From Classroom Project to National Resource: USU Graduate’s Online Course Expands Orofacial Pain Education

A degree program project created by Navy dentist Cmdr. James Hawkins reaches military providers, VA clinicians, and civilian dental schools nationwide.

Air Force Lt. Col. Rory Fredrick, a dentist with the 134th Medical Group, Tennessee Air National Guard, performs a routine exam on a member Jan. 6, 2024, to keep members deployment-ready. Dental screenings help prevent dental emergencies from arising during critical missions, increasing the overall lethality of the force. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Nancy Goldberger)

April 8, 2026 by Sharon Holland

A course developed at the Uniformed Services University (USU) as part of a graduate health professions education project has grown into a widely used training resource for military and civilian dental professionals nationwide. Cmdr. James M. Hawkins, a U.S. Navy dental officer and recent 2026 AMSUS Dental Award recipient, created the online course on temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and orofacial pain (OFP) while completing the Master of Education in Health Professions Education program at USU.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. James M. Hawkins created the online course on temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain while completing the Master of Education in Health Professions Education program at USU. (Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo)

The course has been adopted in several prominent venues. It is currently available on the Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) learning platform for active-duty military providers and has also been featured as the recommended introductory OFP course on the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) website. In addition, the curriculum materials are available to civilian dental schools through MedEdPORTAL, a peer-reviewed repository for health professions education resources.

Within its first year on JKO alone, more than 300 users enrolled in the course, demonstrating significant demand for structured education in this specialized area of dental medicine. The course has also been hosted on the Department of Veterans Affairs online training platform for nearly a year, expanding its reach to providers serving the nation's veteran population.

Interest from the broader dental education community has also been strong. Within the first three months of being featured on the AAOP website, more than 70 users enrolled in the course. Meanwhile, the curriculum materials hosted on MedEdPORTAL-available as open-access educational resources-have been downloaded more than 130 times by dental educators and institutions, suggesting that the content is being incorporated into training programs nationwide.

The course was developed to address a recognized gap in training. Many postgraduate dental residency programs do not have local specialists in orofacial pain, leaving residents with limited exposure to this complex and clinically important area. By providing a standardized, accessible online learning resource, the course helps ensure that trainees receive foundational instruction regardless of where they train.

The impact of the course was recently highlighted in a study published in the Journal of Dental Education, which demonstrated measurable educational benefits for first-year postgraduate dental residents who completed the training.

For Hawkins, chair of the Orofacial Pain department at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School and professor in USU's Postgraduate Dental College, the project reflects the practical, mission-focused nature of USU's health professions education programs-training clinicians not only to provide care, but also to develop innovative approaches to teaching the next generation of providers.

Now continuing his academic journey as a student in USU's Ph.D. in Health Professions Education program, Hawkins is building on the success of this initiative while continuing to contribute to the advancement of dental education across the military and civilian communities.

"The widespread adoption of the OFP course underscores the broader impact USU graduates can have on health professions education," said Dr. Drew Fallis, Executive Dean of USU's Postgraduate Dental College, "transforming a classroom project into a resource that supports providers and improves training at a national level."