|
Return to the Fall 2020 Newsletter President's MessageOn behalf of the Presidential Triumvirate Dr. Lauren Patton, Dr. Eric Stoopler, and Dr. Andres Pinto
Welcome to the Fall 2020 newsletter, Although many dispute Winston Churchill’s authorship of the saying “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” most organizations have taken the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to innovate and explore new ways to communicate. AAOM certainly has done so at every opportunity and launched into the virtual meeting world with our successful summer meeting. Scientific Session Chairs, Dr. Arwa Farag and Dr. Alessandro Villa, admirably created our first Virtual Scientific Meeting titled “Oral Medicine: The Unstoppable Dedication to the Mission” held live on July 24–25, 2020 (or as a recorded self-study option for those not able to join live sessions) that was enjoyed by 160 members and guests. Under Dr. Jaisri Thoppay’s leadership, AAOM has offered a series of COVID-19 related webinars. Dr. Craig Miller and Dr. Michael Glick presented "COVID 19 - The Known and The Unknown in Dentistry and Oral Medicine," on May 29, 2020, with topics covering COVID-19 tests, testing and why; how we need to adapt to a new era of infectious diseases; and will COVID-19 change how we provide dentistry and to whom? Dr. Scott De Rossi, Dr. Kevin Cain and Dr. Cristiano Susin presented “COVID-19 Saga on Clinical Dentistry: A Panel Discussion with Dr. Scott De Rossi,” on July 1, 2020, with topics covering how UNC Adams School of Dentistry managed the current unforeseen challenges with PPE availability and infrastructure to prevent cross-contamination/aerosol contamination; facing challenges implementing safe dental care practices; and systems re-engineering in the delivery of oral and dental care. Moving into the Fall, Dr. Jaisri Thoppay has been working on additional webinar offerings. Dr. Nathaniel Treister and two of his third year Oral Medicine residents, Dr. Shaiba Sandhu and Dr. Rossella Intini, gave an outstanding presentation on September 30, 2020 titled “The Wide World of Oral Medicine Through The Resident Perspective” discussing several challenging clinical cases seen at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute Oral Medicine Residency. These cases were thoroughly worked-up and demonstrated the high degree of multidisciplinary care and interprofessional education that is core to Oral Medicine training. Under the ABOM presidential leadership of Dr. Cesar Migliorati, the ABOM submitted the Part II application for Specialty Board Recognition to the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards in August 2020. It has been accepted as complete and will be reviewed by the Commission in Spring 2021. The AAOM Presidential Triumvirate: Dr. Lauren Patton, Dr. Andres Pinto and Dr. Eric Stoopler were afforded the opportunity, and conducted, a final review of the document before submission. The AAOM ad-Hoc Task Force for Oral Medicine representation, led by Dr. Miriam Robbins, has helped coordinate several additional appointments of members to new roles on ADA committees as requested following our Specialty recognition. The AAOM has made candidate recommendations for appointments representing Oral Medicine to the following Committees.
There is a current open call for nominations (yes, you can self-nominate!) for ADA CODA Oral Medicine site visitors, with nominations due December 1, 2020 for a term that would start in October 2021. Site visitors are appointed for one-year terms and may be reappointed for up to six years. Of note, ADA membership is a requirement for service for many ADA appointments. Personally, I have served as a CODA site visitor for General Practice Residencies and Oral Medicine Advanced Education Programs for most of my academic career and have found the activity to be both professionally rewarding and enlightening. It is an especially helpful role for program directors and key program faculty in Oral Medicine Residencies. ADA CODA Site Visitor Nomination Criteria and the Site Visitor Nomination FormIn addition, this year an appointment was needed for a distinguished representative for the combined group of American Dental Education Association, the Special Care Dentistry Association, the American Society of Dental Anesthesiologists, the American Academy of Oral Medicine, and the American Academy of Orofacial Pain that support accreditation standards for CODA programs in Oral Medicine, Orofacial Pain, Dental Anesthesiology, General Practice Residencies, and Advanced Education in General Dentistry residencies. In concert with the other academies, we were fortunate to have reached agreement on representation to CODA for a 4-year term of service for 2023–2026 by our own, Dr. Scott De Rossi, Dean of the UNC Adams School of Dentistry. Oral Medicine is fortunate that we also have Dr. Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, Dean of the Indiana School of Dentistry on the 30-person Board of Commissioners. The ADA CODA Policy on Simultaneous Service has removed both from their planned leadership roles in the AAOM for the duration of their service as Commissioners. Thus, the Nominating Committee has nominated Dr. Alessandro Villa and Dr. Jaisri Thoppay as additions to the 2021 AAOM officer slate, for General Assembly vote at the April 2021 meeting. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Rajesh V. Lalla who received the 2020 ADA/AADR Evidence Based Dentistry Accomplished Faculty Award at the ADA conference this week. This is the annual senior leadership award in Evidence Based Dentistry. Our current negotiations for holding our 2021 Annual Conference originally scheduled for the Hyatt Seattle, WA for April 13–17, 2021 may involve moving the date to August 1–7, 2021 to allow greater attendance for an on-site meeting at the Hyatt, Seattle, WA. We are grateful to Dr. Craig Hatch, Dr. Arwa Farag and Dr. Alessandro Villa for ongoing efforts to organize an outstanding meeting. Regardless of when/how we convene, in the Spring of 2021, we will have scientific sessions, the Samuel Charles Miller lecture, the Jonathan Ship Diplomates lecture, general assembly meeting, the Presidential Awards Ceremony and Officer transitions, and time with exhibitors. This is still very much a work in progress. The AAOM Fall 2020 meeting at the University of Pennsylvania, hosted by the team of Dr. Sunday Akintoye, Dr. Katherine France, Dr. Eric Stoopler and Dr. Tom Sollecito has been postponed to Fall 2021, now planned for November 13, 2021. The meeting theme will remain as originally planned “Update 2021: General Medicine for Dental Medicine”. Speakers will include Penn Medicine faculty paired with Oral Medicine faculty covering a variety of diseases we manage in common. The current plan is to hold an in-person meeting, but the alternative of a virtual meeting is possible. We are continuing to plan the Spring 2022 Annual Conference at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee for May 1–7, 2022 that will be in concert with the WWOM VIII held immediately in advance of the AAOM Annual Conference. We are most grateful for the efforts of Ms. Stacey Williams for all the support of the virtual offerings and her service as we transitioned Executive Directors from Ms. Michele Reeder, who became a true friend over her 6-year tenure with us, to our new Executive Director Ms. Felicia Kenan, MPA, CMP, who officially joined us this week. Michele’s excellent work with us caught the eye of recruiters who lured her away to become the Executive Director of the Nevada Dental Association. Ms. Marlis Korber, who is the President of our management company, SBI Association Management, worked with Michele and her team to sort through an extensive batch of over 100 applicants to fill Ms. Reeder’s roles as Executive Director of AAOM and ABOM, and hired Ms. Kenan, who is currently completing onboarding activities and looks forward to working with us to foster both growth and opportunity for AAOM and ABOM and our profession of Oral Medicine. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Felicia Kenan to our Academy. Stay safe and healthy! Kind regards, Lauren L. Patton, DDS |
