Oral Pathology and Radiology
Oral Pathology and Radiology Dentistry Certificate Program
If you are interested in the clinical and didactic skills necessary to evaluate and manage patients with oral diseases, consider applying to the Online Certificate in Oral Pathology and Radiology. This program is a unique and innovative opportunity for practicing dentist who want to improve skills and gain expertise in clinical, pathological, and radiological correlations, CBCT technology and applications, clinical diagnosis, and management to directly impact clinical practice.
- We are accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and University Committee of Academic Review (UCAR)
- We are not accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)
- We do not provide a stipend, and this is not a clinical training program
Application Deadlines
- Fall – July 15th
- Spring – November 15th
More Program Information
| Student Type | US/International Dental and Medical Professionals |
| Required Work Experience | DDS (or equivalent) |
| Rolling Admission | Fall, Spring |
| Estimated Program Length** | 12 |
| Courses | 8 courses |
| Units | 12 |
| Delivery Format | (90%) online learning and (10%) educational activities |
| Typical Week | 2-3 weekly streaming video lectures, one live weekly video conference and online quizzes |
| Employment Impact | Ability to continue working full time with classes |
| On-Ground Bootcamp (summer only) | Yes (1 week) |
| Program Type | part time |
| Estimated Tuition* | $2137 unit |
**Following the approved program of study. Actual completion time may vary depending on the length of time required to complete your courses. *adjusted annually
Limited Status Enrollment
The Limited Status Enrollment program is intended for individuals who wish to take a limited number of courses at USC without enrolling in a full program. Limited Status Students still have access to all the same resources that traditional, full-time students have; they’re able to interact with the cohort and join a collaborative learning experience. Becoming a Limited Status Student is the perfect way to see if a complete Master or Certificate program is a good fit!
Instructions to Register as a Limited Status Student:
- Contact us at online@ostrow.usc.edu. We will provide further instructions on registering.
- Complete the Limited Status Registration Form.
- Submit the form and $100 processing fee to the Registrar One Stop Center in person or by mail.
If you are unable to submit the form in person, you may designate a representative to act on your behalf. Please contact online@ostrow.usc.edu for specifics on the documentation needed to designate a representative.
If you wish to mail in your form, please include a copy of your driver’s license or passport. If you wish to mail your payment, please consider using certified mail.
Registrar One Stop Center
700 Childs Way, JHH 106
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0912
Phone: (213) 740-8500
Setting Up Your Account and Paying Fees:
Once we process your request, we will email you confirmation of your registration. To pay your tuition bill and to activate other student services, please view the post-registration instructions.
- Financial Aid is not available for limited status students.
Online Courses
Fall
OPR 704 Oral Pathology and Maxillofacial Medicine (2 Units)
Review of oral diseases affecting the oral cavity and their management, which includes developmental conditions, pigmented lesions, Immune-Mediated and Allergic Conditions, mucosal and connective tissue abnormalities.
OPR 707 Pharmacology Series for Dental Residents (2 Units)
The purpose of this course is to educate dental graduate students about the general pharmacologic principles and appropriate use of specific pharmaco-therapeutic classes of drugs including but not limited to anti-bacterial agents, NSAIDs; COX-2s; corticosteroids, DMARDs, opioids, anxiolytics, salivary-modulators; anti-convulsants, anti-spasmotics, anti-virals, anti-fungals, oral rinses, and topical agents; and injectable agents. In addition, this course will introduce the student to the use of pharmacology software, P450, and adverse drug reactions and Drug-Drug interactions. It is necessary for students to have foundational knowledge about these disorders, including their pathobiology, clinical presentation, and the evidence basis for treating each problem will also be required. This course is run in a lecture format and all attendees are required to view the lectures.
Spring
OPR 701 Bone Pathology and Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (1 Unit)
This course will focus on the interpretation of hard tissue imaging studies. The role of conventional dental imaging in the diagnosis of head and neck pathology will be covered along with the basics of various medical radiographic modalities such as MRI, PET-Scan, and CT. Moreover, we will review hard tissue and bone pathology affecting the jaws and other maxillofacial structures.
OPR 703 General and Systemic Human Pathology (1 Unit)
This course reviews disease mechanisms and principles through discussion of the pathological entities associated with each organ system. Fundamentals of disease processes including developmental, inflammatory, and neoplastic conditions are illustrated by means of clinicopathological material and case studies.
OPR 730 Clinical Cases in Oral Pathology and Radiology
(2 Units)
During this course, the students will prepare an e-portfolio, demonstrating the ability to apply the knowledge to different cases and scenarios. This course has multiple elements including:
- Weekly online (web-based) conference presentations and discussions of de-identified patient cases that have been posted on the blackboard for discussion and analysis.
- Based on these weekly discussions the residents will be given a set of case-driven learning need assignments that they must deliver to the entire group’s file exchange folder within two to three weeks after the assignment.
- Finally, the student will be expected to select, prepare and defend the e-Portfolio, answering questions from a Faculty panel.
Summer
OPR 702 Principles and Practice of Oral Medicine (1 Unit)
This course is an overview of patients with primary oral conditions and also oral diseases related to oral and systemic pathology. Topics covered in this online lecture-based course include patient assessment, laboratory medicine, clinical microbiology, and the management of medically complex patients among other topics.
OPR 708 Diagnostic Radiology (2 Units)
This course is a case-based format radiology course where the instructor will review interesting head and neck radiological cases with the students. In addition, the course will cover images interpretation using conventional and advance dental imaging such as MRI, CBCT, and CT Scan. Moreover, we will review the normal anatomy of hard tissue at the jaws and other maxillofacial structures.
On-Ground Courses
Summer
OPR 732 Knowledge Assessment (1 Unit)
This is a 1.0 unit course where residents must attend the USC campus. This course is given during the summer trimester at the end of the program. The essential elements of this course are detailed below:
- Several intensive calibration/training/seminar sessions will be provided by various faculty during the first week of the course. The specific content of these sessions is based on the content that the resident is expected to have mastered by the end of the program.
- Also in the first week of the course will be multiple practical demonstrations of methods and techniques as well as calibration training in all of these methods.
- After these review and practical demonstration sessions are finished, the resident will be given five types of examinations (each exam worth 20% of their grade) including:
- A short essay examination will be provided. The essay questions on this test will be based on the 100+ cases and associated case questions that were covered in the weekly video conference.
- A 100 item multiple-choice/short answer comprehensive based on content for the various courses covered during the year.
- Multiple different OSCE examinations designed to evaluate the resident’s competence in Clinical Pathology and Radiology tasks.
- An oral examination by a faculty panel (at least 2 faculty) will be given individually to each resident and the resident will be expected to respond (provide an oral explanation of how they would diagnose and manage a set of cases). The cases we use on this oral examination will be drawn from the cases which were covered in the weekly video conference sessions.
- A virtual patient competency test will be given to each resident. The resident will be required to interview and diagnose and recommend treatment procedures for each virtual patient.