Lasting Impressions | Summer 2016

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE x 7 SPECIAL POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM With the many complex restorative cases at the CDM, and a desire to be at the forefront of operative dentistry, the Department of Cariology and Restorative Dentistry developed and implemented a postgraduate program in operative dentistry in 2011. Currently, the CDM is one of only six operative dentistry postgraduate programs in the country. Luana Oliveira Haas, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S., director of the postgraduate program in operative dentistry, found it intriguing when she came to the United States from Brazil and discovered that operative dentistry was not considered a specialty as it is in other countries. “While operative is learned in dental school, the difference is that you learn only the basic concepts. If you attend a postgraduate program that focuses on operative, you will learn different techniques, improve skills, and have a different approach to your patients because you are more highly trained,” she said. Currently, the program, with its first-entering class in July 2011, is competitive, with 50 to 70 applicants vying for only 4 available positions. The training program awards a Master of Science degree and a certificate in operative dentistry upon completion. “We teach many of the general dentistry concepts at an advanced level where they may have cases that are more complicated,” Haas stated. Students practice both cosmetic dentistry, such as working with porcelain veneers, composite restorations, and prosthetic proce- dures, as well as fixed partial dentures. “The clinic aspect is the strongest portion of the program, and we have a large pool of patients, so our students are exposed to many different cases,” she said. Additionally, a major focus of the postgraduate operative specialty program aligns with the predoctoral program, with an emphasis on a patient-centered prevention model. Recently, the Academy of Operative Dentistry requested that the American Dental Associa- tion’s Council on Dental Education and Licensure recognize operative dentistry as a special interest area in general dentistry. “If this proposal gets final approval, operative dentistry will be even more important in terms of recognition,” Haas said. Amr A. Azhari, a second-year resident in the two- year program, said an additional year may be used to complete the research thesis. He had his pick of other operative dentistry programs, including the University of Michigan and Indiana University, but “chose NSU because the CDM’s program has three components that are treated equally: research, clinical, and teaching.” Azhari is one of the students who is sponsored in the operative dentistry program as part of the Department of Medical and Health programs of the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission. In his role as a faculty member at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Azhari said the government would have him return to his country with his skills to teach others, in addition to having his own clinical practice. The opportunity to have a large patient pool in which students are encouraged to be more productive seeing patients three times a week, and as many as eight patients per day, is another difference between the CDM’s pro- gram and others similar programs, Azhari added. “Some cases are simple and some are complex. We are lucky to have experienced faculty members working with us. This program is really one of the toughest programs I’ve ever worked in. It’s good, because it gives you the opportunity to learn under pressure.” ◆