The Faculty of Dentistry is saying farewell to James Everett Richardson, DMD, MET; Clinical Associate Professor; Clinician Educator; Integrated Clinical Care Module Coordinator, after many years of commendable performance and service.
Dr. James (Jim) Richardson
Dr. James (Jim) Richardson has been a passionate educator and skilled administrator at the UBC Faculty of Dentistry since 2002. He drew on his broad dentistry experience in a practical and approachable manner to guide his students as they developed their clinical and patient management skills. His interest in educational technology led to adopting innovative technologies that enhanced student learning, as well as online developments that enhanced operational efficiencies in the patient care clinic.
Richardson, one of the first clinician educator appointments and now an emeritus clinical associate professor, has served in varied roles at UBC Dentistry. He has been an instructor and lecturer in the area of operative, fixed and removable prosthodontics, and was coordinator for the Diagnosis, Treatment Planning and Treatment Outcomes Module. He was also director of the Integrated Clinical Care Module for six years, creating a supportive and collegial environment for students and instructors. More recently, Richardson introduced PeerWise, an online self-quizzing tool, enabling students to develop a bank of crowdsourced study resources that they build over the four-year program.
Dr. Richardson furthered his teaching career by completing a UBC Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2008 and a Master of Educational Technology in 2011. He introduced the use of remote polling devices (clickers) at UBC Dentistry, and he created social media tools for students to collaborate and share information. He also developed multiple informative podcasts to enhance self-paced learning, as well as instructor education and calibration.
He spearheaded the creation of the Community Access Fund, which provides dental services to patients who are financially unable to proceed with treatment, thus providing much-needed dental care while helping students gain valuable clinical experience. He has actively participated on several Faculty of Dentistry committees, served as chair of the Division of General Dentistry, and has represented the Faculty on UBC’s Learning Technology Ecosystem steering committee. Outside of UBC, he was a Journal of Dental Education reviewer and a presenter at the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the International Association of Dental Research (IADR). He is also the BC representative to the National Dental Examining Board, currently serving as vice-president of the board and chair of the Examinations Committee. He has been the recipient of two UBC Dentistry Part-Time Faculty Teaching Awards, and in 2010 he received the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry’s W.W. Wood Award for Excellence in Dental Education. He has been inducted as a fellow into both the American College of Dentists (2013) and the International College of Dentists (2015).
Richardson grew up in North Vancouver and majored in biochemistry at UBC. After his first year of the UBC DMD program, he enrolled in the Canadian Forces Dental Officer Training Program, graduating in 1984. Captain Richardson served at CFB Comox up until 1987, when he left the service for a three-month European honeymoon with his wife Cynthia. Upon their return, they moved to White Rock, and he joined the Crescent Park Dental Clinic as an associate, becoming a partner and practising until 1999. In retirement, he plans on continuing his busy schedule with the National Dental Examining Board, as well as travelling, cycling and skiing, which are interests he shares with Cynthia and their sons Paul and Thomas.