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Hi, I'm Dr John Valenza
Interim Dean of the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston
Welcome to the roof of the Dental Branch.
I'm up here on the roof to give you an up close view
of where the first panel fell off the side of the building
leading to the somewhat bunkered look of the Dental Branch building
So this is where it started
with a few panels
Our Facilities folks have subsequently removed all of the panels along this section
so what you see here now is some color testing
for the replacement material
on this south side of the building
Issues like the panels certainly reinforce the need
for a new building
but also provide us thought about the long
and rich history of the School
As I'm up here on the roof
it makes me think of this building
What it stands for
And how the Dental Branch may have been
when the building first opened
As we set out to become the best dental school in the world
we must first define what that will look like
To become the best, we must change
We must evolve
To do so, our starting point is clear
Excellence in patient care and research
is our foundation for excellence in education
Let’s start by listing some of our goals
In Patient Care
We must reshape our clinical teaching model
to one that provides our students
the opportunity to function as practitioners
That is, our model must be practice based
At the same time, it must be integrated with simulation
and virtual patients in all four years
We must also expand our use of clinical technology beyond the EPR
to include 3D and advanced imaging
digital impressions
and the use of CAD / CAM
And we need to grow and enhance our faculty practice
In research
we must continue to expand and diversify our research portfolio
which already includes tremendous work in immunology
biomaterials and bioengineering
salivary diagnostics and proteomics
and oral cancer
But we must also expand and emphasis
on clinical and translational research
clinical outcomes
and the ever expanding and exciting area of informatics
In education
Our curriculum must become more innovative and contemporary
That means, removing some parts
and adding others
Teaching ethics and professionalism every day
Continuing to expand our use of instructional technology
such as simulation
lecture capture
electronic testing
audience response
And basing whatever changes we make
on sound educational research
clinical outcomes
and principles of evidence based dentistry
Last but not least
as we work to make all of this happen
we must enhance our own teaching and learning skills
Supporting faculty and staff
and having the tools and opportunities to improve
are fundamental keys to our success
Sometimes when you step back and take a different look at things
you get a perspective that maybe you didn't otherwise have
As we look to the future
we mustn’t simply transfer what we are doing in this building to the new one
In a few short years,
a new era for the Dental Branch begins
and we must be ready
Thanks for watching
Be sure to tune in next time
The best is yet to come
These mannequins may look like dummies
but they are part of some really smart technology in our Simulation Center
Next up on V-flash
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