June 17, 2011
Nancy Bentley, program leader and associate professor in Dental Hygiene at Shawnee State University attended the American Dental Education Association's Annual Session and Exhibition in San Diego, Calif. in the spring.
The focus of the conference was "Interprofessional Education: Teaching and Learning Together for Better Health." The program addressed how programs prepared interdisciplinary education to meet the needs of patients' overall health.
"This conference was extremely valuable to the dental hygiene program at Shawnee State and to me as the program leader," Bentley said. "In addition, several faculty development workshops were very valuable in promoting the improvement of the education of our students. The opportunity for networking with other program directors across the nation and internationally was invaluable in sharing this information."
Educational methodologies were examined at the conference as well as proposed changes to the accreditation standards. The American Dental Education Association is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is the voice of dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many allied and postdoctoral dental education programs, corporations, faculty, and students.
The mission of ADEA is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research, and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public.