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Dr. Michael Mermigas first had the idea for a Center for Continuing Dental Education when he noticed a problem within this field.
“I saw that there was a void in the areas of pharmacology, medically compromised patients and anesthesia/pain control. I spoke with Dr. [Thomas] Mattei about Mylan School of Pharmacy, being in the unique position that it is, forming the Center.”
Dr. Mermigas said he received enthusiastic support for his idea from both Dr. Mattei and then-Dean Peter Vanderveen, and, in 2003, the Center for Continuing Dental Education enrolled its first class. Since that time, it has provided quality continuing dental education to practicing dental professionals across the nation.
“We have a growing audience of participants, and they appreciate the fact that they can get education in areas where normally it’s not emphasized or available.” Dr. Mermigas explained that much of the Center’s popularity is due to the fact that “we’re not selling a product. A lot of CE courses are geared toward equipment, restorative products, and cosmetic products.” The Center, by contrast, focuses mostly on “education in the basic sciences.”
More recently, the Center has begun to increase its focus on anesthesia and sedation-related education, with an emphasis on intravenous sedation. An Anesthesia/IV Sedation course was offered for the first time during Spring 2009, which provided certification enabling dentists to administer IV sedation in their offices. Dr. Mermigas reported the course, which included a clinical component with hands-on experience, was “an absolute success.” Sixteen participants completed the course in the spring, and fifty more have enrolled for the Fall 2009 course.
Dr. Mermigas said the exceptional quality of the course and the faculty teaching it has “given Duquesne and the School of Pharmacy a lot of exposure on a national level. We have drawn participants for this course from as far away as Washington State, Michigan, Kentucky…all over the country. Some bring their college-age children along to see the University as a result as well.” Dr. Mermigas credits the course’s popularity to the high quality of education promoted at the School of Pharmacy and “Duquesne’s reputation for excellence as a whole.”
Courses offered during previous years have included Management of the Dental Patient with Cardiovascular Disease, which provided treatment options for dental patients with hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure; Microbiology of the Dental Professional, which addressed common dental infectious pathogens, rational antibiotic use in dentistry, and management of acute dental infection; Dental Office Emergencies from a Pharmacology Viewpoint, which reviewed common dental office emergencies; Management of Dental Patients with Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, and Bleeding Disorders; Managing the Anxious Patient; Dental Office Emergencies, which focused on preventing and responding to emergencies; Addiction’s Impact on Medical Professionals, an examination of current addiction theories and risk factors for addiction among health professionals and prevention strategies; and Biophosphonates Therapy and Osteonecrosis of the Jaw, which focused on care of patients with osteoporosis. While workshops in the above, diverse areas have been well-attended and successful, Dr. Mermigas said the Center’s “focus and niche is increasingly becoming intravenous sedation certification for dentists,“ adding that in addition to providing Conscious Sedation Certification courses at Duquesne biannually, the School will take the course to San Francisco during the winter semester of 2010. “The course has been a huge success,” he said.
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