Baylor College of Dentistry
Sharper image
New residency program bridges
dental and medical radiology training
by Jennifer Eure Fuentes
With approval of a new oral and maxillofacial radiology residency, Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry joins
only a handful of dental schools in the U.S. with an advanced
education program dedicated to the specialty. The news came
on July 31 from the Commission on Dental Accreditation, the
agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to
accredit dental and dentally-related education programs.
The two-year certificate program will begin in July 2015 with
one resident, says Dr. Byron Benson, Regents Professor in diagnostic sciences and imaging center director, who adds there is
potential to add more residents and graduate degree paths.
One of the hallmarks of the program is interprofessional training with the medical radiology residents at Baylor University
Medical Center at Dallas, where residents in both programs will
complete radiation physics and biology coursework.
Dr. Michael Opatowsky, clinical associate professor of radiology
at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine,
instructs the medical radiology residents at the Dallas hospital.
He anticipates the benefits of partnering with the dental school
to be twofold. TAMBCD residents will leave the program with a
better understanding of the interplay
between the body, mouth and dental diseases, he says.
Medical radiology residents will benefit,
too.
“Instead of the generic statement, ‘Formal dental evaluation is
needed,’ we could provide a more useful recommendation such
as, ‘This patient is in need of endodontal evaluation for radiology findings X, Y and Z,’” Opatowsky says.
The commission’s green light for the program makes TAMBCD’s residency the ninth of its kind in North America and the
fourth new program in as many years. It’s a sign of a shift within
oral and maxillofacial radiology, which received American
Dental Association recognition as a dental specialty in 1999.
“There is a trend for oral and maxillofacial radiologists to work
in private practice as opposed to academic practice,” Benson
says. “There are more and more private practice opportunities.
This residency will help to fill that gap.”
Founded in 1905, Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas
is a college of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. TAMBCD is a nationally
recognized center for oral health sciences education, research, specialized
patient care and continuing dental education.
Jennifer Eure Fuentes is a communications specialist at Texas A&M Health
Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry. A 2006 graduate of Texas
Christian University, she has worked in the communications and editorial field
for five years.
Please Join Us!
“We are starved for insightful interpretations of our dental-related findings, not
having had any formal dental radiology
training,” Opatowsky says.
Learning the nuts and bolts of oral and
maxillofacial radiology could better equip
medical radiologists in the referral
process.
www.northtexasdentistry.com
|
NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY
5