The AAO has opened up applications for the 2024 AAO Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care Training Award.
The American Association of Orthodontists announced that AAO members with current or imminent enrollment in a CODA-accredited Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care program may be eligible to apply for the 2024 AAO Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care Training Award. Applications will be accepted through February 1, 2024.
Requirements for the AAO Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care Training Award include graduation from a US or Canadian accredited orthodontic program; current or imminent enrollment in a CODA-accredited Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care program; appointment as a full-time faculty member; AAO membership; and citizenship of the United States or Canada (or are actively pursuing citizenship).
Vesna-Lea Ferrer, DMD, who received the 2023 AAO Craniofacial Anomalies and Special Care Training Award, encouraged colleagues with strong interest in craniofacial care to pursue this opportunity. She is currently a Craniofacial Orthodontics Fellow at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The one-year program includes research and clinical care of individuals affected with craniofacial anomalies.
“It is a big commitment for an orthodontist, but is something I have been interested in doing for a long time,” said Ferrer. “Obviously, these are challenging cases and there is a high need for care with this patient population. For me, it is very exciting to be an instrument helping enable the child to become whatever he or she wants to be in life. Patients who have grown up receiving care in our craniofacial hospital program have become many things, including a physician and a star gymnast.”
Ferrer’s path to the craniofacial sub-specialty began in the Philippines, where she received a dental degree and a certificate in orthodontics from Manila Central University.
Currently, in addition to her craniofacial patient care responsibilities, Ferrer is a lecturer and clinic instructor in the Section of Orthodontics at the UCLA School of Dentistry. Her previous teaching appointments included serving as director of the predoctoral orthodontics program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).
When her craniofacial fellowship, which began last January, concludes at the end of this year, Ferrer will join OHSU. She has accepted an appointment that will begin in February 2024, as a clinical faculty member and provider of craniofacial care for patients at the affiliated hospital.
Photo 200732522 © Zvonkov Eugene | Dreamstime.com
