LaJoi Wiggins is elected to the American Student Dental Association Board of Trustees
The ECU School of Dental Medicine is pleased to announce that LaJoi Elaine Wiggins, Doctor of Dental Medicine Candidate 2017, has been elected to the 2015-2016 American Student Dental Association (ASDA) National Board of Trustees: District 4.
Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, LaJoi currently serves as First Delegate (president) of ECU’s ASDA chapter and as a student trustee for the North Carolina Dental Society. She is an active member of Smiles for a Lifetime, a student-led initiative that promotes oral hygiene and screening for older adults, and she has worked to build ASDA membership at ECU and nationally. Lajoi has a strong interest in dental education and is a founding member and co-president of ECU Students for ADEA (American Dental Education Association).
“I am honored to represent District Four as an ASDA trustee and to advocate on behalf of dental students at the national level. Student involvement in organized dentistry is important. The policies put in place today will affect dental students for years to come. Our voices matter and I am excited be a part of the decision making process that will propel the organization and its members to the next level,” said LaJoi.
Dr. Margaret Wilson, vice dean and faculty advisor to ASDA, said, “LaJoi Wiggins brings great enthusiasm and strong leadership to ECU’s ASDA chapter. We are delighted that she is now in a position to bring that same level of energetic leadership to her position as a national ASDA trustee.”
ASDA’s Board of Trustees is responsible for the administration and management of the association. LaJoi was elected to the Board at ASDA’s Annual Session in Boston, MA, earlier this spring. The organization represents the nearly 20,000 dental students across the country.
When Lajoi and her classmates become fourth-year students, they will complete rotations at ECU School of Dental Medicine Community Service Learning Centers in rural and underserved communities across the state.
LaJoi is the daughter of Clifton and Jennifer Wiggins of Raleigh, N.C.
About ASDA
The American Student Dental Association is a national student-run organization that protects and advances the rights, interests and welfare of dental students. It introduces students to lifelong involvement in organized dentistry and provides services, information, education, representation and advocacy. Visit ASADA at http://www.asdanet.org/mission.aspx.
About the ECU School of Dental Medicine
The ECU School of Dental Medicine is dedicated to addressing North Carolina’s ongoing shortage and misdistribution of dentists. The school educates primary care dentists who desire to meet the challenges of providing care in rural and underserved areas of the state. Programs include the pre-doctoral program leading to a doctor of dental medicine degree (DMD), two post doctoral residency programs in general dentistry, and a pediatric dentistry residency program. A key component of the DMD program is the fourth-year experience in community service learning centers in rural communities across the state. The school leverages the latest educational and patient-care technologies to maximize student learning and patient care. Visit the ECU School of Dental Medicine at ECU School of Dental Medicine.