Association of Residency Program Directors in Endodontics
Welcome to our association website
The Association of Residency Program Directors in Endodontics (ARPDE), a first of its kind dental residency Program Director association, was established by leading educators in endodontics. The purpose is to serve as a unified organizational voice for its residency Program Director membership, who seek to maintain excellence within their postgraduate endodontics training programs.
The tradition of dedicated Program Director associations within Medicine has been in existence for several decades, across all specialties. Currently over 50 organizations of academic physicians promote the role of residency Program Directors in achieving excellence in graduate medical education. Hopefully, the ARPDE will represent the first of many such future associations founded within postgraduate academic dentistry.
Vision
To maintain the standards of excellence in endodontics residency education through the collaboration, professional development, scholarship, and innovation of its membership.
Purpose
ARPDE is the organization that provides resources, develops best practices for endodontics residency training programs, and offers professional development for endodontics residency program directors.
Mission Statement
To provide endodontics residency program directors a forum for the presentation, discussion, review and potential resolution of issues that are important to all stakeholders within postgraduate endodontics education.
Recent Blog Posts
Moral injury wounds suffered among academic endodontics faculty members – reality, prevalence, causes, and potential avenues for educator support.
As several DDS/DMD programs have shifted to a pass-fail environment devoid of GPAs and student class ranking, what have become your predominant criteria for extending interview invitations? ADAT? Research time? Personal Statement? LORs? Publications?
Should AEGD/GPR training, or at least a minimum level of post-dental school clinical experience, be made mandatory before admission to our programs?
Is dental education overdue for another Flexner/Gies-type of reform-minded national report?
Endodontics treatment-related misinformation within the 24/7 media sphere. Its weaponization has become increasingly propelled by the rise of organized, so called social media influencers and personalities. That along with the “celebrification” of associated pseudoscience key opinion leaders, some of whom can legitimately lay claim to be bona fide healthcare providers.
What are some effective educational strategies for communicating with our residents and our patients.
Support fairness in postgraduate endodontics education: lobby our parent sponsor organization leadership to convene a program director group vote on The Match question.
No offense meant to the fans of the Harry Potter book and film series, but is there a “Voldemort issue” within postgraduate endodontics education today? If so it might well be “The Match” question, or as otherwise known to Program Directors, “It Shall Not Be Named” (let alone openly discussed)?
All kidding aside, in this progressive educational era, where every other major dental specialty matches their applicants with residency program slots, how much longer will these insular policy makers within our specialty continue to refuse to entertain transparent stakeholder discussions on The Match question? That is to say, allow for some substantive discourse on the topic, outside of their comfortably opaque committees?
How can we as an educator stakeholder group systematically study and collect data on The Match now, to best frame and inform decisions when the time comes for considering our best and most effective use of the program?
New members:
Introduce yourself to our group
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
Henry Ford
Useful Links
QUESTIONS?
Whether you’re curious about the Association of Residency Program Directors in Endodontics, or would like to request membership information while serving as a currently active Program Director, please contact us.