A new day for dental education

Less than two weeks now separate us from one of the most exciting events in dentistry: the grand opening of The Scottsdale Center for Dentistry. Having closely followed the development of this center from the initial glint in founder Imtiaz Manji's eye to finished facility, I can confidently predict that the day will come when the continuing education landscape in dentistry will be delineated as "Before Scottsdale" and "After Scottsdale."

For those who don't know, The Scottsdale Center is a $50-million, state-of-the-art dental learning facility adjacent to the prestigious Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort. Its location alone would be reason enough for many dentists to plan a working vacation around the site. But the Center also would be worth the trip if it were located in Dubuque. The 65,000 square-foot facility is equipped like no other learning center. From its fully wired auditorium to its impressively outfitted learning center and operatories, no effort or expense has been spared to make the facility a world-leader in offering the what Mr. Manji proudly refers to as "the finest broad-based, unbiased, and complete continuing education for the dental profession."

Features of the Center include a 278 stadium-style auditorium equipped for filming and broadcasting, a fully functional six-operatory "dental practice of the future," a 10-operatory and 36-lab-bench training facility and many other innovations and amenities to help make the Center among the most cutting edge teaching facilities in the world.

More importantly, the Center is dedicated to truth and integrity in continuing education. Unlike other facilities that subscribe to a single clinical philosophy, the Center welcomes all schools of thought across all disciplines. Under the leadership of Dean Dr. Gordon Christensen, a man of unique character and integrity in a profession awash in murky relationships, the Center’s goal is to provide dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, and dental technicians with ideal choices about both the subjects and the depth of their continuing education. Given the list of clinicians the Center has drawn to its faculty, I believe this goal is easily, for the first time, within reach.

I will be attending the Grand Opening Gala and will cover the event here and on Dentalcompare.com. Be sure to check back; and be sure to add the Scottsdale Center to your education calendar.