23 Aug We Are a Teaching Facility: What Does That Mean?
At Animal Dental Care & Oral Surgery, we take pride in being a teaching facility. Dr. MJ Redman is our board-certified veterinary dentist™ and she is also the director of our residency program. Veterinary specialists like Dr. Redman are veterinarians who have pursued additional training to focus on one aspect of medicine and surgery. After graduating from veterinary school, specialists go through an internship and then a residency program followed by a challenging examination process. At Animal Dental Care & Oral Surgery, we currently have two residents who are on track to become board-certified veterinary dentists™ in the next few years.
Why Bring Your Pet to a Teaching Facility?
There are many advantages to bringing your pet to a teaching facility. Residents must have a comprehensive knowledge of relevant textbooks, case reports, research studies and retrospective studies that have been published over the past 10 years. They must research and publish a paper themselves and attend various lectures and labs to better their skills. Residents must also practice their surgical skills on cadavers with feedback from their mentor and log cases in all categories of oral and dental surgery. Residents are very motivated and dedicated to passing their exam and becoming board-certified veterinary dentists™ themselves. What that means for you is that your pet’s doctor will be well versed in all the latest diagnostic and treatment options.
A teaching facility may participate in clinical trials or use their database to publish a study, but at no time are any patients used for experimental treatments unless it is for a clinical trial, and you have given full consent. One example is our current clinical trial for using stem cell therapy to treat cats with refractory gingivostomatitis. Treatment for these cats is at no cost and provides valuable information for the development of a product that can help cats with this painful condition. In any published paper, no patient or client information is used except for a generic description of the animal.
Schedule an Appointment Today
When your dog or cat comes to Animal Dental Care & Oral Surgery in Fort Collins, you will most likely get to meet with one or both of our residents, Dr. Rachel Siddall and Dr. Erin McGuirk, but know that an entire team of qualified individuals who are passionate about oral care will be taking care of your pet. If at any point you have a question about your pet’s care, please ask! We value transparency and collaboration in making decisions about what is best for your dog or cat.
If your pet is due for a checkup or if you have concerns about their dental health, give us a call today to make an appointment.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (8/23/2024). Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels