2010 - UCSF School of Dentistry - University of California, San ...

Update: Master’s
in Dental Hygiene
Dean Featherstone and the School of
Dentistry are committed to including a
Master’s Degree Program in Dental
Hygiene on the UCSF campus.
The UCSF Graduate Council approved
the proposal for the Master’s Degree
Program in Dental Hygiene, citing it as one
of the best-developed curricula presented
for a master’s program. The approval on
March 7, 2008, was another successful
stride among the many steps involved
in the new program’s approval process.
The School of Dentistry Faculty Council
approved the Master’s Degree Program
in Dental Hygiene proposal on October
18, 2007, followed by the approval of
the Educational Policy Committee.
Margaret Walsh, with
the help of William Bird
and Jane Weintraub, has
devoted considerable time to
surmounting each hurdle in
the long approval process.
The Master’s Degree
Program in Dental Hygiene,
self-funded through tuition
Margaret
Walsh
fees, received approval from
the Office of Budget and
the Academic Senate at
UCSF, and has now been
approved by the systemwide Graduate
Council. All that remains is the signature
from the UC Office of the President.
Committed to the preservation
of the dental hygiene program, Dean
Featherstone and the Faculty Council
continue to bolster support for the
master’s program.
Hygienists interested in applying
to the Master’s Degree Program in
Dental Hygiene are encouraged to
continue checking the UCSF School of
Dentistry website, or to contact communication
liaison Mary Porteous at mary.
porteous@comcast.net for program
status and updates. n
— Mary Sornborger Porteous, DH ’75
Willard C. Fleming Pre-Clinical
Simulation Laboratory Dedicated
Located on the fourth floor of the Dental Clinics Building at
707 Parnassus Ave., the pre-clinical simulation laboratory space
has been a major part of the education of generations of
dental students since it opened in 1980. Over the intervening
decades, the lab has been incrementally upgraded with the aim of
keeping the technology current and creating ever-more-realistic
simulations of what students will face in working with real patients,
beginning in their third year. But the
2009 renovation of the lab, thanks
to the overwhelming generosity of
alumni, including a single donor of
$1 million, was a floor-up redesign
resulting in a completely new,
state-of-the-art facility.
The months-long renovation
completes the third phase of a
four-phase project, according to
Department of Preventive and
Restorative Dental Sciences Interim Read more about Willard C. Fleming at
history.library.ucsf.edu/fleming.html.
Chair William Bird, DDS, DPH, who
oversaw the renovation. Bird described the new simulation
environment as providing not only a more accurate approximation of
“the real mouth,” but also an enhanced ergonomic simulation –
increasingly emphasized as an aspect of dental practice. The fourth
phase of the project, for which planning is complete and funding is
currently being organized, is the renovation of the smaller, adjacent
support lab.
The Willard C. Fleming Pre-Clinical Simulation Laboratory was
formally dedicated on November 2, 2009, at a gala evening that
included words from Bird, Dean Featherstone and UCSF Chancellor
Susan Desmond-Hellmann, as well as recorded words from Fleming
himself. Many of those present expressed the view that Fleming, who
passed away in 1972, would have been honored to see his name
attached to a facility so central to the training of UCSF dental
students.
Willard Corwin Fleming (pictured on computer screens above)
was an influential presence on Parnassus Heights for decades: as a
dental student at the UC College of Dentistry, as it was then known,
from 1918 to 1923; as a member of the faculty from 1924 to 1939;
and as dean from 1939 until 1966, during which time the college
became the UCSF School of Dentistry. Fleming was appointed
chancellor of UCSF in 1966 and served through tumultuous years
on campus until 1969. His leadership was widely applauded for his
characteristic thoughtfulness, openness and academic innovations,
including groundbreaking efforts to open paths to the health
professions for the socioeconomically disadvantaged.
“He was beloved by students, staff, faculty, alumni,” says
Professor Emeritus Sol Silverman, DDS, a faculty member since 1954.
“I thought the world of him.” n
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