For the second time, LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry will receive a prestigious American Dental Education Association (ADEA) William J. Gies Award. The ADEAGies Foundation will present the 2018 William J. Gies Award for Vision - Academic Dental Institution to Louisiana’s only dental school during the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition next March. The Gies Awards, named for William J. Gies, PhD, honor individuals and organizations that exemplify the highest standards in oral health and dental education, research, and leadership. In 2008, the school was the inaugural recipient of the William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Innovation for rebuilding dental education in the State of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
“The 2018 award recognizes LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and its School of Dentistry’s commitment to and continued expansion of its programs in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice,” noted Henry A. Gremillion, DDS, MAGD, Dean of LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry. “For more than six years, dental school faculty members have worked tirelessly with their colleagues from the other LSU Health New Orleans professional schools to establish a strong and expanding Interprofessional Education (IPE) program.”
According to the World Health Organization, interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Once students understand how to work interprofessionally, they are ready to enter the workplace as a member of the collaborative practice team. This is a key step in moving health systems from fragmentation to a position of strength.
What began as an elective course for interested students in 2012, the LSU Health New Orleans IPE program is now a two-year longitudinal experience integrated within the curriculum of 19 academic programs for 700 first-year students. In the 2018-19 academic year, the program will expand to 27 academic programs for all first- and second-year students.
Three out of every four dentists and dental hygienists practicing in Louisiana today are graduates of LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry. From a national perspective, LSU Health New Orleans’ dental school is unique among the more than 65 dental schools in the United States because it offers degrees in dentistry, dental hygiene, and dental laboratory technology, as well as advanced education and residency programs in 11 dental specialties. By training students in all aspects of dentistry, LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry has earned a reputation for outstanding clinical education.