Greater Washington Academy of Osseointegration Study Club commemorates first year of successful programming

Initiated one year ago as a pilot project, the Greater Washington D.C. Academy of Osseointegration Study Club (GWDCAOSC) is celebrating its success of becoming a model AO program to facilitate local collaboration, education and networking.

Held on April 20, 2017, the study club’s recent one year anniversary meeting included a presentation by Steven Guttenberg, DDS, MD, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Dr. Guttenberg is the first clinician to incorporate Cone Beam CT Radiology in a private practice setting. 

The GWDCAOSC is the culmination of a persistent, three-year effort of the AO Membership Committee initiated under chairman Dr. Jeffrey Ackerman, who serves as the study club’s president. Other instrumental key organizers of this effort include Dr. Clarence Lindquist, former AO and Osseointegration Foundation (OF) president, and GWDCAOSC vice president and Dr. Douglas Dompkowski, vice-chair of the AO Membership Committee, who serves as treasurer.  

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One of the major goals of GWDCAOSC is to allow AO members to utilize the organization’s myriad online resources as part of a study club curriculum. These include webinars, e-posters, education modules, recordings from annual meetings and articles from the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (IJOMI). 

The study club model also takes advantage of local AO experts to provide a curriculum for success and acts as an added membership value.  Given its extremely successful performance, it’s very likely this program will serve as a model to attract AO membership and be expanded to other parts of the country and the world. 

 “The greater Washington D.C. area is rich in resources and there are so many world class local and visiting AO members who can present to the study club,” said Dr. Ackerman.

However, he continued this level of success may not as easily be achieved in every locality. According to Dr. Mehrdad Favagehi, a local periodontist and secretary of this group, an online forum is proposed to be included as a core piece of the study club curriculum for all AO members and as a mechanism to help serve members in remote areas. Furthermore, he added the GWDCAOSC intends to utilize AO research submissions, e-posters and other online learning modules as part of its curriculum and to increase research, e-poster and innovations submissions by featuring selected submissions as part of the curriculum. 

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The GWDCAOSC is an effort representative of AO’s roots, as it was founded 30 years ago as a local study club in the Greater New York area, said AO board member Dr. Jeffrey Lloyd, who serves as the study club’s liaison. “A level of independence from special interests and commercialization along with a strong commitment to science, education and collaboration among members, industry and other organizations has made the AO brand very appealing, and will allow AO to continue its growth as the world’s premier dental implant organization.”

“A worldwide network of local AO-affiliated study clubs will ensure a bright future for AO and its members– and ultimately for the patients who will benefit from the gift of osseointegration,” he concluded. 

Since its inaugural meeting on April 21, 2016 in McLean, Virginia, the GWDCAOSC has held seven meetings.  Future programming for 2017-2018 is scheduled to include presentations by Dr. Peter Hunt, Dr. Charles Fields, Dr. Vincent Prestipino, Dr. Clarence Lindquist, Dr. Brian Mahler, and Dr. Neil Starr, who recently presented at AO’s 2017 Annual Meeting.

AO members interested in learning more about initiating a local AO study club should contact either Dr. Dompkowski at dompkowskidds@verizon.net or Dr. Favagehi at mfavagehi@yahoo.com.