It Was an Award So Nice, They Presented it Twice
It was an award so nice, they presented it twice: University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and students were invited Monday, March 29, to a second presentation of the prestigious William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Vision by an Academic Institution. The award was originally presented to Dean Patrick Lloyd in Washington in February of this year by the ADEAGies Foundation at the annual meeting of the American Dental Education Association.
The School of Dentistry was so honored for its role in advancing new standards for initial licensure of its dental graduates. The dental school was instrumental in the Minnesota Board of Dentistry making a landmark decision in 2009 to approve the National Dental Examining Board (NDEB) of Canada’s non patient-based licensure exam for testing the competence of University of Minnesota graduates applying for initial licensure to practice dentistry in the state. The dental school opened its doors to the Board of Dentistry and provided access to all processes the school has develop to ensure that a quality group of students is admitted, an up-to-date and validated education is offered, and that systems are in place to assess competency and to promote and graduate students prepared to enter dental practice. The insights gained allowed the board to vote with confidence to move beyond the reliance upon patient-based examinations with the knowledge that School of Dentistry graduates applying for licensure are clinically competent, having been critically evaluated on an ongoing basis throughout their four years of dental education. This decision positions Minnesota as the first in the U.S. to move beyond the historic reliance on examinations that require applicants for licensure to perform procedures on live patients.
The event was introduced by Richard W. Valachovic, president of the ADEAGies Foundation and executive director of the American Dental Education Association. Elizabeth Roberts, Director, Scientific & Professional Affairs, North America, of Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products, presented the award to Dean Lloyd.
The event was sponsored, in part, by Johnson & Johnson.