Renowned educator joins ATSU

Dr. Michael Glick brings broad experience in practice, research, and education to university

MESA, Ariz. (Feb. 14, 2007) – A leading dental practitioner, researcher and educator joined A.T. Still University (ATSU) in a dual role as associate dean for oral-medical sciences at the College of Osteopathic Medicine – Mesa and as professor of oral medicine at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health.

Michael Glick, D.M.D., formerly professor and chair of the Department of Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, joined ATSU on Jan. 1. He is renowned for his excellence and innovation in dental education. At ATSU, he will establish an integrated curriculum focusing on critical thinking for both dental and medical students.

“I want our dental students to think of themselves as healthcare professionals first, and dentists, second,” says Glick. “At ATSU, I am promoting a more medicine-oriented approach to the curriculum. Through this type of education, our dentists can play a more active role in monitoring and screening their patients for medical conditions, so that they can refer them to physicians.” With the medical school, Glick will bring emphasis to the connection of oral health to systemic health, so medical students develop a better appreciation of the importance the interrelationship of the two.

Sixty-four percent of all adults in the U.S. visited a dentist within the last year, while only 39 percent of all adults saw a physician. “This provides dentists with an enormous opportunity to help screen for potential health problems, including hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol,” says Glick. “All health care providers, dentists and physicians included, have a responsibility for a patient’s medical health.”

“The College of Osteopathic Medicine – Mesa and the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health will benefit enormously from Dr. Glick’s teaching and research,” says Craig M. Phelps, D.O., FAOASM, provost of A.T. Still University’s Mesa campus. “Dr. Glick is a renowned researcher and educator, and his innovative techniques will play a significant role in educating our future dentists and physicians.”

Glick is the author of four books on dental management and oral medicine. He was recently appointed editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association, the premier peer-reviewed journal on dentistry and dental science. He has authored numerous publications on the treatment of medically complex patients and infectious disease and has lectured extensively on these subjects both nationally and internationally.

Glick received dental degrees from the Hebrew University School of Dental Medicine in Israel and Temple University in Philadelphia. He pursued a residency in oral medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his academic research and education appointments, Glick was a practicing dentist for 15 years in Pennsylvania and Delaware.