usually within four or five years.
Each program’s organizer determines the order in which CE requirements are addressed. Most programs offer protocol courses, allowing participants to apply the new skills and techniques covered in class, and then discuss the outcomes with the instructor and colleagues. A protocol course has three primary components:
- A classroom session
- A homework assignment, to be completed independently by the participant
- A homework presentation, critique and evaluation session
Find out whether there’s an AGD MasterTrack® Program in your area, or contact your AGD constituent about other programs or study clubs that may be available to you. You can also search the AGD Member-only CE Directory to find courses near you. For hands-on courses select either “Participation” or “Protocol (MasterTrack®)” as the course type.
"Earning my Mastership award has made me a more well-rounded, well-versed dentist, which benefits my patients and keeps me on the pathway to excellence, both in dentistry and in my personal life."
