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AAOM Social Media and Webinar: An Outreach

Jaisri R Thoppay, DDS, MBA, MS

Oral medicine is an exciting clinical field in dentistry, a unique opportunity to integrate medicine and dentistry. Oral medicine residency programs emphasize an integrative approach to clinical practice without limiting the scope to teeth and gums; rather oral health is seen as an integral part of overall health. The integrative practice model highlights the effective management of orofacial diseases and disorders through collaborative value-based care.

The American Academy of Oral Medicine was founded in 1945, with a rich history and evolution over the past 75 years. We are celebrating our 75th anniversary with the specialty recognition this year. Due to COVID-19, our 75th AAOM Annual conference was canceled. At the same time, we happened to face changes to our clinical practices and lifestyles. We explored different ways to stay connected while socially distancing. The period of COVID-19 has exponentially expanded the utilization of e-communication platforms. AAOM expanded its outreach to the public and professionals through various social media platforms in recent years.

This year AAOM started webinar series to foster an interactive way of learning and staying connected. The live sessions are an exciting global opportunity to share presentations and encourage real-time conversations. The sessions are recorded and published on the AAOM website and are available to members of AAOM.

Besides being an oral medicine practitioner and educator, I am passionate and inclined to operate e-technologies and mass communication. I was fortunate to have inspirational mentors who recognized my interest areas and aptly guided me to utilize my strength to a featureful activity. I had the opportunity to get involved with the Academy and chairing AAOM’s Promotions Committee since 2016. Over these years, we utilized social media platforms to collaborate and promote our Academy. This year yet another initiative, we introduced webinars to stay connected and interactive. We welcome our members to share their unique projects and clinical case discussions via our webinar series.