 I
hear the Trojan Marching Band practicing outside my office. It
is football season at USC! Some leaves are turning color.
October is the eighth month of the early Roman calendar and
the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar. As I reflect, I’m
also reminded that we now live in very turbulent times!
International, national and state “crisis issues”
challenge each of us each day as we navigate through life.
During these times, nested within my daily experiences, I’m
also made aware of the enormous challenges that confront
private and public dental education. Can private dental
education survive? Can dental education continue to excel? In
the current draconian California state budget climate, can
public funds support the reduction of oral health disparities
at private and public universities?
I realize that these challenges
impact all dental schools. I am also appreciative that many
people spend enormous effort to continually improve our
profession as well as our School of Dentistry. In particular,
at USC we have a legacy of community, and our Trojan Family is
a very real source of support to address the major challenges
of dental education. I am delighted and very pleased to
recognize the exceptional support that the School of Dentistry
continues to receive from its alumni and friends, maintaining
our reputation as one of the most innovative dental schools in
the nation while preserving the legacy for clinical excellence
in oral health care. It is with pride that I share some of our
school’s recent accomplishments with you as we advance into
the academic year.
Our students have
demonstrated a strong reputation of success and achievements:
- Recent graduates Mohammad
Panahpour and Vivian Maung received first place in the
American Dental Association Dentsply Clinical Award
competition.
- Senior Bao-Thy Nguyen is the
first dental student ever to serve on the Board of 1201
Financial and Insurance Services, Inc. a California Dental
Association company.
- Junior dental student Nader
Salib received the highly distinguished 2003 International
Association of Dental Research Unilever Hatton Award in
the junior dental research category.
- Thirty USC dental students
with faculty supervision worked side-by-side with UNAM
dental students during spring break in Mexico City to
provide comprehensive oral health care to inner city
children.
- One hundred percent of our
recent dental graduates who took the Western Regional
Examining Board passed the first time.
- Our rankings on the National
Board examinations have moved from thirty-fourth in the
nation (2000) to well above the mean (2003); recently, 30
of our students earned scores above 90 on the National
Board examination.
- Our applicant pool remains
robust, arguably one of the largest applicant pools for
dentistry in North America; the selected freshman class is
one of the strongest in USC history.
- The percentage of our dental
graduates seeking admission into advanced or specialty
education/training as well as graduate programs has
increased from seven percent of the class (1985-2000) to
22 percent of the class (2003).
- The percentage of our senior
class who graduate on time has increased to more than 90
percent completing sign-out before graduation.
- Success on the California
Dental Board Examinations has steadily increased from 2000
to 2003; more than 95 percent of graduates taking the
California Board are successful within six months after
graduation.
We take enormous pride in
our accomplishments in clinical dentistry and patient care:
- At the USC Oral Health
Center, the new, expanded intramural faculty practice
greeted patients in mid-January and our official grand
opening was held September 18. This is one of several
intramural clinical centers that provide comprehensive
oral health care to USC students, faculty and staff as
well as to the neighborhood communities adjacent to the
University Park and Health Sciences campuses.
- The USC Oral Health Center
in University Village joins our many other renovations
designed to modernize our clinical venues for learning and
patient care (e.g. renovations of endodontics,
periodontics, pediatric dentistry, dental hygiene,
emergency care and sports dentistry, student lounge, oral-maxillofacial
surgery and several seminars rooms from 2000 to 2003).
- During 2002-2003, we
initiated our new predoctoral dental implant program under
the direction of George Cho.
- A NewTom 9000
three-dimensional imaging system has been contributed to
the School of Dentistry by the Redmond family (Ronald,
Ortho Class of 1970; Bill, Class of 1997; and John, Class
of 2000) that significantly enhances diagnostic sciences,
orthodontics and dental implants.
- The axiUm school-wide
patient management system has been installed in
workstations located in all of our clinic operatories.
AxiUm provides information technology to enhance patient
management. These efforts were supported by gifts from
several members of the Board of Councilors and Dentistry
Associates.
- The oral and maxillofacial
surgery predoctoral clinic received a major renovation
through the untiring efforts of John J. Lytle, Class of
1958, and numerous alumni.
- On the University Park
Campus, the school provided oral health care to more than
16,000 individuals in 2001-2002. An additional 4,000
children, elderly and indigent individuals received
treatment through the school’s community outreach
programs.
- More than 12,000 people
received oral screenings and preventive education through
the school’s community outreach programs in 2001- 2002.
- In the 37-year history of
our USC Mobile Clinic Program, we provided oral health
care to 76,800 low-income underserved children throughout
the state of California.
The pioneering efforts of
the USC School of Dentistry renowned faculty continue to gain
peer-reviewed recognition through lectures, publications and
funding for groundbreaking research projects. To name a few:
- Robert Keim was named editor
of the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics.
- Hessam Nowzari was named
consultant to the Moroccan government and Moroccan Society
of Periodontology and Implantology for treatment programs
that will improve the lives of children from that country.
- Jorgen Slots is the editor
of Periodontology 2000, which has a very high citation
impact factor.
- Roseanne Mulligan is
president of the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry.
- A grant of $1.2 million from
The California Endowment was received in July 2003 to
expand efforts to recruit and retain underprivileged
minority students and build upon the USC efforts to
provide oral health care in underserved areas.
- More than one-third of our
full-time faculty are actively contributing to what is
thought and what is practiced in the oral health
professions as measured by peer-reviewed federal research
grants, peer-reviewed publications, and private industry
funding as well as their citation impact within the
international scientific literature.
- Under the new direction of
Ilan Rotstein, associate dean for continuing oral health
professional education, USC offers many CE courses for the
coming year including Emerging Diseases, Infection
Control, Antibiotics and California Law; Multidisciplinary
Approaches for Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of
Dental Trauma; The Artistic Dentist: Excellence in Direct
Anterior and Posterior Composites; The 29th Annual USC
Periodontal and Implant Symposium; and Chronic Orofacial
Pain Disorders. Please email cedental@usc.edu
or visit www.usc.edu/dental
for dates, places and other specific information.
- Homecoming 2003 will take
place October 30 through November 1 with USC football,
several offerings of free CE focusing on 3-dimensional
imaging and diagnostics and clinical challenges in the
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of root resorption,
Alumnus of the Year and Presidential Awards from the USC
Dental Alumni Association, tours of facilities and
wonderful opportunities for fellowship.
The establishment of endowed
scholarships and professorships are integral in the continued
support of both students and faculty for years to come:
- The USC School of Dentistry
endowment is presently $40 million, which includes 11
endowed chairs and professorships and 43 major
scholarships. Last year we received the Wayne G. and
Margaret L. Bemis Endowed Professorship in Endodontics,
and a few weeks ago we received the Charles M. Goldstein
Endowed Professorship in Community Dentistry from the
Beauchamp Foundation.
- During 2002-2003, $864,810
was awarded as scholarship money for USC dental students,
dental hygiene students and dental residents through the
continued generosity of our alumni and friends.
- A new estate gift of almost
$1 million was received from Lourya Freedman, Class of
1965, for an endowed scholarship.
Lastly, if it were not for
the continued generous support of alumni and friends, the USC
School of Dentistry could not maintain its role as a leader in
dental education, research, patient care and leadership in the
profession:
- The amount raised in the USC
Building on Excellence campaign by the School of Dentistry
was $34,567,169. This exceeded the original goal by 172%
and our revised second goal by 122%. This fundraising
effort is one of the highest totals ever raised by a
dental school in North America.
- Gene Sekiguchi, associate
dean for international, professional and international
affairs, becomes the president of the ADA at the annual
meeting held in San Francisco this October.
- USC faculty serve on
numerous NIH study sections, editorial review boards of
major journals, and many international, national and state
organizations.
I wish to thank the entire USC
dental community (students, staff, faculty, alumni) for the
exemplary dedication, professionalism and support without
which our past and future success would not be possible. The
support from faculty, staff and students as well as alumni
generosity and engagement with our academic programs have made
an enormous impact on every aspect of our school, from new
funds for scholarships and capitol projects to new initiatives
for teaching, research and infrastructure. I know that each of
us will continue to stay involved and increase our involvement
and performance. I sense that each of us are challenged to
keep pace with the enormous opportunities to improve the
quality of oral health care for all people. |
