Council on Orthodontic Education Report
Dr. P. Emile Rossouw
The Council on Orthodontic Education met at the AAO Central Office in St. Louis on October 20, 2007 and followed this on December 4, 2007 with a conference call. The following items were discussed during the noted meetings, and updates on the status of each will appear in the next SWSO newsletter (Fall 2008).
The Consumer Awareness Campaign was discussed. The goal has always been to raise awareness about the specialty and to educate others as to the unique qualifications of AAO member orthodontists. Periodicals showing the extent of the advertising campaign were perused.
The AAO Deans Luncheon for the 2008 ADEA meeting in Dallas, Texas was held March 30. The presentation topic was Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Needs (CFA & SN) Fellowships. Dr. Karin Vargervik, University of California at San Francisco, presented the perspective for a CFA & SN program directly affiliated with a dental school. Dr. Kirt Simmons, of Arkansas Children’s Hospital, presented the perspective of a CFA & SN program that is not directly affiliated with a dental school. The 2007 Melvin Moss Education Leadership Conference, in Seattle included an open hearing on the CFA & SN Fellowship in pursuit of CODA recognition.
Mentoring and authoring were selected as the themes for the 2008 T.M. Graber Education Leadership Conference during the AAO Conference. Part of the program includes survey results, update on standards, and ABO early certification as a program goal.
Effective with the 2009 Annual Session, the AAO will incorporate a series of lectures, seminars and interactive conferences directed toward education or those considering entrance into an academic career under the sponsorship of the Council on Orthodontic Education. The AAO staff will perform a production and distribution cost analysis to run a distance learning lecture program with factors including honoraria, royalties, compensation for live facilitation, etc. Interactive distance learning was approved as the theme for the 2009 Educators’ Conference.
The ABO promotes early certification followed by periodic re-examination. The new certification process went into effect in 2007 and applied to the orthodontic residents/students graduating that year. Certification for many practicing orthodontists who are currently board eligible (have passed the ABO Written Examination) includes the Gateway Offer (expired in July 2007) and the more traditional pathway. The ABO has 2010 as its goal to begin certifying cases electronically.
The application for accreditation of the fellowship was submitted to CODA in December 2006 and was reviewed January 2007. Open hearings were held at the 2007 Annual Sessions of ADEA, ADA and AAO. Final recommendation on the accreditation of the Orthodontics CFA & SN Fellowship has not yet been made. COE recommend the BOT consider directly funding three CFA & SN Fellowships a year at appropriate accredited institutions to provide an advanced level of preparation for potential orthodontics educators, to ensure a broader range of services for patients with CFA & SN. The accreditation standards were discussed individually and will undergo further scrutiny.
The Pre-doctoral Orthodontic Survey was submitted for discussion. It will be completed in due course for tracking data by program. It was recommended that the AAO support the current pre-doctoral accreditation standards. Not all programs participate in the MATCH and PASS. The benefits of these processes were discussed and it was recommended that all schools should participate.
The following additional motions were also approved:
- to obtain information from Faculty Exit Survey and a Faculty Entry Survey implementation immediately.
- that the White Paper on Characteristics of Effective Educators be forwarded to the Task Force on Recruitment and Retention of Faculty with recommendations for distribution to Dental schools via email with hotlinks to specific program information and also posted to the AAO members’ website.
- that a White Paper on Government Grants and Fellowships be forwarded to the Task Force on Recruitment and Retention of Faculty with recommendations for distribution to Dental schools via email with hotlinks to specific program information and also posted to the AAO members’ website and maintained for currency.
- that an educators’ section be added to the AAO member website to increase visibility of the initiatives. A motion was also approved for a student section to the AAO member website to increase participation in all levels of the AAO.
- that the Faculty Clearinghouse be forwarded to the Task Force on Recruitment and Retention of Faculty with position verification to come through the program chairs and that it be posted to the AAO member’s website.
- that the AAO decline action on the issue to encourage dental educational institutions to adjust and/or alter their definitions of “full-time” versus “part-time” faculty so that “part-time” faculty could obtain the benefits of “full-time” faculty in proportion to their contributions and commensurate with their contributions to the institution.
- to investigate the possibility of establishing a breakfast meeting with the Academy of Prosthodontists Educators to open a dialogue if they are present during the 2008 ADEA Annual Session. COE is already meeting with the Oral Surgeons at ADEA.
In addition, a task force has been appointed, with one member each from COHC, COOP, COSA, COE (Dr. Rossouw) and COGA plus one Board liaison and three members-at-large, to review and recommend changes, including the possible inclusion of treatment guidelines, to the AAO ‘Clinical Practice Guidelines for Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics 2001’ and make recommendations for a protocol to regularly update these Guidelines.
The 2008-2009 budget was approved with the addition of honorarium of $2,500 for a speaker on mentoring for the 2009 Education Leadership Conference.
Council members agreed to call each of the programs in their constituency regarding the availability of the Academy of Academic Leadership Sponsorship Program fellowships. It was suggested that AAO consider programs designed to ensure the stability of the more established faculty as well as focus on entry level faculty members. Finally, the COE recommended that AAO nominate Drs. Mark Felton; Richard Kulbersh; Mark Hans and Laura Iwasaki as CODA commission consultants for six-year terms. The nominees will be contacted to confirm their interest in serving.