Revenge of the Sith: The Holy Grail of the Academic OMFS

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yl4lif3

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http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2010/03/19/dr_brian_schmidt_nam.html
In a rapidly crumbling CA economy where EVERYONE is taking pay-cuts and paying more taxes, this jedi master OMFS pulls an Anakin Skywalker on the west coast and auspiciously heads the strongest program in a notoriously weak region. The rewards however for such a move are apropos:
1. Tenured OMFS professorship at NYU
2. Director of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research
3. Recipient of an anonymous $3.5 mil 'research grant'
4. Other secret stuff from Dr. Bertolomi that they didn't report

Strong move, Schmidt.
His departure, along with the imminent retirement of Pogi-wan Kenobi(Pogrel) will decimate their former program.
A few points I take away from this:
1. I guess it actually is possible to make some serious $$$ as an academic OMFS
2. I'd bet that most OMFS programs are similarly only 1-2 attendings away from being similarly decimated.

Thoughts from any UCSF students/residents, or others?

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Good for him and HUGE for NYU.
 
http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2010/03/19/dr_brian_schmidt_nam.html
In a rapidly crumbling CA economy where EVERYONE is taking pay-cuts and paying more taxes, this jedi master OMFS pulls an Anakin Skywalker on the west coast and auspiciously heads the strongest program in a notoriously weak region. The rewards however for such a move are apropos:
1. Tenured OMFS professorship at NYU
2. Director of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research
3. Recipient of an anonymous $3.5 mil 'research grant'
4. Other secret stuff from Dr. Bertolomi that they didn't report

Strong move, Schmidt.
His departure, along with the imminent retirement of Pogi-wan Kenobi(Pogrel) will decimate their former program.
A few points I take away from this:
1. I guess it actually is possible to make some serious $$$ as an academic OMFS
2. I'd bet that most OMFS programs are similarly only 1-2 attendings away from being similarly decimated.

Thoughts from any UCSF students/residents, or others?

Gary "Still a Padawan" Ruska here,

Your point is well-made that most OMFS programs have 2-3 core faculty who are really outstanding achievers and would be great losses if they left.

That being said, there are many (MANY), lesser known faculty who are just waiting in the wings to rise once their predecessors have flown the coup (to NYU or otherwise)...

GR thinks that the UCSF program will be just fine. Janice Lee is a talented surgeon, as is Brian Bast. They have a strong core of part time faculty as well. They recently had an oncology fellow graduate and take a post at UWash - she is a UCSF OMFS Alum - GR wouldn't be surprised if she makes a return to UCSF at some point.

The broader point here may be that the effects of the "generation of loss" that has been mentioned in academic OMFS are beginning to be seen. Over the last 10-15 years, some of the most talented OMFS graduates have gone to private practice and there have been numerous vacant faculty spots. The generation that trained in the 70s-80s has been carrying more than their fair share, but those who graduated in the 90s-00s have been disproportionately going to private practice. As the older guys retire, there's few to replace them. Will likely see more of this in the not-so-far future.

Is the outlook bleak? Likely not. An excellent program can exist with just a few full time faculty, provided that they each faculty member has a niche that allows for coverage of the full scope of the specialty. Just ask the guys at Carle.
 
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