Technology is changing how students learn and how faculty members teach at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Dental students still look at the caliber of a school's faculty and its programs. But now, they also evaluate a school's technology and how they can use it to enhance their education. At the U-M School of Dentistry, technology is being used in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. This "TechKNOWLEDGEy" is a fusion of innovation and education.
After earning his dental degree from the U-M School of Dentistry, Dr. Josef Kolling never thought about becoming the president of any dental organization. But in May, he became the School's first faculty member in nearly a quarter century to lead the Michigan Dental Association.
It was a week they will always remember. Three dental students and two pediatric dental residents provided oral health care to the developmentally disabled at the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The five will remember their experiences with patients as well as seeing the smiles on the faces of 27 teens who were dressed up for a formal dinner and a prom.
How much of a difference is the School of Dentistry's outreach program making in communities across Michigan? During a 10-month period, fourth-year dental students treated more than 6,000 patients at eight different sites across the state.
A vacation safari to South Africa two years ago had a profound impact on Dr. Joel Egnater. Stunned with what he saw during a brief visit to Soweto in Johannesburg, he returned to Michigan vowing to do something. This year, four influential groups in that country gave him the go ahead to open a group of dental clinics to provide oral health care to patients with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Daniel Edwards, a member of the School's Alumni Society Board of Governors, is giving fourth-year dental students opportunities to learn more about what to expect in "the real world" before they actually receive their dental degree. The program was so well received its first year that it's being offered again.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello returned to Ann Arbor this spring to deliver her fourth commencement address to School of Dentistry graduates. In her inimitable speaking style, she congratulated, counseled, and challenged students.
Will a lollipop have a place in a pediatric dentist's office in the future' It may, thanks to the collaboration between a U-M School of Dentistry pediatric dentist and the Mott Children's Health Center.