 Dean
Praises School’s Accomplishments
The Medical College of Georgia School of
Dentistry has exceeded nearly all of the five- to eight-year strategic
goals set in 2002 and is moving to the future with new goals already
identified, according to Dean Connie Drisko.
“We had a plan to move the School of
Dentistry from good to great within five to eight years,” said Dr.
Drisko in her State of the School Address Oct. 25. “We’ve exceeded our
goals in many areas, but there’s still work to do.”
Five areas for recommendations and
resource needs have been identified as part of the school’s strategic
plan: clinical services, educational programs, scholarly activity,
alumni relations/ fundraising and oral health/community outreach.
Challenges in those areas include
recruiting top-notch faculty to fill vacant positions, including a
director of regenerative medicine and chair of oral surgery; raising
funds to build a new dental school; and implementing a comprehensive
care clinic and a new clinic record-keeping and operating system to
streamline patient care.
The school has met nearly all of the
educational goals it identified three years ago, including attracting a
more diverse student body, establishing more flexibility in the
curriculum to encourage students to seek master’s degrees or participate
in research and keeping student scores on National Board Examinations
above the national average. The national average score last year was
81.4. MCG students scored an average of 83.9, ranking seventh in the
nation.
Dr. Drisko also praised the faculty for
continually submitting proposals for research in an effort to move MCG
into the top-20 dental schools for extramural funding. So far this year,
faculty members have submitted 49 research proposals for $12,775,486
worth of funding. They also pursued training grants to support talented
students, existing faculty, newly recruited professors and doctoral
students.
Strides have also been made for the
school’s Faculty Practice Group, including renovating the practice’s
space and establishing better business practices and providing a stable
infrastructure.
Another important goal accomplished in
the last year included increasing the number of students from
underserved areas accepted to the program. Currently, 21 percent of the
school’s students are from underserved areas.
“The idea is that those students are
likely to go back to that area and serve,” Dr. Drisko said.
A recent site visit resulted in full
re-accreditation without reporting requirements. The school marked a 20
percent increase in dental clinic revenue and invested $500,000 in
clinic renovations and equipment, marking a 7 percent increase in the
number of patients last year.
A Ryan White Grant yielded a 121 percent
increase in dental care provided to patients with HIV/AIDS, and a
$566,000 annual contract secured through the Georgia Department of
Community Health yielded a 27 percent increase in the number of Medicaid
patients seen at the school.
And the future will only be brighter,
Dr. Drisko said.
“I think that by this time next year,
we’ll be 10 times stronger than we are now,” she said. “That’s
tremendous.”
The school has worked to establish a
strong working relationship with its former students. As a result,
alumni contributions have increased by 25 percent. In 2004-05, alumni
gave $109,474, up from $45,579 in 2002-03. Several individuals and
groups have also made significant contributions, including a $500,000
gift from the Thomas P. Hinman Dental Society for an endowed chair.
The school has also worked to increase
the awareness of the importance of good oral health across the state and
continues its efforts to provide oral health education at all levels of
society, most notably to underserved populations in Georgia.
The school operates seven community
outreach programs.
The school has also performed a
feasibility study for a fundraising capital campaign. As the state’s
only dental school, the School of Dentistry must have a new facility to
continue ensuring the finest possible oral health education, research
and clinical care for all Georgians. Of the proposed costs, $78 million
has been recommended by the University System of Georgia Board of
Regents. The remaining $30 million must come in the form of gifts from
individuals, corporations and foundations.
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Dr. Myers Honored
with Portrait
The Medical College of Georgia unveiled
a portrait of Dr. David Myers, dean of the School of Dentistry from 1989
to 2001, in an Oct. 13 ceremony in the dental school auditorium.
The portrait, jointly commissioned by
the School of Dentistry Alumni Association and the dean’s office, joins
that of his predecessor, the late Dr. Judson C. Hickey, in the
administration suite of the dental school building.
Dr. Myers was the second dean of the
School of Dentistry, which opened in 1966. He is credited with
implementing several technological advances, including MCG’s first
simulation lab. “Every school in the country came here to see it,” said
Dean Connie Drisko. “If I look back on David’s legacy, that’s certainly
the place he made his mark.”
“We are grateful to Dr. Myers for
maintaining a tradition of excellence throughout his deanship,” said MCG
President Daniel W. Rahn. “His significant contributions to dental
education and research created a strong foundation to support the dental
school’s current rate of growth.”
Dr. Carole Hanes, associate dean of
students, admissions and alumni, cited Dr. Myers’ unique management
style. “His quiet confidence and ability to never sweat the small stuff
resulted in tremendous leadership for the School of Dentistry during his
tenure,” she said.
The portrait artist is Barry Koenig of
Barry Koenig Photography in Augusta.
--Kim Miller
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Dr. Sharawy Wins
Research Award
 Dr.
Mohamed Sharawy, professor of oral biology and maxillofacial pathology,
has received the 2005 Isaiah Lew Memorial Research Award from the
American Academy of Implant Dentistry Research Foundation.
The award honors significant
contributions to research in implant dentistry and singular leadership
and responsibility in research that advances the science of implant
dentistry.
Dr. Sharawy uses a TMJ animal model to
study osteoarthritis, bone grafts and implants and researches synthetics
combined with growth factors to treat bone defects. In addition to his
teaching responsibilities, he serves as a grant reviewer for the
National Science Foundation and as the scientific chair for the
International Dental Congress in Cairo.
A faculty member since 1970, Dr. Sharawy
received a bachelor’s degree in dental surgery in 1962 from the
University of Cairo and a Ph.D. in 1970 from the University of Rochester
in New York.
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Dr. Lefebvre
Selected for Leadership Program
 Dr.
Carol Lefebvre, a professor of oral rehabilitation and oral biology in
the School of Dentistry, is one of only 45 women in the United States
and Canada selected as a fellow for the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive
Leadership in Academic Medicine program.
The program is the only in-depth
national course that prepares senior women faculty for leadership
positions at academic health centers.
Dr. Lefebvre, a faculty member at MCG
since 1989, is the director of the Section of Removable Prosthodontics
in the School of Dentistry and is the editor of The Journal of
Prosthetic Dentistry.
The ELAM curriculum combines traditional
business training with issues and strategies in health management.
Personal and professional development programs also focus on leadership,
career advancement, communication and the use of new information and
learning technology. The program aims to increase the number of women in
leadership positions at academic health centers and increase their
success rate in attaining and remaining in those positions.
Other ELAM alumni from MCG include Dr.
Connie Drisko, dean of the School of Dentistry; Dr. Carole Hanes,
associate dean for students and admissions in the School of Dentistry;
Dr. Sally Atherton, chair of cellular biology and anatomy in the School
of Medicine; and Dr. Leslie Fuchs, the director of the M.D./Ph.D.
program in the School of Graduate Studies.
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Alumnus Receives
Business Award
 Dr.
Bill Williams, a 1975 School of Dentistry graduate, has been named the
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year.
The award honors staying power in
business, sales growth and contributions to the community.
Dr. Williams, the dentist for the
Gwinnett Gladiators hockey team, practiced in Stone Mountain, Ga., for
23 years, then launched Suwanee Dental Care in Suwanee, Ga., in 1997. He
sees at least 100 new patients a month.
“Staying small isn’t really part of my
genetic makeup,” said Dr. Williams. “We started in a 1,000-square-foot
building, then moved to 4,000, and now we’re looking to expand again.”
Dr. Williams also works at the Hebron
Dental Clinic for the poor and contributes to the Brighter Smiles for
Brighter Futures Campaign.
“I’m truly humbled,” Dr. Williams said
about the award.
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Dental Screenings
Reach Local Children
Taja Murphy may only be 5 years old, but
after seeing MCG dental students perform dental screenings at her
school, she had her career path planned out.
“I want to be a dentist so I can make
people’s teeth pretty,” she said with a toothy grin.
As a student at Jenkins-White Elementary
school, Taja received a free dental screening Oct. 11 as part of
Affiliated Computer Solutions, Inc.’s Georgia Dental Healthcare Outreach
program. Now in its second year, MCG has partnered with the company and
the Georgia Dental Society to help alleviate oral health problems for
underserved children in Georgia.
The Student National Dental Association,
a campus organization for minority dental students, volunteered their
services during the Oct. 11 launch. The screenings were a familiar scene
for Sharcola Vaughn, president of the organization. She participated in
a similar program at her elementary school near Atlanta when she was a
child.
“For many, like myself, this opportunity
may be a stimulus to them choosing a career in dentistry,” Ms. Vaughn
said.
Dental decay is the most chronic
childhood disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. And for children in lower-income areas, the high cost of
biannual dental visits is not always an option.
“Untreated tooth decay in children can
lead to pain, infection, fever and swelling, which in some cases can
become quite severe and debilitating,” said Dr. Carole Hanes, assistant
dean of students, admissions and alumni.
In addition to the screenings, children
attended a short lesson on healthy oral hygiene techniques, including
how to prevent dental problems.
“You need to floss every day and eat
healthy foods like grapes, bananas and carrots,” said Naaim Colbert, 5.
Dr. Alfred Wyatt, president of GDS, said
the program will benefit the community by inspiring dental students to
be more civic-minded in their careers.
“It’s good to show them what dentists
are doing,” he said. “Hopefully the community service bug will rub off
on them.”
--Kim Miller
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Student Receives
Award for Mercury Research
Melissa Shaw, a third-year dental
student at the Medical College of Georgia, won the 2005 President’s
Award for Excellence in Dental Research Presentation for her oral
presentation on mercury toxicity research at the Hinman Student Research
Symposium in Memphis, Tenn.
The symposium, sponsored by the
Thomas B. Hinman Society of Atlanta, features oral and poster
presentations of research studies conducted by dental students and
graduate trainees in the United States and Canada.
“We are proud of Melissa and all the
MCG students who participated,” said Dr. John Wataha, MCG professor of
oral biology and maxillofacial pathology. “The students and lab
technicians provide each other insight and encouragement, making each
project a collaborative effort. This award reflects the high caliber of
dental research at MCG.”
MCG dental students Shaun Rotenberg,
Matt Folan and Stacey Poole also presented projects at the symposium.
They conduct their research in the same laboratory assisted by MCG
laboratory technicians Petie Lockwood, Veronica McCloud and Yolanda
Brown. Drs. Wataha, Jill Lewis and Regina Messer, also MCG School of
Dentistry faculty, directed the research of the students.
Ms. Shaw is investigating the effects
of ultra-low blood levels of mercury that build up from exposure to the
environment, foods or dental silver fillings. Her findings suggest that
ultra-low levels of mercury affect monocytes, a type of white blood
cells, but monocytes counteract these low levels successfully. Ms.
Shaw’s work is part of the group’s ongoing effort to assess the
biological safety of biomedical materials.
The President’s Award for Excellence
in Dental Research Presentation is sponsored by the National Students
Research Group of the American Association for Dental Research.
--Kim Miller
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