Cleft Lip and Palate Symposium
El Paso Children’s Hospital Hosts Cleft Symposium Drawing Surgeons From All Over The Nation
El Paso Children’s Hospital, in conjunction with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Hunt School of Dental Medicine, welcomed surgeons from all over the United States to participate in the 2nd Annual Symposium of Cleft Lip and Palate Deformities. This two-day symposium focused on cleft and craniofacial conditions that are best managed by multidisciplinary specialists to provide complex and specialized care in a coordinated team environment. The event took place Friday, January 13 and Saturday, January 14 on Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s campus.
“El Paso Children’s Hospital is honored to be hosting a symposium of this magnitude here in the borderland region. This is a very unique opportunity for these doctors who traveled all the way to El Paso to learn from our region’s only comprehensive pediatric cranial and facial program,” said Dr. Cindy Stout, D.N.P., R.N., NEA-BC, President and CEO of El Paso Children’s Hospital. “Our community physicians, plus area medical and dental students and nurses, will also benefit from this informative symposium by engaging with some of the world’s best physicians during an in-depth live surgery.”
Spearheaded by El Paso Children’s Hospital Cranial and Facial Medical Director, Dr. David Yates, the conference featured nationally recognized specialists learning the surgical advancements when operating on children with cleft deformities and intricacies of nasoalveolar molding (NAM), a nonsurgical method of reshaping the gums, lip and nose prior to cleft lip and palate surgery.
“We are proud to have been able to represent the El Paso Region by hosting this 2nd annual National Cleft Symposium,” stated Dr. David Yates. “This symposium is a collaboration between Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Hunt School of Dental Medicine and the Cranial and Facial Surgery Team at El Paso Children’s Hospital, and it brought together leading cleft surgeons, NAM specialists, and others who are seeking ways to improve cleft care across our country.”
“It is a wonderful opportunity to bring physicians from all over the country to witness the incredible work that our community provides to children facing cleft challenges,” said Dr. Lizbeth Holguin, member of El Paso Children’s Hospital Cranial and Facial Surgery Team as well as NAM provider at Star Kids Pediatric Dentistry. “I look forward to continuing to collaborate with these national physicians to assist in educational opportunities that will benefit all of our communities and children.”
El Paso Children’s Hospital has the first and only comprehensive pediatric cranial and facial program in the region that provides children with access to a multidisciplinary team of physicians skilled in correcting facial, jaw, and skull abnormalities. The medical team is the only cranial and facial team in the region to be nationally recognized by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. Additionally, El Paso Children’s Hospital is home to one in only nine international cranial facial fellowships, putting us on the map for this extremely specialized medical procedure.
“This conference is just one of the many benefits of having a dental school and a specialty children’s hospital in the region. By working together, we can accomplish our mission of improving the health of our Borderplex community,” said Richard Black, D.D.S., M.S., dean of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. “The knowledge shared at this symposium will not only brighten the smiles of patients near and far, but also let other communities know El Paso is a destination for world-class dental training.”
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine offers a unique education for students through culturally competent, hands-on training and an introduction to early clinical experiences among a diverse population. As part of curriculum requirements, dental students learn medical Spanish, allowing them to bridge language and cultural barriers to deliver the highest quality of oral health care.
A first for any dental school in the nation, Hunt School of Dental Medicine students begin clinical training and patient interaction during their first semester. Clinical training takes place in the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health clinic, where students and supervising faculty have encountered over 2,000 patient visits and over 7,000 hours of clinical care. Additionally, one-of-a-kind community immersion courses encourage interprofessional collaboration with Foster School of Medicine students, while also providing insight into the social determinants of health in the Borderland.
El Paso Children’s Hospital is the only separately licensed, not-for-profit, Joint Commission certified, specialty pediatric hospital within a 350-mile radius solely dedicated to pediatric care.
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s the only health sciences center along the U.S.-Mexico border designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.