Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SDM PH 524: Preventive Dentistry
  This course will introduce students to the principles and practice of preventive dentistry, as applied to the care of an individual patient as well as the broader community population. It will also introduce the student to the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and demonstrate their application to dentistry. Completion of this course will enable students to read, critique and meaningfully extract information from scientific literature and be able to interpret it to lay individuals including their patients.
• SDM PH 530: Health Care Law
  This course continues to build the student's understanding and consideration of ethical issues in dental practice and introduces related legal principles. Through lecture and case discussion, the student will focus on ethical problem-solving in more complex patient-based cases and introduces legal concepts affecting the practice of dentistry including licensure, contract and tort law, patient abandonment, malpractice, informed consent and refusal, mandatory reporting laws, patient confidentiality and prudent behavior, diversity and discrimination laws.
• SDM PH 541: Gerontology & Geriatric Dentistry
  This course integrates biomedical, clinical, and behavioral science principles into the evaluation and treatment planning of older adults and adults with special needs. PH 541 builds on didactic and clinical information acquired in their prior dental school curriculum. The students' didactic knowledge and understanding of special populations is assessed through a web-based examination platform. Evaluation of the students' clinical competence is based on attendance, participation, and an online assessment of an older adult patient or adult patient with special needs. This course focuses on patient-centered ways to promote, improve, maintain, and modify oral health care. This course also provides opportunities for critical thinking and foundational knowledge regarding inter-professional care and referrals, the social and behavioral implications of aging, polypharmacy, and management of oral health and quality of life for medically compromised older adults and adults living with special needs.
• SDM PH 544: Integrated Problems in Practice Management IV
  This course provides information necessary for a new graduate to obtain a position as an oral health-care provider. Topics discussed include jurisprudence, issues surrounding employment law pertinent to the new graduate, risk management (disability and liability insurance coverage and products), how third party reimbursement works, various provider compensation models, personal finance (retirement and student loan repayment), interview techniques, and employment contract assessment and negotiations
• SDM PH 610: Applied Professional Experience Clerkship (APEX)
  At the end of their first year, students participate in an 8-week internship at GSDM-approved private practices or community health centers. Through a combination of written assignments, seminars and experiential learning, students learn about practice management, patient communication, social determinants of health and oral health inequities. Students also explore the roles of the dental and health care team and the U.S. dental care delivery system, as well as perform a series of observational and hands-on activities that reinforce their knowledge and application of the production and evaluation of intraoral radiographs, patient evaluation, caries risk assessment, patient centered counseling and preventive dentistry.
• SDM PH 644: Externship
  Students are assigned to community-based clinics such, as community health centers and hospital-based dental clinics, for 10-week rotations. These rotations provide opportunities for the continued growth of students' clinical, treatment planning, diagnosis, critical thinking, patient and time management skills. This course also provides the students with experience in treating diverse patient populations. During Externship, students also develop and implement a community outreach project that addresses a public health problem experienced by the community served by their Externship site.
• SDM PH 650: Elective Externships
  Elective externships are offered for students in their final year of dental school. These are short-term externships typically 1 week in length designed primarily for students to visit programs they are considering for postdoctoral advanced education. They encompass different disciplines of dentistry, at various dental schools and hospitals throughout the United States or Canada. A student's participation is indicated by a Pass/Fail annotation on their transcript, although there is no credit assigned to this course. Participation is typically limited to no more than two separate experiences. Dr. Zea. 0 cr
• SDM PH 660: International Externship Exchange Program
  This is a school-sponsored global initiative available to students in the final year of the 4-year dental program. This two-week elective externship consists of clinical rotations in various areas of dental medicine at one or more schools/universities of dentistry/stomatology in China, Thailand, Japan,England, India, and South Korea. Currently, participating schools include: Air Force Military Medical University School of Stomatology in Xian, China; Shanghai Jiaotong University College of Stomatology in Shanghai, China; Peking University School of Stomatology in Beijing, China; Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Tokyo, Japan; the University of Manchester Division, of Dentistry in Manchester, England; Manipal University College of Dental Sciences in Manipal, India,Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences in New Delhi, India; and Seoul National University School of Dentistry in Seoul, South Korea. These are world-leading sites with advanced teaching facilities, well qualified English speaking faculty, and diverse patients. GSDM students will be exposed to these institutions' recognized strength in clinical services, with outstanding clinicians, state-of-the- art facilities, and comprehensive approach to all aspects of Dental Medicine. Selection of GSDM students is competitive and requires formal application to the GSDM Office of Global and Population Health.
• SDM PH 763: Bioethics and Law
  Introduces models of applied ethics used within the field of dentistry. With lectures, case studies, and class discussion, students engage in identification and analysis of ethical dilemmas. Topics include professional responsibility and ethical principles, the doctor-patient relationship, the dentist and the community, and ethical conduct in science. 1st sem.
• SDM PH 780: Geriatrics and Gerontology Seminar
  An in-depth analysis of current issues in our aging population, including demographic profiles, long-term care, financial considerations, and case discussions. Articles from current literature will complement the information discussed in the seminar. 2nd Sem.
• SDM PH 803: Biostatistics
  Designed for master's and doctoral students. Introduces the concepts and techniques of biostatistics used in dental research and referred to in dental literature. Emphasizes the fundamentals of statistical logic and presents the basic principles of experimental design, statistical inference, and probability. Examples from current basic sciences research, survey research, and clinical trials augment the presentation of statistical theory. 1st and 2nd sem.
• SDM PH 804: Applied Statistical Analysis in Dental Public Health
  Prerequisite: SDM PH 803 or graduate level biostatistics. In-depth application of statistical concepts using publicly available datasets to develop a hypothesis, analyze data and produce a manuscript. The course focuses on the analysis of oral health related data, and includes a detailed discussion of estimation techniques, regression and correlation, analysis of covariance, and survey methods. Analyses are performed with SAS statistical analysis software available through the Boston University Office of Information Technology. 1st and 2nd sem.
• SDM PH 806: Environmental Health
  This introductory course to the field of environmental health provides an overview of major environmental issues and their influence on the practice of dentistry. Students will better understand how alterations to our environment impact human health and the health of the biosphere, the multifactorial process of decision-making surrounding risk and regulations, potential exposures and mitigation approaches specific to the dental field, and possible environmental advocacy roles for dental public health providers. 1st sem
• SDM PH 808: Health Care Management and Finance
  This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic concepts of health care administration, emphasizing financial administration. The course provides an overview of basic principles of accounting and financial management and their applications. The students will analyze problem sets that represent a practical application of financial administration principles as discussed in the course. These exercises will lay the analytic foundation for a final case study on a specific financial oral health issue. Topics covered include cost benefit and cost effective analyses, and break-even analyses using data provided by the instructor. 2nd sem.
• SDM PH 810: Fundamentals of Dental Public Health
  This course presents a comprehensive view of dental public health. Through lectures, class discussion, and exercises, students will investigate the core public health functions and become familiar with the concepts of surveillance, dental indices, access and systems of care, oral health disparities, social determinants of health, and public policy. In completing their final project, students will develop the practical skills needed for population-based public health programing such as needs assessment, writing goals and objectives, implementation planning, program evaluation, creating logic models, budgets, and timelines.
• SDM PH 812: Oral Epidemiology
  This course will provide the student with 1) the principles of epidemiology, relating these principles to the diseases of the oral cavity and 2) demonstrate the designs for clinical and community-based studies. Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to understand the strengths and limitations in the design of such studies. 1st sem.
• SDM PH 821: Dental Public Health Literature Review
  This course is intended to provide a formal introduction to the scientific method as applied to dental public health. This biweekly course provides an overview of the major principles and methodology associated with the critical review and appraisal of important published literature in dental public health and public health. Students will present and lead discussions for articles in topics that are scientifically innovative, update our knowledge, or controversial, or which are landmark papers in the field. 1st sem.
• SDM PH 822: Dental Public Health Literature Review
  For second year students: building on the epidemiology, biostatistics, and literature review skills obtained in the first year of training, students will demonstrate their ability to determine study methodology validity and to identify ways to improve the study design in the papers presented in class. They will exhibit these skills through frequent class discussion participation and demonstrate improved proficiency in their presentation skills. 1st and 2nd sem.
• SDM PH 823: Dental Public Health Literature Review
  For third year students: In this advanced course, students will take a primary leadership role in class by incorporating their skills obtained in advanced DPH and SPH courses to promote deeper class discussions about advanced statistical analyses and study methodology in the literature through proficient presentations. 1st and 2nd sem.
• SDM PH 872: Dental Public Health Policies, Programs and Advocacy
  This course provides students with an overview of current concepts and programs in dental public health and their relationship to the four major dental public health competency areas: health policy and administration, health promotion and disease prevention, delivery systems, and research. The course will familiarize students with various approaches to meeting the oral health needs of high risk populations on the local, national, and international levels. Real world examples are given, stressing the importance of effective communication, policies, programs and advocacy. 2nd sem.

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