Awards & badges
Every award is free to earn and easy to verify.
Five awards, chosen by verified colleagues. The award is what you earn. The badge is how you show it.
The path
How each award is won.
Verification first. Three endorsements from verified colleagues make a Nominee. The annual awards are decided among nominees; Top Doctor of the Month is decided on the month's new endorsements, in each specialty in each state.
Nominee
Ongoing
Top 10% of nominees in the city and specialty
City Winner
Once a year
Top 5% of nominees in the state and specialty
State Winner
Once a year
Top 1% of nominees in the specialty, nationally
National Winner
Once a year
Also from Nominee
Most new endorsements this month, in each specialty in each state. At least three to qualify.
Top Doctor of the Month
Every month
Nominee
Ongoing
Also from Nominee, every month
Top Doctor of the Month
Most new endorsements this month, in each specialty in each state. At least three to qualify.
Top 10% of nominees in the city and specialty
City Winner
Once a year
Top 5% of nominees in the state and specialty
State Winner
Once a year
Top 1% of nominees in the specialty, nationally
National Winner
Once a year
- Nominee
- A verified doctor with endorsements from three different verified colleagues.
- Ongoing
- Top Doctor of the Month
- Awarded in each specialty, in each state: the doctor who received the most new endorsements from verified colleagues that month, with at least three to qualify. Ties go to the doctor with more written testimonials, then the higher score.
- Monthly
- City Winner
- The top 10% of nominees in their city and specialty for the cycle, rounded up. A city runs a winner list once it has at least ten nominees.
- Annually
- State Winner
- The top 5% of nominees in their state and specialty for the cycle, rounded up. A state runs a winner list once it has at least twenty nominees across the state.
- Annually
- National Winner
- The top 1% of nominees in their specialty nationally, rounded up. The highest recognition DCA gives.
- Annually
The formula and the thresholds are on the methodology page.
Beyond the awards
Your recognition shouldn’t stop at your DCA profile.
Your verified identity, peer endorsements, rank and awards are earned, never bought, and shown on DCA free. A subscription puts that recognition to work.
DCA Showcase
Take your recognition everywhere patients see you.
- Your DCA-Verified badge: proof that your identity is verified against primary sources and re-checked every quarter. Ready for your website, social media and printed materials
- A badge for each DCA award you’ve won
- A DCA Fellow badge once you reach the highest rank
- A Peer Endorser badge once you’ve endorsed five colleagues in a year
- An email signature block showing your DCA-Verified badge and your highest award, with a link patients can click to check them. Works with any email application
- A printable certificate for each award and each year you’ve been verified
- A front-desk card with a QR code patients can scan to see your verification
- Every badge links to your public DCA verification page, where anyone can check that your identity check and awards are current
DCA Reach
Turn your recognition into patients.
- Everything in DCA Showcase, plus:
- Your practice phone, address, website and booking link shown on your DCA profile
- A “Request an appointment” button on your profile. Requests go straight to your practice email
- A live badge for your website that shows your current endorsement count and rank
- A search-engine snippet for your website, so your DCA award can appear in Google results
- A monthly report: how many people viewed your profile, how many clicked your badges to check your verification, and how many requested an appointment
Recognition is earned. Showing it is your choice.
Subscriptions never influence whether a doctor is verified, nominated, ranked, listed or awarded by DCA.
For winners
Using your badge.
The award is yours and free. How you show it is up to you.
On DCA, always free
Every award is free to earn and stays on your DCA profile and verification page at no cost. A plain claim line linking to your verification page is free to use anywhere.
Approved award wording
With every award we give you the exact words for it, for example “2027 City Winner, Houston, Implant Dentistry.” Use them on your website, in your office or in print. They are written to meet state-board rules, and they are free.
The badge on your own site
The badge artwork for your own website, social media and print is part of the DCA Showcase subscription: the DCA-Verified badge, plus the badge for any award you hold. An award badge always carries the year you won it. The DCA-Verified badge carries the current year for as long as you renew.
Never part of selection
The subscription changes how you show an award, never whether you earn one. Nothing in selection reads it.
Verify a badge
How to check any DCA badge.
A badge is a live link. The page it opens reflects current standing each time it loads.
- 01
Click it
A genuine badge opens a doctorschoiceawards.org verification page.
- 02
Read it
The page shows the award, its year and scope, the date identity was last verified, and whether the award still stands.
- 03
If it doesn’t
A badge that links nowhere, or a page without a verification date, is not genuine.