For two days in June, members of the Boston University Italian Alumni (BUIA) group gathered in the Eternal City for presentations—and for pasta.
About 60 people attended the 20th BUIA Symposium, which took place June 28-29 2019, at the NH Hotel Collection in Rome, Italy.
“Congratulations again to BU Italia for another successful symposium,” Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter said. “It is so wonderful to see alumni gathering around the world to share their knowledge of dentistry and their memories of GSDM.”
The Boston University Italian Alumni group consists of alumni from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), many of whom graduated from postdoctoral programs. This year’s symposium was especially memorable, as it marked the 20th year both of the group’s existence, and of their annual symposium.
The event kicked off with sessions on operative dentistry and bone regeneration. On the Symposium’s second day, the group held a closed meeting reserved to GSDM alumni, where they discussed a “reverse engineering” approach in implant rehabilitation and information regarding BUIA branding and marketing.
It wasn’t just continuing education, though. Attendees had plenty of time to catch up, share memories, and – of course – dine on delicious Italian food. There was a dinner on the first night of the event at Taverna Trilussa, a typical roman tavern located in Trastevere, one of the oldest and most famous neighborhoods in Rome. The group also gathered for a quick lunch on Saturday before saying their farewells.
John Cassis PROS 86 DMD 88 (and also a GSDM faculty member) attended this year’s symposium and was struck by the group’s passion for GSDM.
“What is remarkable is the enthusiasm, the love and the good memories that the [alumni] have about the school,” he said. “They’re very proud of the school, and they have great respect for all the faculty that they met there.”
Cassis said that the group puts together the annual symposium, which is open to non-GSDM alumni, to share the quality of education that GSDM offers.
“They keep putting the name of the school [out there] to let other people know, especially in Italy or other parts of the world…..they feel very proud of the standards,” he said.