WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS! Dr. Craig Ratner Receives the SDDS Distinguished Service Award The Second District Dental Society (SDDS) Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual’s dedication to their profession, the SDDS and their patients. Dr. Craig Ratner has exemplified the award’s core ideals of dedication, commitment and generosity of spirit. The following attempts to compress and summarize his more than 30 years of service. Dr. Ratner’s commitment to his profession started early in his career. At the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now Rutgers University, he served his dental school class as vice president of his class and as their delegate representative to the New Jersey Dental Association’s house of delegates. Following dental school, he completed two years of GPR residency at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), serving one as chief. Dr. Ratner stayed on at SIUH as a clinical instructor and continuing education coordinator for over 10 years. After residency, he joined his father, Dr. Steven Ratner, in private practice that has served the people of Staten Island for over 60 years. Dr. Ratner’s service to dentistry continued as he joined the board of the Richmond County Dental Society (RCDS), SDDS’ branch society, in his first few years of private practice. He served as editor of the RCDS Bulletin for five years. He eventually ascended the RCDS ladder, reaching the presidency in 2001. Dr. Ratner served the SDDS locally in many capacities. After joining the SDDS board in 2000, he was appointed and served on many SDDS committees including the Awards, Publications, House, Finance and Budget, Peer Review and Quality Assurance, Constitution and Bylaws, Audit and Administrative committees. He served as chair of many of them at various times. He has also volunteered at the Greater New York Dental Meeting (GNYDM) since his second year of dental school. He served as the first chair of the joint SDDS/NYCDS GNYDM Audit Committee. Dr. Ratner climbed the ladder of SDDS, serving in every officer position and eventually as its president in 2008. Prose and parliamentary procedure have been common themes in Dr. Ratner’s service to SDDS. After several years as associate editor, in 2005 Dr. Ratner assumed the position of editor of the SDDS Bulletin. In his nine-year tenure as editor, he transformed the Bulletin from a cut and pasted, monochromatic, analog monthly newsletter to a vibrant, colorful periodical that had a digitally collaborative design. He was awarded the New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) Bernard Tillis Award for Outstanding Writing in a dental publication while editor. Dr. Ratner is the chief author of the current revision of the SDDS Constitution and Bylaws, which were codified in 2012. When the GNYDM sought to rewrite their governing rules in 2012, Dr. Ratner was asked to act as moderator and author. Certain highlights stand out during Dr. Ratner’s local service to SDDS. He is responsible for SDDS’s current policy of term limits that promotes diversity and innovation in the SDDS leadership. He is also credited with the current system of sending SDDS’s officers to represent SDDS on the state and national level. However, Dr. Ratner touts his most special achievement as the creation of the SDDS Loan Forgiveness Program. Recognizing a desperate need to relieve dental student loan debt, Continued on Page 4 » Dr. Craig Ratner (left) receives the SDDS Distinguished Service Award from SDDS President Dr. Raymond Flagiello NEW MEMBERS DR. AREUMBYUL HONG (General Practice; University of Pennsylvania, 2013) REINSTATEMENTS DR. MARIE A. FANNING (General Practice; New York University, 1993) DR. VERONICA HOPKINS (Orthodontics and Dentofacial; Meharry Medical College, 2018) 2848 Church Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11226 DR. LAUREN RACHEL MOSES (General Practice; Boston University, 2018) 288 State St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 DR. VICTORIA VERGARA (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, 2018) TRANSFERS DR. HANNAH EDER (General Practice; University of Florida, 2021) Metropolitan Dental Arts 380 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11211 Transferred from Atlantic Coast District Dental Association DR. GERALD GELDZAHLER (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; New York University, 1974) Brookdale Hospital Transferred from Essex County Dental Society DR. JOSHUA SEGAL (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Stony Brook University, 2005) Staten Island University Hospital Transferred from Nassau County Dental Society WWW.SDDSNY.ORG 3
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