Trustee
Report
Dr. Mel DeSoto
In August, the Commission of Dental Accreditation granted initial accreditation to a new orthodontic residency program at Jacksonville University. The JU program is funded by a for-profit corporation, Orthodontic Education Corporation (OEC), a corporation founded by Dr. Gaspar Lazzara. Eleven of the fourteen residents in each class at JU will sign an individual contract with OEC agreeing to work in an OEC-sponsored practice for seven years after graduation in exchange for free tuition and an annual stipend during their residency. The AAO Board of Trustees (BOT) welcomes new orthodontic residency programs and is supportive of any new program that meets the accreditation standards developed by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CDA). The standards are necessary and essential in protecting the public and the students. The AAO BOT does not believe that the program at JU meets these standards and filed a complaint against the CDA with the United States Department of Education (USDOE), which grants the CDA its authority to accredit dental programs and provides oversight of the commission.
The AAO BOT does not believe that the JU program satisfied Standard 1.1 of the commission standards which states: It is the responsibility of the sponsoring institution to ensure that financial support from outside entities does not compromise the integrity of the program or the options of the students/graduates. We believe that JU violates this standard in the admittance process by not allowing all students to compete for the entire fourteen positions before being given the option of the scholarship and its ensuing contractual obligations. The current process requires JU to select eleven of the residents each year from a list of candidates submitted by OEC. We believe that this pre-selection by OEC is tantamount to selection by OEC and allows them to control the selection process thereby violating Standard 1.1. We also believe that the contracts that the students are required to sign that mandates seven years in an OEC sponsored practice are a violation of Standard 1.1. Despite our formal complaints to the CDA and to the USDOE, the initial accreditation was granted by a commission vote (secret ballot that by commission rules is not publishable) and our complaint was denied by the CDA in a subsequent review. The first JU class of fourteen students began classes in August and will graduate in August of 2005. The AAO is continuing a dialogue with the USDOE over JU’s compliance with Standard 1.1 and recently met with DOE representatives in Washington.
The AAO BOT maintains to the USDOE that the CDA commissioners did not receive full information on the contracts between OEC and JU and between OEC and the residents. At the annual ADA meeting in October in San Francisco, an AAO sponsored resolution was passed by the ADA House of Delegates that will require the ADA Board of Trustees to file a complaint with the USDOE that the JU decision by the CDA failed to follow Standard 1.1. The support by the ADA House of Delegates was very gratifying and is evidence that our dental colleagues view this as a dental issue and not just an orthodontic specialty issue.
The University of Colorado has also made an application for accreditation of an OEC-sponsored orthodontic residency program with the essentially identical provisions as JU. The process will require a site visit next April by two designated orthodontic site visitors and then the full CDA will consider and vote on the CU application for initial accreditation at its August meeting. The AAO BOT will oppose the accreditation of CU if it does not conform to Standard 1.1. The AAO BOT hopes that the commission will review the contracts in their entirety to ensure that they do not violate Standard 1.1. If the contracts were altered to satisfy Standard 1.1, then the AAO would support the school as it has for every school that has met the standards.
The University of Nevada at Las Vegas has recently announced that their Board of Regents is considering a new OEC-sponsored ortho residency program. There are rumors of negotiations for more OEC-sponsored schools as well. In my tenure on the BOT, this is the most important issue that we have faced. It is my firm belief that it is in the public’s interests that our schools and students remain free of control by outside entities whose primary obligation is to their stockholders. How will the public be protected if our educational institutions are allowed to become puppets for the financial interests of corporations and if corporations are allowed to control the practice of the graduates for a number of years? The AAO BOT will be active through our new commissioner on the CDA, Dr. Jim Vaden, in trying to persuade the CDA to study thoroughly all of the contracts before approving the application of CU next August. We also will continue to press for a review of JU’s program.
At the SWSO annual meeting in New Orleans, Dr. Gayle Glenn, was elected to be your new trustee and will assume the position at the close of the AAO annual meeting next May. I am completing my fourth and final term and will assume the AAO President-elect position when Gayle comes on board in May of 04 and I will ascend to the AAO Presidency in May of 05. I congratulate both Gayle and the SWSO on her election. She will be an outstanding representative for the SWSO. I don’t know how the time has flown so quickly as it seems only a short while ago that I assumed this position with eager anticipation but with the realization of the enormity of the task ahead of me as your representative for our specialty. I am now moving to AAO elected positions and this is the last newsletter report that I will write as your SWSO trustee. I humbly thank you for the honor of being your trustee for eight years. I can honestly say that no one has ever had a better group to work for. As always, I am here if you have a complaint, inquiry, suggestion, or just need some help with an AAO problem.