The curricular content for the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Fellowship includes the following:

Required Text Books

  • Oral Radiology: Principles and Interpretation, 7th Edition, White & Pharoah, CV Mosby & Co, St. Louis, 2014
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Imaging, Lisa Koenig, Amirsys/LWW, First Edition, 2012

The Cohen Conferences

This seminar series will focus on reinforcing knowledge of topics within the field of Oral Medicine. The curriculum is designed to review the fundamentals of Oral Medicine including oral mucosal lesions, salivary gland disease, and medically complex patient issues. Emphasis will be placed on applying this information to clinical practice. Attendance is mandatory for all OMFR Fellowship trainees.

Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Preclinical and Clinical Courses

The participant will have an opportunity to sit in the following Oral Radiology didactic and clinical programs given at Penn Dental Medicine:

  • Course 576 Radiographic technique
  • Course 512 Radiographic Anatomy
  • Course 675 Diagnostic Radiology
  • Course 777 Third year Radiology Clinic
  • Course 877 Fourth Year Radiology Clinic

Oral Radiology Clinic

The participant will receive training in diagnostic head and neck imaging and enhance their ability to utilize the broad scope of imaging modalities including oral radiographs, panoramic radiology, plain films, digital, tomography, sialography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and Scintigraphy. The purpose of this clinic experience is to gain clinical experience and didactic knowledge in standard and advanced oral and maxillofacial imaging techniques and interpretation. The clinic experience will provide the participant with an extensive review of image selection, interpretation, and radiographic technique with particular emphasis on radiographic manifestations of local and systemic diseases in the head and neck region.

Medically Complex and HIV Clinic (MCC)

The participant will have the opportunity to observe patients in the Medically Complex Clinic that provides comprehensive oral/dental care for patients with cardiovascular, renal, immune or hematologic compromise, organ transplantation or head and neck malignancy. The participant will attend at least one clinical session per week. The participant will also have the opportunity to learn the management of a special group of MCC patients who are HIV positive. Clinical and radiographic manifestations of chronic HIV disease and its management of part of several hospital based dental practices. The fellow would have the necessary exposure and diagnostic skills to assess these patients and if needed radiographically evaluate their dentition and other maxillofacial structures.

Cone Beam CT Selective

Offered to junior and senior dental students ( 12-15 hrs) spread over two months during the academic year. The course is offered in the months of April-May annually.

Vernon J. Brightman Conferences

Internal Medicine Didactic Program: Farideh Madani, DMD
The following topics are covered:

  • Obtaining a medical history and conducting a physical exam.
  • Review basic aspects of internal medicine conditions (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, neurologic diseases, immunologic diseases, and endocrine disorders).
  • Impact of systemic disorders on oral health and provision of dental care.

Oral Medicine Didactic Program: Thomas Sollecito, D.M.D.
The following topics are covered:

  • Medical history in the context of oral mucosal diseases.
  • Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of acute oral lesions, including primary herpetic gingivostomatitis, varicella-zoster infection, erythema multiforme, and oral ulcers caused by blood dyscrasias.
  • Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of recurrent oral lesions, including recurrent aphthous stomatitis, recurrent herpes simplex infection, and Bechet’s disease. Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of chronic lesions, including pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and erosive lichen planus.

Lab Medicine Didactic Program: Arthur Kuperstein, D.D.S.

  • Basic principles of laboratory testing.
  • Serology – including hematology, basic chemistry, electrolytes, liver enzymes, hepatitis, coagulation, and autoimmune indices.
  • Indications for and interpretation of laboratory testing. Impact on oral conditions and provision of dental care.

Clinical Pharmacology: Eric Stoopler, D.M.D.
The following topics are covered:

  • Review of pharmacologic agents used for the management of oral medicine conditions, including oral mucosal diseases, orofacial pain syndromes, chemosensory disorders and salivary gland diseases.
  • Impact of pharmacologic agents on oral health and provision of dental care.

Orofacial Pain: Martin Greenberg, D.D.S.
The following topics are covered:

  • To understand the basic principles of temporomandibular joint anatomy.
  • To understand the basic principles of temporomandibular dysfunction, including etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, imaging, treatment.
  • To understand the basic principles of atypical facial pain, neuralgias, non-odontogenic facial pain, and headache, including etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, imaging, treatment.

Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology: Mel Mupparapu, D.M.D.
The following topics are covered:

  • Radiation biology
  • Imaging techniques – plain radiography and advanced imaging, such as CT and MRI.
  • Clinical indications for and interpretation of imaging studies.

Research Methodology: Sunday Akintoye BDS, DDS, MS
The following topics are covered:

  • Critical evaluation of a scientific paper
  • Formulating conceptually sound research hypothesis
  • Types of research design
  • Experimental design of a clinical project
  • Experimental design of a basic science project
  • Writing a clinical protocol: communicating with the Institutional Review Board
  • Writing an animal protocol: communicating with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
  • Ethical and regulatory issues in research
  • Data analysis and principles of biostatistics for the statistical novice
  • Writing a research paper
  • Writing a review paper
  • Presenting research results at a scientific meeting
  • Writing a research proposal
  • Identifying funding sources for research
  • Types of epidemiological studies
  • Descriptive statistics
  • Inferential statistics

Additional Academic Activities

Along with the didactic core program, participants will have the opportunity to attend additional academic activities, including:

Division of Oral Radiology Literature Review (Journal Club)
The Journal Club is a dynamic forum for critical thinking and examination of pertinent, current scientific literature. It is proposed that the fellows regularly present at the Journal Club once a month. The residents from the Department of Oral Medicine and senior dental students, honor students from the medically complex clinic will be invited to participate apart from the faculty.

Case Presentations
Fellows and faculty actively participate in case presentation sessions. This is an opportunity for students to present documented cases related to the diagnostic challenges in medically complex patients as imaging is an integral part of the management

Research Seminar Series
A series of postgraduate seminars relevant to medical and dental science are presented throughout the year (most regularly on Thursdays, 12 and 1 pm, in Levy 338) Advanced topics are presented and discussed in an open forum. View Research Seminars Calendar >>