Orthotown June 2017 - 31

As a member of the interview team at Jacksonville University School
of Orthodontics (JUSO), I had the opportunity to hear from more
than 50 applicants and gained a deep understanding of their
program expectations. Most wished for a shorter duration
in training with low or no tuition and for the program to
be in a lively city affiliated with a renowned dental school.
In addition, they wanted an unmatched didactic clinical
experience to prepare them for the American Board of
Orthodontics (ABO) certification and the real world.
Listening to the applicants reminded me of my search for an
orthodontic residency program, and while I thought at the time
that no program could meet every need, JUSO eventually exceeded
my expectations. Here's a breakdown of some of the areas that
impressed me.
Demographics
Faculty and resident demographics are a good place to start. Currently, there are
30 residents, five fellowship students and 14 faculty members (seven full time, two
part time, and five resource) at JUSO. In addition, JUSO has been active in inviting
renowned guest lecturers to share their knowledge with the residents.
The residents pool is diverse. Thirty percent graduated from a dental school
outside of the United States. Of the U.S. graduates, 33 percent were from the East
Coast, 13 percent from the West Coast, and the remaining 24 percent had their dental
education in either the central or southern states. Almost half of the residents had
either general dentistry or other forms of residency training before their admission
to JUSO.

Clinical and didactic curriculum
While JUSO has been restructured since its inception in 2003, it has continuously
maintained its core competency, the heavy clinical exposure. Each resident benefits
from about 30 clinical hours per week. Didactic courses and basic science curriculum
are taught by onsite and adjunct faculty members and guest lecturers. For example,
Dr. Peter Buschang, from Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, lectured on
research methodology and the growth and development every week by either visiting
us at JUSO or teleconferencing via Skype. JUSO has maintained its accreditation for
more than 13 years and is well-prepared for the next accreditation process in 2019.
As far as the clinical exposure is concerned, I can attest to my experience at JUSO.
I have been directly involved in the treatment of more 150 patients. Seventy of those
were cases I started. I have used traditional MBT, bidimensional, self-ligating and
lingual bracket systems. I have two multidisciplinary orthognathic-orthodontic patients
awaiting surgery dates. I have five Invisalign cases, one of which is an Invisalign Teen
case. I have used MARA, headgear, Herbst and twin block functional appliances.
Just to make the list slightly longer, I placed 12 mini-implants (TADs) during the
first year of my residency.

orthotown.com \\ JUNE 2017

31
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