Erin Goertzen wins 3M Oral Care Graduate Student Research competition

By Rachel Boutet

For the second year in a row, a Faculty of Dentistry graduate student has won the Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s Annual 3M Oral Care Graduate Student Research competition. Erin Goertzen 1T8, a second-year student in the Faculty’s graduate pediatric specialty program, is this year’s award recipient. 

The competition, which was held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is the result of a partnership formed between 3M Oral Care and the Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (CAPD) / Académie Canadienne de Dentisterie Pédiatrique (ACDP). This year’s annual conference was held in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, expanding participation to pediatric dental specialists and graduate students from across North America. 

“I am delighted to have been able to present my research project alongside so many great presenters, and especially my co-residents in the program from U of T,” says Goertzen. 

The competition highlights graduate student research from the pediatric specialty programs across the country, selecting five abstract submissions to participate in the presentations. Three of this year’s five presenting graduate students were from the Faculty of Dentistry, including Melika Modabber and Ayala Rubin.

"Our students are really showcasing the breadth of their knowledge and are demonstrating how their research can enhance our specialty’s knowledge base and ultimately the care we provide for our patients"

“I am so proud of our students and so pleased with the quality of research that was presented, given the complicating factors of conducting research during a pandemic,” says Karen Campbell, associate professor, teaching stream and program director of pediatric dentistry at the Faculty. “Our students are really showcasing the breadth of their knowledge and are demonstrating how their research can enhance our specialty’s knowledge base and ultimately the care we provide for our patients.” 

For her research, Goertzen was interested in understanding how Canadian dental students learn to diagnose dental cavities on radiographs, and more specifically on children’s radiographs. This is a critical skill for dental trainees to learn because without it, the result may be misdiagnosis of dental disease resulting in either lack of necessary treatment or over-treatment for our patients. To date, there are no studies investigating Canadian dental student competency in radiographic diagnosis of dental caries. Her team has developed a novel computerized learning and assessment tool designed to measure and improve student performance in dental caries diagnosis. 

“I have been working on this research project since my general practice residency at SickKids in 2019, and it means so much to me to be able to share it with my peers in the pediatric dentistry field and have them be as excited about it as I am,” says Goertzen. “I have an incredible team from both U of T and SickKids supporting me in this project and I’m continually grateful for this experience.”

Campbell says Goertzen’s research is an example of the quality of research done at the Faculty that has excellent potential to improve educational outcomes of undergraduate dental students and specialty trainees.

“We focus on more collaborative research amongst other disciplines,” she says. “For example, this year projects included collaborations with pharmacy, dental anesthesia, and oral radiology. We aren’t just looking at topic areas limited to our pediatric department. We are also thinking about working with other research partners within the faculty that could have a potential impact on pediatric dentistry, and have explored the use of qualitative research methodology. Specifically, the rich information stemming from this type of research was also reflected in our grad students’ presentations in these past two competitions.”

Campbell also notes the importance of these types of competitions and encourages all of her pediatric specialty graduate students to become student members of the CAPD-ACDP.

“Participating in competitions like this provides students the unique opportunity to vet their work and practice answering questions in a safe-space environment before they have to defend their research,” she says. “We are fortunate to have such a long-standing good sponsor in 3M – it’s commendable they see the value in this type of opportunity.”
 

Photo: Erin Goertzen (Cameron Goertzen)