University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 19, 2004

By LOIS BAKER
Contributing Editor

The School of Dental Medicine has been reaccredited for another seven years, the maximum time allowable for a dental school.

The school received formal notification from the Commission on Dental Accreditation at the end of January, culminating two years of self-study.

"The self-study is a very demanding effort," said Richard Buchanan, dean of the dental school. "It will benefit the school by providing source material for a plan that will guide development of our programs for the next 5-7 years."

Buchanan commended the faculty, staff and students who made the reaccredidation possible, and had special praise for the steering committee, headed by Joseph Zambon, professor of periodontics and endodontics. He applauded the group for "countless hours" spent writing and reviewing drafts, meeting, collating, assembling and packaging the self-study documents, and for serving as effective representatives of the school during the site visit.

The commission awarded the school 27 commendations and highlighted several particular strengths. For the pre-doctoral program, the special strengths noted were a strong relationship to the university; effective fiscal, facilities and clinic management; creative application of information technology to support education, which referred to the successful conversion of the full curriculum to DVD; the Counseling Advocacy Referral Education Service program; clinical staff's support of students, and the depth, breadth and quality of the school's research program.

Advanced education programs receiving special commendation were Pediatric Dentistry, for commitment to underserved populations, innovative education in practice management and research program development; Oral Pathology, for novel affiliations and scholarly research; Periodontics, for strong basic-science curriculum and research productivity; General Dentistry, for providing an exceptional education experience; General Practice Residency, for strong institutional support, and Prosthodontics, for high levels of training in biostatistics, practice management and research methods.

Additional steering committee members were Pamela Jones, assistant to the dean; Russell J. Nisengard, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, and associate dean for research and advanced education; Eugene Pantera, assistant dean and clinical associate professor of periodontics and endodontics, and Eugena Stephan, clinical associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Restorative Dentistry.