GPVFDC SPRING 2024 GPVFDC@comcast.net (267) 830-8008
Dr. Mark Donaldson
The Art of Dental Therapeutics: Better Medicine, Better Dentistry
8:30 a.m. Clinically-Useful Pharmacology
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Cannabinoids, Illicit Drugs and the Dental Patient
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Money Makes the World Go Round, But Drugs Can Make it Spin!
2:15 a.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals – What do I Really Have to Know??
4:15 p.m. Wrap Up
Our Program
If the term “relevant and useful pharmacology” sounds like a program you would like to avoid – think again!
Providing dental care to anxious, fearful and medically-complex patients continues to be a major challenge facing oral healthcare providers. Now more than ever, dental professionals are faced with the additional challenges of treating these patients’ oral health needs in the face of polypharmacology, drug interactions, potential illicit drug use and multiple chronic conditions. The simple approach to, “drilling and filling” continues to get cranked up a few more notches. Imagine if all of this could be made much easier by just going back to the basics.
Have you ever had to face the prospect of treating a medically-complex patient? Have you ever had a patient needing treatment for a dental emergency who has more than one underlying chronic disease? What about your patients of record who are on more than five medications? Now what if these same patients are also experimenting with cannabinoids or illicit drugs? How does the use of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, crack, Salvia divinorum, khat bush, or designer drugs such as MDPV change your treatment plan?
Designed for dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants, this course will review the pharmacology and current state of medicinal marijuana as it relates to oral health care. The information presented in this course should be considered essential knowledge for all oral healthcare professionals (OHCPs), both seasoned and newly credentialed.
Finally, with the increasing popularity of CAMs, a new issue has arisen: herbal-drug interactions, of which OHCPs must be aware. A survey of patients with heart disease, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, and/or hypertension found that 79% were taking supplements concurrently with prescription medications. Among those with cardiac disease, 20% reported regular use of herbals. If this raises your blood pressure, then you need to take this course.
Again, this interactive program is designed for dentists, hygienists and dental assistants, case studies will augment the delivery of key points and a problem-based learning approach is encouraged so that each participant’s questions are addressed.
Dr. Mark Donaldson BSP, RPH, PHARMD, FASHP, FACHE received his baccalaureate degree from the University of British Columbia and his Doctorate in Clinical Pharmacy from the University of Washington. He completed a residency at Vancouver General Hospital, and has practiced as a clinical pharmacy specialist, clinical coordinator and director of pharmacy services at many healthcare organizations in both Canada and the United States. He is currently the Associate Principal of Clinical Pharmacy Performance Services for Vizient, in Whitefish, Montana.
Dr. Donaldson is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Montana in Missoula, and Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry at the Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. He has a special interest in dental pharmacology and has lectured internationally to both dental and medical practitioners. He has spent the last 25 years focusing on dental pharmacology and dental therapeutics, and is a leader in the field.
Dr. Donaldson has published numerous peer-reviewed works and textbook chapters. He currently serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal Healthcare Executive and the Journal of the American Dental Association and is a reviewer for over ten other different journals. He is board certified in healthcare management and is the Past-President and current Regent of the American College of Healthcare Executives’ Montana Chapter. Dr. Donaldson was named as the 2014 recipient of the Bowl of Hygeia for the state of Montana and is the 2016 recipient of the Dr. Thaddeus V. Weclew Award. This award is conferred by the Academy of General Dentistry upon an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the medical, dental and pharmacy literature. In 2019, Dr. Donaldson was conferred by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) in Ottawa with the, “Special Friend of Canadian Dentistry Award.” This award is given to an individual outside of the dental profession in appreciation for exemplary support or service to Canadian dentistry and/or to the profession as a whole.