Ulcerative Conditions in the Oral Cavity & COVID-19 Response in California

Ulcerative Conditions in the Oral Cavity
Monday, June 29 | 7:00 PM Pacific Time
Presented by: Armond Kotikian, DDS, MD, FACS
Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

Dr. Armond Kotikian is a Board Certified Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon in private practice in Glendale, CA. Dr. Kotikian is the former President of the Armenian American Medical Society. He completed dental school at UCLA. He then completed a 1-year residency in Hospital Dentistry at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital. Subsequently, he pursued a residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He earned his MD from Wayne State School of Medicine, did two years of general surgery and completed his Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2009. He is in private practice in Glendale and holds staff privileges at GAMC, Dignity Health GMH and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. Dr. Kotikian is also an Assistant Professor at USC in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Dr. Kotikian specializes in complicated dental implant cases, wisdom tooth extraction, and office anesthesia. In the hospital setting he performs facial trauma reconstruction, orthognathic surgery (corrective jaw surgery), treats obstructive sleep apnea patients, treats patients with oral pathology lesions and performs oral and maxillofacial reconstruction. Dr. Kotikian is a member of numerous organizations, including the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Southern California Orofacial Academy. He routinely lectures on subjects related to his field at both the local and national level. Dr. Kotikian has been featured in the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Glendale Newspress and many other local newspapers for his work in the field of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Dr. Kotikian has also been featured on CNN Headline News local edition, ABC 7 in LA and the Diane Sawyer nightly news on ABC.

COVID-19 Response in California
Monday, June 29 | 7:45 PM Pacific Time
Presented by: Peter N. Bretan, Jr., MD
President, California Medical Association (CMA)

Urologist and kidney transplant surgeon Peter N. Bretan, Jr. MD, is CMA’s 152nd president, and will serve on the CMA Executive Committee in that role for one year. Dr. Bretan is the first Filipino-American physician to serve as CMA president. “The most important goal, not just in this year of my presidency, but always, is to take back our profession by enabling physicians to lead the struggle to protect, expand and make universal access to health care for all of our patients in California,” said Dr. Bretan. “If we are successful in this state, it will lead the way for sustainable universal health care for all of America.” Dr. Bretan practices in Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz Counties. He has served as a CMA trustee and delegate, and is a three-time county medical society president. He is the current president of the California Urological Association and serves as an adjunct clinical professor at Touro University, where he has taught classes in health care policy for the past 16 years. “Faced with a complex and rapidly changing environment that threatens the foundation of all medicine, especially the doctor-patient relationship, it is more than ever imperative to educate legislators not only what it takes for doctors to save lives, but also that all lives are precious, not just to the families they are part of, but to society as whole,” said Dr. Bretan. Dr. Bretan is the founder and CEO of Life Plant International, a charitable organization that furnishes lifesaving transplants in developing countries, for which he was recognized by the AMA with the Benjamin Rush Award for Citizenship and Community Service. Dr. Bretan has also provided care around the world on medical missions. “I grew up as a child farm laborer, and I know what it is to be without adequate health care. My greatest motivation is in service to give back to society for my good fortune,” said Dr. Bretan. Dr. Bretan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physiology from University of California, Berkeley and his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, where he completed residencies in general surgery and urology, as well as a fellowship in radiology. He also completed a fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in transplantation and renovascular surgery.