Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Clinical Education
To educate endodontists who possess the knowledge and skills required to diagnose, understand the basis of, and adequately interpret, treat, alone or in concert with other dental and medical practitioners, endodontic situations and their related diseases, and to maintain the health of the attachment apparatus and integrity of the natural dentition.
Objective 1.1 Candidate Selection: Identify, interview, and select applicants with exceptional integrity, motivation, industry, work ethic, resourcefulness, clinical background and knowledge.
Objective 1.2 Biomedical Sciences: Expose students to the biomedical sciences, emphasize basic science-endodontic interrelationships, and encourage synthesis, correlation and application of this knowledge to endodontic clinical practice.
Objective 1.3 Diagnosis & Treatment Planning: Provide students with sufficient knowledge and clinical experiences to become proficient in diagnostic data collection, pulpal and periradicular diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment sequencing for complicated endodontic patients.
Objective 1.4 Review of Relevant Professional Literature: Prepare students to critically evaluate the dental literature. Expose students to endodontic and related literature to develop historical and contemporary perspectives of endodontology and provide theoretical bases for diagnostics, techniques and procedures, management, successes, and failures/complications in the clinical practice of non-surgical and surgical endodontic therapy.
Objective 1.5 New instruments and Techniques: Provide the students the opportunity to work with and evaluate new instruments and techniques.
Objective 1.6 Proficiency using Advanced Clinical Equipment: Train students to provide quality patient care using state-of-the-art technology (e.g., rotary endodontics, dental operating microscope, digital radiography, cone-beam CT) expected from endodontists with advanced training.
Goal 2: Patient Care
To guide students in the proficient delivery of state-of-the-art endodontic care to a therapeutically diverse patient population. Students will manage their clinical activities so that patients are comfortable and treated in a timely and efficient manner.
Objective 2.1 Clinical Proficiency: Train students to provide endodontic care that addresses patient needs in the areas of comfort, tooth preservation and function.
Objective 2.2 Patient Management: Prepare students to effectively treat the medically compromised and special needs patient.
Objective 2.3 Patient Satisfaction: Train students in patient management skills so that quality patient care is provided in a timely and efficient manner and so that patients are satisfied and become ambassadors for the Program.
Objective 2.4 Emergency Care: Train students to recognize and manage endodontic emergencies in an efficient manner, quickly establishing a diagnosis, determine tooth restorability, and alleviate patient pain prior to definitive endodontic and prosthodontic care.
Objective 2.5 Clinical Experiences: Provide students with a sufficient number of diagnostic, nonsurgical, and surgical clinical experiences that will result in proficiency in the full scope of practice in the field of endodontics.
Objective 2.6 Practice Management: Expose the student to the essentials of practice management in order to better prepare them for a successful clinical practice.
Objective 2.7 Faculty: Provide a faculty composed of high quality dentists and endodontists with broad clinical skills, knowledge, and expertise.
Goal 3: Communication
To prepare endodontic residents to effectively communicate knowledge of endodontics, clinical therapies and related diseases to others.
Objective 3.1 Patient’s Chief Complaint: Provide instruction so students can methodically and effectively elicit the necessary information to understand a patient’s complaint of pain.
Objective 3.2 Patient Informed Consent: Provide instruction to students on the essentials of a treatment informed consent, and after performing a problem focused exam, encourage students to compassionately convey the dental needs recognized and the treatment plan developed.
Objective 3.3 Case Presentations: Provide the students with the opportunity to present, discuss and critique their clinical cases with the endodontic faculty and fellow students, in addition to faculty and students from other dental disciplines.
Objective 3.4 Topic Presentations: Provide the students with the background to use digital media effectively to communicate the theory, philosophy and clinical interventions indicated for successful endodontic care.
Goal 4: Life-long Learning
To educate endodontists who possess the knowledge and skills required to critically evaluate the dental literature, research, technological advancements, and therapeutic procedures, and apply this knowledge into their clinical practice. These are the essential attributes necessary to understand the importance of and instill the desire for life long learning and continued professional development.
Objective 4.1 Specialty Association: Encourage students to belong to and take advantage of the learning opportunities available as being member of the American Association of Endodontists.
Objective 4.2 Current Literature: Prepare the student to critically evaluate the current dental literature, while instilling an ongoing quest for knowledge.
Objective 4.3 Professional Development: Provide the student and endodontist opportunities for education and professional development after graduation.
Goal 5: Research
To educate endodontists who understand the theory and methods of clinical and basic science research and understand the importance of research as scholarly activity.
Objective 5.1 Research Protocol and Design: Provide instruction and educate the students in the principles of on research methodology, design, research protocol development, biostatistics, and data analysis.
Objective 5.2 Publication: Provide the student with the background and opportunity to prepare a correctly constructed research protocol, abstract and manuscript for publication.
Objective 5.3 Certificate Program: Provide students in the certificate program an opportunity to plan, conduct, and present the findings of a meaningful original research project which is of publishable quality.
Objective 5.4 Master of Dental Science Program: Ensure that those students who select this optional program accomplish scientific research, submit publish quality manuscript(s) of the results, and receive an MDS degree upon successful completion.
Goal 6: Specialty Certification
To prepare Endodontic residents for certification by the American Board of Endodontics.
Objective 6.1 American Board of Endodontics (ABE): Prepare students with the knowledge and skill to successfully challenge the American Board of Endodontics examination and qualify as a Board Certified Endodontist.
Objective 6.2 ABE Style Case Portfolio: Prepare students with the knowledge, skills and feed back necessary to prepare the defensible ABE style Case Portfolio.
Objective 6.3 ABE Written Examination: Encourage and provide the opportunity for all students to prepare for and sit for the ABE Written Examination prior to graduation.
Objective 6.3 Board Certification: Provide the student with the incentives and support to successfully complete the board certification process even while having to focus on their (expected) new career as clinical endodontists.
Goal 7: Teaching & Service
To prepare Endodontic residents for certification by the American Board of Endodontics.
Objective 7.1 Pre-clinical Teaching: Assign students as teaching assistants in the predoctoral endodontic pre-clinical curriculum at the College of Dentistry.
Objective 7.2 Clinical Teaching: Assign second year students as teaching assistants in the predoctoral endodontic clinical curriculum at the College of Dentistry.
Objective 7.3 Prepare Presentation Materials: Provide the student with the skills, training and equipment to properly document cases with clinical x-rays, photos and video and subsequently edit the materials for presentation.
Objective 7.4 Didactic and Classroom Teaching: Provide students with the skills and training necessary to present and discuss endodontics to dentists and dental students of all levels.
Objective 7.5 Service: Encourage students to join local, national and international endodontic organizations with the expectation that they will contribute to dentistry, to their specialty, and to their local communities through service.