University of Michigan Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Training Program

Abstract

One year before the 1918 founding of the American Society of Oral Surgeons and Exodontists, Chalmers J. Lyons, at the request of Cyrenius Darling, MD, Chief of Surgery at the University of Michigan Hospital and Dean of the College of Dentistry, founded an oral surgery training program at the University of Michigan Hospital. It was one of the two first training programs in the United States formed that year and is currently the oldest running US oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) training program. Since then, the University of Michigan has been at the forefront of the scope of practice and training in OMS in the United States and beyond (Fig 1). Dr Lyons was a central figure in the development of oral surgery at the University of Michigan and establishing its clinical focus. In 1915 Chalmers J. Lyons was appointed instructor of oral surgery at the University of Michigan College of Dentistry and consultant dentist to University Hospital. With the establishment of the training program, he served as chairman until 1935 (Fig 2). Dr Al Kany, a 1916 graduate of the University of Michigan College of Dentistry, became the first trainee in the 1-year program. By 1922, the length of training was increased to 2 years, and in 1923 a third year was added along with a master of science in oral surgery. In addition to performing exodontia and repairing facial fractures, Dr Lyons had a great interest in cleft lip and palate surgery, having been a student of Dr Truman Brophy in Chicago and Dr Cyrenius Darling, a general surgeon at the University of Michigan. His considerable skill in this arena helped him establish