Chair, Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Health

Position Details

Position Information

Recruitment / Posting Title

Chair, Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Health

Department

RSDM-Pediatric Dentistry

Salary

Commensurate With Experience

Posting Summary

Background of the Chair, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Health

Rutgers School of Dental Medicine is searching for a Chair of the Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Health. Responsibilities of the position will include the administration of the faculty and staff for the undergraduate and graduate programs in Pediatric Dentistry, Special Care Dentistry and Community Health. The department sponsors an active residency and post-graduate training program.

The Chair is expected to be a graduate of a CODA accredited training program with board certification in pediatric dentistry and eligibility for licensure in New Jersey. Successful candidates will have a track record of leadership, a strong interest in active clinical practice, and related scholarly achievement. It is expected that the Chair will participate in the intramural faculty practice, be eligible for hospital privileges at one of our teaching hospitals and hold an enteral sedation permit.

This Chair will be responsible for expanding the scope of clinical services as well as research initiatives in Pediatric Dentistry, Special Care Dentistry and Community Health. S / he will expand statewide outreach and education, and support the development of a new public health residency program in Community Health.

Salary and rank will be commensurate with experience.

1. Teaching - Building Upon the Strength of the Clinical Program and Training the Best Pediatric Dentists and Community health Professionals Educating and training exceptional pediatric dentists is the highest priority of the RSDM Pediatric Dentistry Department. Teaching has always been recognized as the core strength of RSDM.

2. Academics, Scholarship, and Research RSDM is distinguished by the academic and research training it requires of RSDM trained dentists. Research is a required element of scholarship for all RSDM postgraduate pediatric dental students.

3. Delivery of Dental Care to the Underserved and Those with Special Needs A unique strength of the RSDM Pediatric Dentistry program is its close partnerships with the University Hospital's Pediatric Department. Relationships with additional medical centers are a goal of RSDM as it seeks to expand care for patients requiring procedures in operating rooms.

4. Advocacy and Dental Policy

A crucial part of the Department's mission has been advocating for children and individuals with special health care needs. RSDM has a strong relationship with the State Department of Health and the state dental director.

5. Alumni and Professional Relations There are over one hundred postgraduate alumni of the RSDM Pediatric Dentistry Residency program. In addition to RSDM alumni, New Jersey boasts a large community of pediatric dentists.

Position Status

Full Time

Posting Number

24FA0252

Posting Open Date

03 / 06 / 2024

Posting Close Date

Qualifications

Minimum Education and Experience

• A clinically-active dentist with an advanced postgraduate degree in Pediatric Dentistry with 7-10 years of progressive responsibilities in leading a university based Pediatric Dentistry program with a proven history of growth.
• A body of published academic scholarship and a history of securing publicly and privately funded research are desirable. A DDS or DMD degree from a dental school accredited by the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) and Board Certification in Pediatric Dentistry are required.
• A successful candidate must be eligible for licensure in NJ.
• A NJ enteral sedation permit and hospital privileges must be obtained within 6 months of the date of hire.
• Participation in faculty practice is expected.

Certifications / Licenses

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Equipment Utilized

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Computer skills

Overview

BACKGROUND, RUTGERS SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE

Established in 1956, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) celebrates a rich tradition of providing an exceptional educational experience for its students while serving the dental needs of more than 136,000 patient visits annually. The only dental school in New Jersey, RSDM is located in the University Heights neighborhood in Newark, NJ, and is the largest center of dental research in the state. RSDM is part of the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), also called Rutgers Health, with main campuses in Newark, Piscataway, and New Brunswick.

Rutgers is one of the nation's leading comprehensive research universities and the only public university in New Jersey in the Association of American Universities (AAU), North America's 71 leading research universities demonstrating high-quality academic research and scholarship, disciplinary breadth, and strong undergraduate, graduate, and professional education programs.

Research is fundamental to Rutgers' mission and provides a vital and growing foundation for the academic, community, and clinical service elements at the heart of Rutgers' excellence. Rutgers brings more federal research dollars to New Jersey than all other New Jersey colleges and universities. In fiscal year 2022, the university received $872.8 million in research grants and sponsored programs. Participating in the Big 10 Conference brings membership in the Big 10 Academic Alliance, a consortium of 14 world-class research universities.

RSDM provides a full range of oral health services for children and adults statewide to thousands of underinsured and uninsured working poor, with over 50 percent of patient visits were supplemented by Medicaid. With nearly 424 operatories RSDM clinical services range from

routine preventive care to complex treatment, periodontics, orofacial pain, diagnostic and biopsy services, orthodontics, endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine, prosthodontics and treatment for special needs patients with underlying conditions or illnesses. Inpatient care and teaching are also conducted at the University Hospital.

RSDM's state-of-the-art faculty practices are located in Newark and New Brunswick. The school also has extramural clinics in Galloway, Northfield, and Somerdale.

RSDM has renovated its Pediatric Dentistry and Special Care Center with 32 operatories and state-of-the-art equipment that opened in February 2014. Since then, RSDM has completed several new expansion projects, including an interdisciplinary specialty clinic for orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, and endodontics, a research center (see additional information under research), and a Central Sterilization facility for all clinical areas. The oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic and radiography clinics were expanded, too. The renovated clinic includes a total of eight closed surgical operatories for routine oral surgical procedures, and two anesthesia suites to administer more advanced anesthesia procedures.

RSDM centers of excellence include :

The school plans for major capital improvement which will include a new simulation facility and additional research laboratories for RSDM. The new preclinic will bring in daylight and will increase student spaces with improved simulations.

Academics

RSDM's 200+ salaried faculty and over 100 voluntary faculty play a major role in guiding both university policy and procedures through shared governance with the boards and senior administration. RSDM is represented on the Rutgers University Senate, a university-wide representative body with several additional faculty councils.

Admission to RSDM is highly competitive. Ninety-two students enrolled in 2023 in the first-year class, admitted from 2,476 applicants. The students' reputation for clinical experience and skills is evident in the Match rate. In 2023, over 95 percent of students seeking placement through a match were placed. RSDM graduates substantially exceed the National Board pass rate. In 2023, the students achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the Integrated National Board Dental Examination.

One of the nation's most diverse dental schools, RSDM is proud of its holistic approach to the admissions process and the array of multi-cultural opportunities for student engagement that students have available to them. RSDM has long recognized the benefits of introducing prospective students to the profession at a young age, especially underrepresented students through a variety of pipeline programs, starting from pre-school all the way up to college.

RSDM also has international exchange programs with Trinity College School of Dental Science in Dublin, Ireland, University of Medicine, Tirana, Albania, Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences in Guntur, India, and it is exploring additional partners.

RSDM post-graduate programs attract hundreds of applicants from all over the world each year. Programs and degrees offered by RSDM are :

Patient Care

Throughout the school and the extramural South Jersey sites, there are over 400 patient operatories. Annually, RSDM performs over 136,000 patient visits at the main Newark campus and its three Community Oriented Dental Education sites in Somerdale, Northfield, and Galloway, NJ. The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residents and General Practice residents from the Department of Diagnostic Sciences staff the adjacent University Hospital's clinics, seeing 10,000 patient visits each year.

RSDM is the largest provider of oral health care in New Jersey, the largest provider of dental Medicaid in the state, and the largest special needs dental provider in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania region.

Research

Advanced biomedical research programs continue to improve the quality of life for New Jersey's diverse populations. RSDM is engaged in research at all levels - basic, translational, and clinical. The new Assistant Dean of Clinical Research and the Director of Research will establish a structure connecting researchers, experiences, and tools to create strong research teams. The Clinical Research Center received over $2MM to conduct a practice-based clinical trial researching the effectiveness of periodontal adjunctive antibiotics in support of antibiotic in support of antibiotic stewardship in dentistry. In addition, his translation program has received a $2MM NIH grant to pursue studies in the pathogenesis of peri-implantitis using cutting edge pre-clinical and clinical omics research methods to combat peri-implant inflammation.

In the past year, the Oral Biology Department received awards totaling over $5 million in extramural funding in fiscal year 2022. Researchers led by the school's Dean Cecile A. Feldman has received a $11.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research the combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen as an alternative to opioids. An RSDM faculty member is using predatory bacteria in the battle against drug-resistant infections, and the U.S. Department of Defense has invested more than $7MM in his work to help tackle deadly, antibiotic-resistant infections. A faculty member has received a $1.5MM five-year NIH grant to pursue her studies in how to regenerate dental pulp and dentin as an alternative to removing the pulp during root canals.

The approximately 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art RSDM Research Center provides the infrastructure to enhance clinical and translational investigations and services as a resource for the training of clinical investigators. The Center houses most of the oral biology department offices and labs and the orofacial pain labs. The center houses faculty offices for the researchers, four closed labs, 18 open labs, support labs, conference and classroom space, and a lounge area. This Center enhances RSDM abilities to secure external funding and support the school's ability to attract new researchers.

Separately, RSDM has a clinical research center that conducts a variety of industrial trials.

Research is a required element of s