At the 82nd ADEA Annual Session held March 5-9 in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Eric J. Hovland, Dean and Professor of Endodontics, Louisiana State University School of Dentistry, became ADEA President for 2005-06.
Speaking at the opening of the House of Delegates, Dr. Hovland thanked ADEA members for the opportunity to serve the Association and identified curriculum reform as a major focus of his presidential year.
"We need to decompress our curriculum, eliminate peripheral information, define what a practitioner really needs to know, and prepare our students for the future practice of dentistry," said President Hovland.
"Now, we have a wonderful and unique opportunity to address curriculum issues in both dental and allied dental education," he said, because of the timely synergies created by activities in ADEA's councils and the launching of a collaborative effort that involves ADEA along with the American Dental Association, the Council on Dental Accreditation, the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, and the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure.
Since these groups have reached a consensus about the need and direction for change, ADEA has begun developing a plan and timetable for a process that will "develop updated clinical competencies for the present and future general dentist, develop foundation knowledge that supports those competencies, develop a new curriculum, and then develop National Board Exams and accreditation standards that reflect the new competencies, foundation knowledge, and curriculum," he said.
"The door for important and necessary curriculum reform supported by all the involved constituencies is now open," President Hovland emphasized, "and we must move quickly and forcefully through it."
A member of the Association since 1977, President Hovland served as ADEA President-Elect for the past year. In ADEA he has served on the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans, Chair of the ADEA Legislative Advisory Committee, and a member of the Council of Faculties. He is a Past President of the American Association of Endodontists and a Past Chairman of the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Before being named Dean at the LSU School of Dentistry 11 years ago, he served as Chair of the Department of Endodontics at the University of Maryland. Dr. Hovland received his D.D.S. from the University of Maryland and his endodontic certification from the Medical College of Virginia.
Also at the 2005 ADEA Annual Session, Dr. Kenneth Kalkwarf, Dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School, was elected ADEA President-Elect. In addition, two new Vice Presidents were elected to three-year terms: Dr. Sheila Koh, Associate Professor, Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Dental Branch, became Vice President for Hospitals and Advanced Education Programs; and Dr. Sandra Andrieu, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Louisiana State University School of Dentistry, became Vice President for Sections.
