Great Continuing Education at Convention
Kudos to our Executive Director Heidi Weber, International President Steven Spitz and Israeli Regent Eldad Helft for organizing a superlative Continuing Education Program at our annual convention in New Orleans. At the opening session on Thursday, Steve Anderson started our convention by encouraging us to think positive, analyzing what Alpha Omega has done well in the past, exploring future opportunities that will make our organization strong and what resources we will need to make those opportunities real. Our first CE day was on Friday, where Dr. Israel Finger started the morning presenting a new concept in dentistry, the Digital Denture. After a short break, Dr. Lisa Germain gave us parameters of whether to attempt restoration of a compromised tooth or restore the site with an implant restoration following extraction of the tooth. The morning ended with a discussion of Opioid abuse and pain control using NSAIDs, led by Dr. Dov Glazer and Jordan Spektor. On Sunday, the first Walter D. Cohen Memorial Lecture was given by Drs. Adam and Ayala Stabholz, discussing the uses of the Er: YAG laser in Endodontic treatment and the treatment of Peri-Implantitis.
We look forward to our next convention in Los Angeles. Contact Heidi Weber or me if you have suggestions for interesting topics and speakers.
A Word About Alpha Omega International’s CE Program
Alpha Omega is proud to be an approved national provider by the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) and has assigned us a provider number that is used for all courses approved by the AO Continuing Education Committee. The AGD/PACE program has strict guidelines that must be followed. Periodically, Alpha Omega must provide documentation to the AGD to assure compliance with their directives. Significant hours are expended to prepare and maintain this documentation.
Chapter participation with AO International’s Continuing Education AGD/PACE program is voluntary. However, many States and Provinces in the United States and Canada will only accept courses for licensure maintenance if given by a nationally approved course provider. If the jurisdiction in which you practice requires such course approval, participation with the AGD/PACE program satisfies this requirement. Some chapters maintain their AGD/PACE status as a locally approved course provider. The standards for local approval are not as strict and may not be accepted by the dental board in the state/province where you practice. Please review your state/province’s dental board as to their definitions of what courses are acceptable.
Should your chapter wish to participate with AO’s Continuing Education Program, they may not use the AGD provider number unless they comply with the AGD/PACE standards and AO protocols. This will require a bit of advanced program planning and meeting announcement preparation by your chapter’s program chairperson. All courses presented for AGD/PACE approval must be reviewed and approved by our CE committee, which meets every three months. To achieve this requirement, proposed courses need to be presented to the AO CE committee 90 days before the course being given. Also, following approval, the CE chairperson must receive the meeting announcement flyer that will be sent to prospective course participants 30 days before the course. In return, your chapter’s program chairperson will be provided with all the forms needed to administer the course along with detailed instructions. Upon course completion, the chapter's program chairperson will return the completed forms to the International Society's CE Chairperson for processing. The fraternity will maintain records of CE attendance for seven years.
Currently, chapters in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit and Washington, DC participate in our program. If your chapter wishes to attend, let us know. I'm always available for any questions you may have.
Fraternally,
Michael Stern, CE Program Chair