December 2020 (Live-Streamed Online):

• Fundamentals of Teaching and Learning (Part 1)
• Basics of Educational Research
• Dental Education Literature Review
• Developing Case Studies

January-April 2021 (Guided Self-Study):

• Educational Research Project
• Literature Review
• Proposal
• Presentation

 May 2021 (On-Campus or option of Live-Streamed Online):

• Fundamentals of Teaching and Learning (Part 2)
• Assessment in Dentistry
• Technology and Innovation in Dental Education
• Academic Leadership vs. Project Management

PROGRAM DIRECTORS

NADEEM KARIMBUX, DMD, MMSc
Dean and Professor Periodontology, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. His areas of expertise are teaching and educational leadership, and is recognized nationally and internationally in the development of educational methods, curricula, policy, and assessment tools. Dr. Karimbux has received numerous honors during his academic career, including the G.W. Teuscher Award from the American Society of Dentistry for Children, the Periodontal Educator Award from the American Academy of Periodontology, and Distinguished Faculty Awards from Harvard School of Dental Medicine. In 2010, he received the Presidential Citation from the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). He has served as Editor of the Journal of Dental Education, and has published more than 100 papers, authored textbooks, and lectured worldwide. In 2015, he received the Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service from the University.

IRINA F. DRAGAN, DMD, DDS, MS
Assistant Professor and Director of Faculty Education and Instructional Development, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Dragan supports a wide range of educational activities, from managing examinations for predoctoral and postgraduate dental students, to more advanced technical training opportunities for both students and faculty. Her efforts have been recognized nationally with the 2016 ADEA Chair of the Board of Directors (Presidential) Citation, and in 2019 she received the Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service from the University. Dr. Dragan serves as a consultant for Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) and was part of the leadership team for the ADEA/ADEE global initiative “Shaping the Future of Dental Education”. She currently serves as the Chair for the ADEA Special Interest Group 'Career Development for New Educators'. She has published more than 25 papers, authored textbooks, and lectured worldwide.

SPEAKERS

NOSHIR MEHTA 
Noshir R. Mehta is associate dean of global relations, professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Service, and senior adviser to the Craniofacial Pain, Headache and Sleep Center at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Mehta has a special interest in orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine. He is the founding director of the Craniofacial Pain Center at Tufts, teaches at the school, and lectures nationally and internationally. He is a fellow of the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fouchard Academy. Dr. Mehta has received numerous awards from various dental organizations including the prestigious Hayden Stack Award from the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain and, most recently, 2015 Clinician of the Year from the Massachusetts Dental Society. He has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, is editor of the sleep section for the Journal of Craniomandibular and Sleep Practice, and sits on the editorial board of several other international publications. He is the senior author of the textbook Head, Face and Neck Pain: Science, Evaluation and Management published by Wiley in 2009. Dr. Mehta has been instrumental in expanding the reach of TUSDM in the area of global collaborations, service learning and community service and has created a vast network of student exchange and global service learning sites around the world.

SERCAN AKYALCIN
Dr. Akyalcin graduated from the Orthodontic Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Currently, he serves as the director of the advanced education program of Orthodontics at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. In his career as a dental educator and orthodontist, he has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, five book chapters, co-authored an orthodontic textbook, and has received many prestigious awards including the American Association of Orthodontists Full-time Faculty and American Association of Orthodontists Foundation Fellowship and Biomedical Research Awards. He serves actively on the editorial review board of American Journal of Orthodontics, Angle Orthodontist and some other prominent orthodontic and dental journals. Dr. Akyalcin has been honored as an invited speaker at many national and international meetings.

GABRIELA LAGRECA
Dr. Gabriela Lagreca, DDS, is a passionate dentist and assistant professor in postgraduate prosthodontics. She finds great satisfaction in caring for her patients and specializes in creating the brightest smiles through minimally invasive procedures. Her clinical and research interests are in modern dental materials, ceramics, esthetics, dental implants and minimally invasive dentistry. Dr. Lagreca is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Her passion for both science and the arts drove her to become a dentist and she received her dental degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela. After several years of private practice, she decided to pursue a prosthodontics specialty and moved to Boston to attend TUSDM where she was a fellow in the Implant Training program and later completed the postgraduate residency program in prosthodontics. After graduating with high honors, Dr. Lagreca became one of the fewer than fifty board certified Prosthodontists in Massachusetts and a Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontists.

CHRISTINA PASTAN
Christina DiBona Pastan is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Endodontics and the Director of Mind-Body Wellness at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Pastan graduated from TUSDM in 1991 and earned her certificate in endodontics from the TUSDM PG Endodontics program in 1994. She has been a volunteer clinical instructor in the department of endodontics for the past 25 years. In July 2015, Dr. Pastan became the school’s first Director of Mind-Body Wellness. A long time practitioner of yoga and meditation, Dr. Pastan began teaching self regulation breathing skills to her endodontic residents and through that experience saw a hole that she felt needed to be filled in the dental school curriculum. As a result, Dr. Pastan pursued a professional training in yoga and meditation from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and is a 300 hour certified yoga and meditation teacher. Dr. Pastan teaches self-regulation skills to the TUSDM entering first year students in a mandatory wellness course that she runs during the first 3 weeks of their training. She continues to teach these skills throughout our dental students four years and in the post graduate programs in different clinical courses; seminars and workshops as well as guiding a weekly drop-in meditation and yoga class that is also open to faculty and staff. Dr. Pastan is the chair of the TUSDM Health and Wellness Committee and works closely with the administration and selected students and staff to develop a culture of wellness that supports the students, faculty and staff and ultimately affects patient care. Dr. Pastan speaks internationally on the topics of meditation, yoga and self-regulation skills and their importance to the dental health care professional.
YOUJIN-NATALIE JEONG
Associate Professor, Interim Program Director - Advanced Education in Post Doctoral Periodontology, Director of Distance Learning, and Department of Periodontology 

Plus additional guest speakers, including:

• Maria Blanco, EdD, Associate Dean for Faculty Development Tufts University, School of Medicine

• Annie Soisson, Director Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at Tufts University

• Wed Alyousef, BDS, MS, (TUSDM Alumni - DG16, DG17, DG19 DELTA Fellowship Program), Clinical Instructor in the Prosthodontics Department, King Abdulaziz University