Faculty, staff, grad students, and residents are invited to the MPSoD awards ceremony on Nov. 18.

'Let's Talk'

The first 'Let's Talk' session was held on June 17

*See the summary below of what was discussed

ACFD GAP TRAINING PROGRAM

The ACFD Internationally Trained Dentists from non-accredited dentistry programs is a four-year project funded by the Federal Government. The objective is to develop an alternative pathway to licensing internationally trained dentists who are permanent residents of Canada. The plan is to identify internationally trained dentists who can bridge skill gaps that can be resolved within 8 months of training using a modular discipline-based curriculum. Seven dental schools in Canada are collaborating on developing this new pathway, with the U of A leading the project under contract with ACFD. The new gap assessment and training program will be piloted with two cohorts by three Universities (U of A, Laval and Dalhousie).

An oversight Steering Committee has been formed which is composed of the major stakeholders. We also formed an Admissions Working Group and are close to a consensus on admissions criteria and processes.

We will be forming an Assessment Working Group and Curriculum Working Group in the near future.

We will be offering the first pilot cohort in the fall 2025. Candidates who successfully complete the gap training program will be eligible to write the same NDEB OSCE examination as our DDS graduates as the final step for licensure.

Although the Working Groups will need to plan the assessment and training modules, we are anticipating that most of the training will be done with clinical observation and simulation training. We do not expect that these trainees will perform clinical procedures on patients.

CHAIR ONE YEAR LEAVE

Dr. Paul Major has applied for a one year leave and it was accepted. It starts July 1. During this one year, he will be focusing on leading the ACFD project and research. Paul will come back for another year from July 1, 2025-July 1, 2026. A regular search and selection process will be conducted for a new chair come time.

During Paul’s admin leave, Dr. Anthea Senior will be Acting Chair – as appointed by the Dean. She will be responsible for faculty annual reports, promotions including seeking reviewers and presenting candidates at FEC.

Dr. Steve Patterson will come back to his role of Associate Chair, Academic

Dr. Zuzanna Apel will remain in the role of Acting Associate Chair, DDS Clinical Education.

REGULAR MEETINGS

How can we increase engagement through effective meetings and scheduling?

Some thoughts shared were:

Synchronize / create a more compatible lecture, simulation lab and clinical academic schedule.
Allow time for people to attend meetings and not always use people’s lunch time or after hours – not sure yet what this could look like.
Schedule as far in advance as possible so people can plan.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

What does this mean for us?

We will lead the way in developing and preparing for the digitization of oral health care in research, learning, and patient care. We will increase the value of our effort through innovation, improved experience (for staff students, patients and faculty) and operational efficiency.

We are doing some of this already! But the desire is to build and formalize the structure so projects can be prioritized and managed with purpose, transparency and intent.
We are aligning with the university’s Technology with Purpose to stay relevant in a fast-changing digital world, while in a resource constrained environment.
We will seamlessly bring together people and technology.
We will use it to enhance patient care, teaching and learning, research and operational efficiencies.

The challenges are: