The Piper Education and Research Center has made a commitment to develop the very highest standards in post doctoral dental education. In so doing several goals were established.

	We wanted our seminar facility to be affiliated with an active patient practice
	We wanted a vibrant urban environment with a wide choice of convenient accommodations.
	We wanted our teaching facility to be a comfortable "home away from home."
	We focused on the need for flexibility of our students to remain in touch at home while attending our facility courses in St. Petersburg.
	Technologically, we wanted the very best that the digital age had to offer in audiovisual equipment.
	We were determined to offer the most comprehensive and clearest educational support materials.

In May, 2003, the Piper Education and Research Center (PERC) was opened directly adjacent to the Piper Clinic and one floor down from the Dawson Center. In integrating the best match between education and clinical practice, what is practiced at the Piper Clinic is exactly what is taught next door at the Piper Education and Research Center. Furthermore, the learning experience has been enhanced through an affiliated group practice with all other dental specialists located within the same building, and these dental specialists also are actively involved in teaching.

The urban environment in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida is an ideal location for students traveling either alone or with family. Access is simple, with competitive airfares through Tampa International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. In the last few years St. Petersburg has matured into a very attractive destination. There are over seventy-five restaurants within the downtown area with more than a dozen hotels within walking distance of the Piper Education and Research Center. Cultural activities now include numerous museums and a number of venues at the downtown campuses of St. Petersburg College and the University of South Florida. Two miles of waterfront parks and lively waterfront activities are immediately adjacent to PERC. In fact, the Piper Education and Research Center was designed to have a 180-degree waterfront panoramic view of Tampa Bay. For those who are inclined to stay directly on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, transportation time is about twenty minutes.

To create the best comfort for students, PERC has invested extensively to create ample work space with desks that are wired for power and video. Our facility can accommodate lecture courses of up to fifty participants or smaller hands-on conferences of up to twenty students. Individual teaching monitors are available for our most specialized courses. Both the student lounge and the fully equipped kitchen and break areas have video monitors, so that students can still see and hear the content of the course work when refreshing their coffee or checking on an office emergency via telephone or email. The registration and reception area is staffed full time to help with any student need or request.

Many dentists have told us that PERC has the finest atmosphere for learning that they have ever experienced. Not only are all lectures transmitted to break rooms, but we also utilize multiple projection screens, ceiling monitors, and recessed large screen wall monitors. In addition, our conference desks are equipped with individual monitors with writing surfaces for hands-on education in MRI and CAT scan reading. Answers are digitized back to the student monitors for immediate reference. Live demonstrations can be broadcast from the dental teaching chair to all of the facility monitors. Intraoral close-ups are projected from ceiling mounted and lipstick cameras. The case study materials brought by our students can be digitized live and projected from a student's computer, video camera, or other recorder device. PERC is networked not only to the World Wide Web but also to the extensive data base of the Piper Clinic NEWTOM CAT scanner. In addition all of the Piper Clinic MRI scans are available for teaching. Surgical procedures are recorded on microscopic 3-bit camera technology, and all of this can be transferred from the hospital operating room to the PERC video equipment. PERC has a complete onsite video production studio with live feeds from lecture computers, camera digitizers, ELMO overhead digitizers, mini DV and VHS video, studio production cameras, ceiling cameras, and lipstick cameras.

	We promise the best integration of diagnosis and treatment from an active clinical practice to our continuing education programs.
	We promise that you will find St. Petersburg to be an ideal urban environment that is easy to access, family friendly, warm in climate, full of amenities, and with plentiful accommodations within walking distance.
	We promise that PERC is one of the most convenient and comfortable learning facilities that you will ever attend.
	We promise that the Piper Education and Research Center maintains the latest in audiovisual and production technology.

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