University of California San Francisco
3333 California St. Suite 315
San Francisco, CA
United States
The Sol Silverman Oral Medicine Clinic at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) provides innovative leadership in the field of oral medicine and oral oncology. They offer educational opportunities for students, residents, and fellows. This investment, through the Executive Director’s Fund, is to support the Oral Oncology Mini-Fellowship Program at UCSF. This is the first year of the oral oncology program at UCSF, but the program was implemented at Harvard in 2018 with support from our funding. The fellowship focuses on the issue that general dentists are expected to provide comprehensive oral health care for all, including patients with cancer, but the majority of dentists do not have adequate education, training, and experience with this population that faces significant risks and complications. The objective of this fellowship program is to provide in-depth focused training for community dentists so that they are adequately prepared to manage cancer patients before, during, and after cancer treatment. Fellowship graduates will be expected to serve as community experts, providing a critical resource for oncologists, dentists, and cancer patients.
The fellowship is a 6-month full-time training program for dentists committed to developing expertise in the field. Clinical training is based at the UCSF School of Dentistry and Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, with additional rotations at other UCSF affiliated teaching hospitals. There is one fellowship position per year, and the fellow will receive salary and benefits.
Fellowship activities will include patient care at the partner clinics, clinical oncology rotations, community outreach and education in oral and dental oncology topics, didactic learning opportunities including seminars lectures and conferences, research and academic activities. There is a community outreach piece of the fellowship that includes education of clinic staff in oral medicine and oncology topics, work with community health centers and other clinics on topics like early detection of oral cancer, complications from cancer treatment, prevention of oral diseases, HPV prevention, and dental treatment planning. Fellows will also provide community health education at health fairs and civic events, as well as present their work at the American Academy of Oral Medicine annual conference. Goals for the community outreach component of the fellowship are to provide educational sessions to local health care providers in community-based settings, and for the fellow to act as an expert to increase knowledge of oral cancer treatment and spread impact of the program through publications, research, and presentations. Other overall objectives for the fellow include gaining a strong understanding of the field of oral oncology, inter-professional work and partnership with other health care providers, providing safe and effective oral health care for oncology patients, and education the community on the role and importance of oral health related to systemic health.
The budget of $52,016 goes toward fellow salary and benefits, staff costs to run the program, and small amounts for travel and clinic fees.