How to apply

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How does it work?

At the beginning of your nomination, you have to choose one of the six categories for which you want to compete:

1. Public Health

Preventing and controlling dental disease while promoting dental health through organized community program.

2. Full Time Clinician

Providing direct patient care 32+ hours per week. Full time position providing care in general practice, periodontal practice, geriatric patients, intellectual disabilities, specialty needs and mobile dentistry.

3. Academia

Full time position with dental hygiene program educating and mentoring the dental hygienist of the future.

4. Entrepreneur

Organizing and promoting a personal business to benefit the dental professional or dental patients.

5. New RDH

Graduated 5 years ago or less (Recognizing those RDH who graduated in 2018, or after, focusing on making a difference in their community, with their patients, or in an entrepreneurial program).

6. Research

Authored a peer-reviewed research paper that was published not more than 3 years ago. Award in this category will be limited to only the lead author if multiple research authors exist.

Please Note: you can only apply for one category; your first nomination counts, those submitted after will be removed.

All nominations consist of two parts:

1. Written answers to a set of questions that inquire what you – or the colleague you’re nominating – have done to elevate the dental hygiene profession. These nominations will be judged by an independent selection committee, and account for 50% of the total vote.
2. A 1-minute video where you further explain your nomination. Your video will be published on SUNSTAR’s YouTube channel to be judged by the general public, accounting for the remaining 50% of the total vote. Therefore, make it fun, and be creative!

Eligibility criteria

One of the new features of the updated program is that you can either nominate yourself OR a colleague, as long as you (or the person you’re nominating) are an officially registered dental hygienist. All eligible entries that meet the criteria and are submitted by the due date will be blinded before going to the selection committee for review and judging.

Selection of winners

As briefly explained before, selection of winners consists of two parts:

1. An independent selection committee of internationally known dental hygienists, carefully assembled by the IFDH, will judge your written nomination by using a standard scoring system. This scoring will account for 50% of the total score.
2. Your 1-minute video will be published on SUNSTAR’s YouTube channel, where the general public can vote for their favourite video by “giving it a like”. The number of likes will account for the other 50% of the total score.

Each category will produce one winner, which means six in total. The Sunstar Foundation is the award sponsor but does not participate in award screening or selection. This is the sole responsibility of the independent selection committee. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, members of the selection committee must disclose any personal or professional ties with entrants (e.g., as instructor, supervisor, dissertation committee member, or editor) to the other members of the committee. If a committee member does have such ties, she or he should not participate in judging. Selection committee members are not eligible for the awards.

The Awards

A trophy will be presented for each category at the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene (ISDH). In addition, each recipient will receive $1,500 prize money and reimbursement for their participation to ISDH, including full registration and coverage of travel costs. The Sunstar Foundation will determine the travel allowance to be paid. The award winner is responsible for making all travel arrangements him or herself.

The award ceremony will take place during an exclusive session at the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene in July 2024 in Seoul (South Korea). Attendance to the ceremony is mandatory for the winners, as they will attend a live on-stage panel discussion, hosted by a SUNSTAR Foundation and a IFDH representative. The winning representatives agree to meet with Sunstar personnel (when requested) at the ISDH to rehearse and review the program prior to the live session.

Recording a video with your phone

Here are some tips and tricks that can really make your video stand out:

1. When you film yourself, instead of holding your phone vertically (in portrait mode), try to hold it horizontally (in landscape mode). In this way, you use your whole screen.
2. Keep your camera steady while filming. You can use a camera or phone stand, but if you don’t have one, holding your phone against the wall in front of you works as well!
3. Don’t stand in front of a window or a bright lamp. The light will drown you out. Instead, turn around to make use of that light! Also, don’t use the flashlight on your phone.
4. Film yourself in a quiet place. Background noise will distract the viewer and decrease the impact of your story.
5. Make sure your video is in focus, usually by tapping on your own image on screen. Don’t use the zoom function, as it generally decreases the quality of your recording.
6. Align the camera in height with your face, or even slightly above it. Filming from below usually doesn’t make the video (and yourself) look attractive.
7. Try to look into the lens, not to yourself on screen. In that way, it seems as if you’re looking the viewer into the eyes.

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