Penn Dental Medicine Online Course Explores Ties between Medicine and Dentistry

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Penn Dental Medicine has developed a second online course through Coursera, the educational platform that offers universal access to courses by top universities and organizations around the world. The course, titled "The Oral Cavity - Portal to Health and Disease," is continuing to be offered on a rolling basis.

The course addresses the connections between dentistry and medicine and is presented in an interview format led by Dr. Uri Hangorsky, Clinical Professor of Periodontics and Associate Dean for Student Life at Penn Dental Medicine. Specialists in seven areas of medicine highlight the ways in which oral health and general health influence each other.

"It has become increasingly clear that the oral cavity is intimately tied to overall health," says Dr. Hangorsky. "In this course, we summarize all the recent advances and highlight the relationship between different medical specialties and oral health." Penn Dental Medicine's Dr. Thomas Sollecito, Chair and Professor of Oral Medicine, and Dr. Eric Stoopler, Associate Professor of Oral Medicine, also provide commentary in the course videos. Dr. Katherine France, a current oral medicine resident at Penn Dental Medicine, is teaching assistant for the course.

Each week's session features an interview with a different Penn Medicine specialist. The topics covered include pain management, diabetes, cardiology, various skin conditions that also appear in the oral cavity, blood and bone marrow cancers, and certain kinds of head and neck cancer.

The course developers see value in the material for a wide audience, from physicians, dentists, and other health care professionals to dental students, college students contemplating careers, or any individuals interested in learning more about the oral/systemic health connection. Coursera learners can take the courses, including exams and quizzes, for free, but must pay a fee if they wish to receive a certificate documenting their achievement.

The School's first Coursera course, "Introduction to Dental Medicine,"  also continues to be offered on a rolling basis.  The Penn Dental Medicine Coursera courses are among the nearly 100 courses offered on Coursera by the University of Pennsylvania.

CONTACT: Beth Adams, 215-573-8224, [email protected]

SOURCE Penn Dental Medicine

Related Links

http://www.dental.upenn.edu