- Joined
- Oct 13, 2003
- Messages
- 132
- Reaction score
- 0
http://www.pitch.com/issues/2004-06-17/stline.html
Oral Argument
An esteemed Overland Park dentist defends his offshore
degree.
BY BEN PAYNTER
[email protected]
Steven Thomas promotes himself as a dentist and a
doctor.
Back in October 2003, Overland Park dentist Steven
Thomas was probably smiling.
His peers from across the country had just voted him
the next president of their national organization, the
American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
(His term would begin in June 2005.) Thomas' r?sum? is
impressive: In 1998, he was the first oral surgeon to
be appointed president of the medical staff at Shawnee
Mission Medical Center. He practices on staff at
Shawnee Mission and at Saint Luke's South Hospital,
according to his Web site. His own dental practice at
128th Street and Metcalf in Overland Park is the size
of a strip mall. The Web site of the American College
of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons lists as its
president-elect: Dr. Steven L. Thomas, DDS, MD.
In February 2003, though, the Kansas Board of Healing
Arts -- the state's medical licensing arm -- had filed
a lawsuit against Thomas stemming from a patient's
complaint that part of Thomas' title was bunk.
Though he advertised himself as having a medical
doctorate in addition to his doctorate in dental
surgery, the Kansas board found that Thomas had never
completed the required residency or taken a state
licensing exam for his MD. Thomas had earned the
degree from what consumer advocates call a "diploma
mill": the University of Health Sciences in Antigua,
an Internet-based medical school in the West Indies.
In October 2003, Kansas District Court Judge Larry
McClain ruled that because Thomas operated within the
scope of his dental license, there was "no public harm
from using the designation MD."
The Kansas medical board has appealed the decision,
arguing that McClain's judgment inhibits the board
from serving as a watchdog for patients. The board's
attorney, Mark Stafford, says the Kansas Court of
Appeals may decide whether to pass judgment on or
rehear Thomas' case by the end of the summer.
For the most part, Thomas has a gleaming academic
history. He graduated from the University of
Missouri-Kansas City's School of Dentistry in 1982 and
entered a residency program at Truman Medical Center.
Kansas granted him a license to practice dentistry in
1986. By 1990, Thomas had completed a residency
program in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Henry
Ford Hospital in Michigan and had earned a master's
degree in dental surgery from Baker University. He is
licensed in Kansas to perform jaw, facial, plastic and
cosmetic surgery.
But Thomas wanted more credentials.
In the late '90s, he applied to the University of
Health Sciences-Antigua's "Non-Traditional Clinical
Pathways Program."
The university's crash-course programs allow an array
of students -- oral and maxillofacial surgeons,
chiropractors, veterinarians -- to earn degrees in
just 18 months online. Prior to graduation, students
must spend at least one week attending seminars and
visiting hospitals and clinics on the island. This
residency apparently leaves enough time for exploring
the area's tourist attractions. "Antigua is renowned
for its superb coral beaches," the University's Web
site notes. "The neighboring sister island of Barbuda
with a population of 1200 and a size of 62 square
miles also has excellent beaches and is well known for
its fish, lobster and 87 sunken wrecks, just waiting
to be explored." The going rate for a West Indies
doctorate: $19,525.
Thomas tells the Pitch that there's nothing fishy
about his degree. Admission to the program, he tells
the Pitch by e-mail, was based on his previous
training: "completion of an undergraduate college
degree program, completion of a four-year dental
education program and completion of a recognized
residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery that
involved four years in a hospital-based program." His
medical program took 18 months, the first year in
"didactic lectures, both on-campus in Antigua and
off-campus in selected areas of medicine," he writes.
"Clinical rotations also occurred during that time.
The last six months was spent in the U.S. on
additional clinical rotations and electives....
Students and graduates of UHSA were told during and
after completion of the medical degree program that
the curriculum met or exceeded the minimum licensure
requirements of all fifty states in the U.S."
But the UHSA has been blacklisted by medical licensing
boards in California and Indiana, and the program has
drawn scrutiny in Kansas because it fast-tracks the
learning process. According to state guidelines
regulating accelerated medical programs, doctors must
spend at least three years earning their degrees.
The added MD can give a dentist "turf privilege,"
making him appear to be the most qualified
practitioner in a geographic area, says Dr. Robert
Baratz, president of the National Council Against
Health Fraud. Strapped with professional obligations,
many medical professionals obtain such certifications
from online medical schools.
But, Baratz says, "The amount of information you need
is so extensive that I don't think it's possible to
attain it by self-study or from distance learning,
particularly in the time frame these folks claim they
do." (Baratz earned a DDS and a Ph.D. in anatomy and
cellular biology from Northwestern in 1972 and 1975,
respectively, and an MD from the Boston University
School of Medicine in 1987. Baratz works in private
practice and as an assistant clinical professor of
medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.)
"The fact that they can pass a multiple-choice exam
does not show knowledge or medical acumen, and a
minimal amount of that is clinically relevant."
Stafford, with the Kansas Board of Healing Arts,
agrees. "When a person does use those letters in
connection with their name, it represents more than
just a degree from a college. It represents that the
person has done post-graduate training and that the
person has successfully passed a licensing exam,"
Stafford tells the Pitch. No one is accusing Thomas of
malpractice, Stafford says, but the board contends
that Thomas is misrepresenting himself as a
state-licensed doctor.
Thomas says he isn't hurting anybody. "My practice is
limited to oral and maxillofacial surgery, and I am
licensed by the Kansas Dental Board to do so," he
tells the Pitch. "I hold a number of degrees, and my
licensing board has approved my right to display those
educational credentials. I do not practice medicine
and, as such, it is my contention that I am not under
the jurisdiction of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts."
pitch.com | originally published: June 17, 2004
Oral Argument
An esteemed Overland Park dentist defends his offshore
degree.
BY BEN PAYNTER
[email protected]
Steven Thomas promotes himself as a dentist and a
doctor.
Back in October 2003, Overland Park dentist Steven
Thomas was probably smiling.
His peers from across the country had just voted him
the next president of their national organization, the
American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
(His term would begin in June 2005.) Thomas' r?sum? is
impressive: In 1998, he was the first oral surgeon to
be appointed president of the medical staff at Shawnee
Mission Medical Center. He practices on staff at
Shawnee Mission and at Saint Luke's South Hospital,
according to his Web site. His own dental practice at
128th Street and Metcalf in Overland Park is the size
of a strip mall. The Web site of the American College
of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons lists as its
president-elect: Dr. Steven L. Thomas, DDS, MD.
In February 2003, though, the Kansas Board of Healing
Arts -- the state's medical licensing arm -- had filed
a lawsuit against Thomas stemming from a patient's
complaint that part of Thomas' title was bunk.
Though he advertised himself as having a medical
doctorate in addition to his doctorate in dental
surgery, the Kansas board found that Thomas had never
completed the required residency or taken a state
licensing exam for his MD. Thomas had earned the
degree from what consumer advocates call a "diploma
mill": the University of Health Sciences in Antigua,
an Internet-based medical school in the West Indies.
In October 2003, Kansas District Court Judge Larry
McClain ruled that because Thomas operated within the
scope of his dental license, there was "no public harm
from using the designation MD."
The Kansas medical board has appealed the decision,
arguing that McClain's judgment inhibits the board
from serving as a watchdog for patients. The board's
attorney, Mark Stafford, says the Kansas Court of
Appeals may decide whether to pass judgment on or
rehear Thomas' case by the end of the summer.
For the most part, Thomas has a gleaming academic
history. He graduated from the University of
Missouri-Kansas City's School of Dentistry in 1982 and
entered a residency program at Truman Medical Center.
Kansas granted him a license to practice dentistry in
1986. By 1990, Thomas had completed a residency
program in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Henry
Ford Hospital in Michigan and had earned a master's
degree in dental surgery from Baker University. He is
licensed in Kansas to perform jaw, facial, plastic and
cosmetic surgery.
But Thomas wanted more credentials.
In the late '90s, he applied to the University of
Health Sciences-Antigua's "Non-Traditional Clinical
Pathways Program."
The university's crash-course programs allow an array
of students -- oral and maxillofacial surgeons,
chiropractors, veterinarians -- to earn degrees in
just 18 months online. Prior to graduation, students
must spend at least one week attending seminars and
visiting hospitals and clinics on the island. This
residency apparently leaves enough time for exploring
the area's tourist attractions. "Antigua is renowned
for its superb coral beaches," the University's Web
site notes. "The neighboring sister island of Barbuda
with a population of 1200 and a size of 62 square
miles also has excellent beaches and is well known for
its fish, lobster and 87 sunken wrecks, just waiting
to be explored." The going rate for a West Indies
doctorate: $19,525.
Thomas tells the Pitch that there's nothing fishy
about his degree. Admission to the program, he tells
the Pitch by e-mail, was based on his previous
training: "completion of an undergraduate college
degree program, completion of a four-year dental
education program and completion of a recognized
residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery that
involved four years in a hospital-based program." His
medical program took 18 months, the first year in
"didactic lectures, both on-campus in Antigua and
off-campus in selected areas of medicine," he writes.
"Clinical rotations also occurred during that time.
The last six months was spent in the U.S. on
additional clinical rotations and electives....
Students and graduates of UHSA were told during and
after completion of the medical degree program that
the curriculum met or exceeded the minimum licensure
requirements of all fifty states in the U.S."
But the UHSA has been blacklisted by medical licensing
boards in California and Indiana, and the program has
drawn scrutiny in Kansas because it fast-tracks the
learning process. According to state guidelines
regulating accelerated medical programs, doctors must
spend at least three years earning their degrees.
The added MD can give a dentist "turf privilege,"
making him appear to be the most qualified
practitioner in a geographic area, says Dr. Robert
Baratz, president of the National Council Against
Health Fraud. Strapped with professional obligations,
many medical professionals obtain such certifications
from online medical schools.
But, Baratz says, "The amount of information you need
is so extensive that I don't think it's possible to
attain it by self-study or from distance learning,
particularly in the time frame these folks claim they
do." (Baratz earned a DDS and a Ph.D. in anatomy and
cellular biology from Northwestern in 1972 and 1975,
respectively, and an MD from the Boston University
School of Medicine in 1987. Baratz works in private
practice and as an assistant clinical professor of
medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.)
"The fact that they can pass a multiple-choice exam
does not show knowledge or medical acumen, and a
minimal amount of that is clinically relevant."
Stafford, with the Kansas Board of Healing Arts,
agrees. "When a person does use those letters in
connection with their name, it represents more than
just a degree from a college. It represents that the
person has done post-graduate training and that the
person has successfully passed a licensing exam,"
Stafford tells the Pitch. No one is accusing Thomas of
malpractice, Stafford says, but the board contends
that Thomas is misrepresenting himself as a
state-licensed doctor.
Thomas says he isn't hurting anybody. "My practice is
limited to oral and maxillofacial surgery, and I am
licensed by the Kansas Dental Board to do so," he
tells the Pitch. "I hold a number of degrees, and my
licensing board has approved my right to display those
educational credentials. I do not practice medicine
and, as such, it is my contention that I am not under
the jurisdiction of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts."
pitch.com | originally published: June 17, 2004
