From: Durham, Erika
Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2005 4:51 PM
Subject: UTDB eflash (weekly edition) -- Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Outstanding instructors among us

During the Centennial commencement ceremony, May 21, awards for outstanding instruction were given to three Dental Branch faculty members, who students feel have an ability to engage them in the learning process. These faculty members are applauded for their enthusiasm, motivation and solid teaching skills.

Recipient of the awards are:

• John H. Freeman Award — Barry Rittman, Ph.D., senior instructor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
• John P. McGovern Award — Gary Frey, D.D.S., clinical assistant professor of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials.
• Lorna J. Bruning Award from the School of Dental Hygiene — Amy Murphy, clinical assistant professor of Periodontics.

Get more information on these winners in the upcoming edition of Distinctions, a UT Health Science Center publication. Catch more highlights of graduation and photos on the UT Dental Branch Web site at http://www.db.uth.tmc.edu/Centennial/events/052105_cent_class_grad/cent_class_gard.htm.

Dental Branch wins at national meeting

UT Dental Branch students and faculty made a clean sweep during the National Dental Association’s 68th Annual Scientific Session. Congratulations to the following:

Kacey Howell—First place: “Versatility of Osteotomics in Dental and Oral Surgery.” Second place: “Cover Me, Indications for Antibiotics Prophylaxis for Dental Treatment.”

John Orfanus—Third place: “The Wisdom of Removing Wizzies.”

A special thanks to Kamal Busaidy, D.D.S., assistant professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, who served as the student sponsor.

In the dental scientific division:
Betty Shynett, D.D.S., assistant professor, Restorative Dentistry—First place: “Herbal Supplements and Your Patients.”
Rudy Fulton, D.D.S., associate professor of Restorative Dentistry —Third place.

In the dental non-scientific division:
C. D. Johnson, D.D.S., associate professor of Restorative Dentistry and director of Recruiting. “Black dentists: the new endangered species in Texas?—Are there solutions?”

Attention DB employees: Benefits News

• Annual enrollment for the UT Employees Group Insurance Program will take place July 1–31. All health science center employees and retirees will receive details about plan, benefit and premium rate changes by e-mail or U.S. Postal Service before July 1. Your coverage for the next fiscal year may be affected by the changes. It is important to stay informed so you can make appropriate decisions for yourself and your covered dependents. The Benefits Office will offer annual enrollment meetings and benefits fairs. The schedule for those events will be announced later.



• You might need to submit Evidence of Insurability to obtain the level of insurance coverage you desire. To take advantage of your insurance options, you must submit Evidence of Insurability forms by Thursday, June 30. More information about Evidence of Insurability and downloadable forms are available at
  http://hr.uth.tmc.edu/Benefits/Benefits%20Forms/benefits_forms.html. Contact the Benefits Office, (713) 500-3935.

Continuing dental education

Learn about "Infection Control Review for Dental Assistants,” 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, June 10, by Nancy Andrews, University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston, Room B-25. Registration is from 8:30 a.m. Get more information on this course at http://www.db.uth.tmc.edu/cont-ed/Schedule.htm or call (713) 500-4028.

UTDB eflash is an electronic newsletter produced by The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. Submit items for consideration to Erika.Durham@uth.tmc.edu by Tuesdays at noon. Items may be edited for length and style.