Congratulations to Dr. Bill Preshing

Congratulations to Dr. Bill Preshing, the successful recipient of this year's Bulyea Cup Award.

Bill has been the director of the GPR program and University Hospital Dental Clinic since 1991 and it is his leadership in this program that has elevated where it is today which is a sought after residency with a strong and viable reputation.

Bill's dedication to managing dental patients with complex medical and/or dental needs has been admired by his colleagues and peers. It is not easy dealing with this segment of the population. It takes a unique skill set, a great amount of patience, and a steady hand when using instruments as patients often can move around unexpectedly. Bill has dealt with some very complex cases over the years and has a proven track record in mentoring residents in the area of special needs dentistry.

In 2007, Bill was given some grim news around his health and without getting into the details, let's just say that he was faced with something that would change the rest of his life. His perseverance and will to survive was strong and he was able to return to his passion - special needs dentistry.

In addition to Bill's director of GPR position, he's held positions such as the division head for external and postgraduate programs (GPR Residency, TMD, Satellite, SHINE and Glenrose clinic), chair of the Dentistry Academic Standing Committee, and was the dentistry student awards officer. Bill delivers lectures in diagnosis and managing medically compromised patients, and he teaches dentistry and dental hygiene students about clinical care for patients with severe medical problems and/or disabilities. Bill is now heavily involved in teaching sedation techniques through Continuing Dental Education. Using techniques of IV sedation instead of general anesthetics has become an important part of the hospital practice.

Before joining the School of Dentistry as a faculty member in 1988, Bill was in general dentistry private practice here in Edmonton for three years. He says he didn't find this particularly fulfilling, so he took a teaching fellowship to move away from clinical practice. He went back to private practice in 1995, but it wasn't long before he realized it wasn't for him and that his main interest was in teaching and delivering special care dentistry.

Bill says that he is fortunate in many ways, as his reflection on life confirmed that what he's been doing all these years is what he's wanted to do. He loves the tremendous variety and challenge that comes with being a special care dentist.

As you may know the Bulyea Cup is the highest honour that the School of Dentistry confers on its faculty members, members of the dental and dental hygiene professions, and members of the community. It is awarded in recognition of faculty members who have clearly excelled in both teaching and research, members of the oral health care professions (dentistry and dental hygiene) who are involved in teaching, research or service to the School of Dentistry, and to members of the community who have made contributions to oral health sciences education.

Bill is being recognized for his contributions to improve people's oral health and for his teaching services at the School of Dentistry for over a span of 32 years. Although Bill is stepping down from his directorship role, he maintains working in the clinic and will serve as the topic lead in the area of Special Needs/Geriatric.

We wish to publicly recognize Bill at the school's annual Awards & Recognition event in November. This event is currently scheduled for November 20 so save the date. More details will follow later in the fall.

Please join me in wishing Bill Preshing congratulations on receiving this prestigious award.